strAv3L: Sintra package

Sintra

Pure dazzlement

Sintra is an inexhaustible attraction. 

The perfect symbiosis between nature and its built heritage led to its classification by UNESCO as World Heritage, at the category of Cultural Landscape, in 1995. The town has been adored over the years by artists and writers from all over the world and the passion for the town reached its peak in the 19th century, in the heart of the romantic era. 

Poets such as Lord Byron, who called it a "a Garden of the Earthly Paradise", or Portuguese writers such as Eça de Queiroz, who described it in so many passages in his books, helped create an aura of the town, which is theirs by right.
What makes Sintra such an exceptional place? 

It is exuberant in all senses of the word. Essentially, it is the perfect fusion between natural richness and the magnificence of its monuments, combined in an extreme beauty. Let us take, for example, the vast area classified by UNESCO. Starting in the Historic Town Centre, stands the Paço Real, one of the many monumental buildings of the region. To walk through the centre of the town is to travel through a magical world, full of extremely rich apparently insignificant details. All this surrounded and watched over by the grandeur of the Serra de Sintra, with its luxurious, which offers endless different walks. Sintra has unique examples of parks and gardens and has influenced many European landscapes. Highlights are the Parque da Pena and the Jardins de Monserrate. High in the Serra, on one of its steep peaks, we can find the Palácio da Pena, the most complete and notable example of Portuguese Romantic architecture, recently restored and painted in the original colours and standing out among the surrounding greenery. Built on the site of the ruins of the Mosteiro Jerónimo de Nossa Senhora da Pena, the palace dates back to 1839. The monuments that are part of the area classified by UNESCO are numerous and all deserve to be visited. But it is a walk through the town and up into the Serra that shows its unique charm and magic atmosphere created by typical mist. 

Take a quiet walk on foot or a ride on a picturesque coach. (…)

text and photo from: http://www.visitlisboa.com

strAv3L is an all-in-one service, located in Alcochete (Portugal), that offers accommodation, touristic and cultural programmes as well as training in Portuguese as foreign language. For more detailed information, please visit out facebook page or contact stravel.portugal@gmail.com