Walking Sintra to Cascais

Trip Type:

Slower Adventures | Where walking and cycling meet easy-going exploring, our Slower Adventures are the perfect combination. Most days are filled with picturesque journeys with some free time to dive into the destination and experience the people, local food and culture as you go.

Activity:

Multi Centre Walking | With a mix of loop and point-to-point walks stay 2 or 3 nights in one place which offers the chance to slow down and really explore a destination.

Grade & Terrain

This trip is graded ‘moderate’ overall and includes daily walks of 10-16km. It is suitable for most people that are in good physical fitness. The route follows a mixture of gravel trails, sandy coastal trails, forest and clifftop paths and daily ascents are between 200m and 500m. On Day 4 you will walk along clifftop coastal paths, which can feel exposed so if you suffer from vertigo, you may wish to miss this day’s walk. The terrain can also be quite challenging here, with steep sections of bare dirt. You may wish to use walking poles here. We recommend training ahead of this tour, by walking some daily walks of similar daily distances to your planned itinerary.

Navigation

As the navigation on this tour is fairly straightforward, it does not have turn-by-turn directions. It will be necessary to use the Macs Adventure Smartphone App. Simply download the app for offline use and follow the route on your phone with the assurance that you will be able to find your way, even without turn-by-turn directions. The route is way-marked in places and not in others. Several trails have way-marks on the ground, so please do keep your eye out for these. You will receive a digital booklet one month prior to your arrival with information about these, including a description of the route and points of interest. Using the two elements alongside each other should go a long way to ensure you have a safe, enjoyable and problem free day.

• 6 nights in boutique hotels and charming guesthouses
• Breakfast at each accommodation
• Door-to-door baggage transfer as per itinerary
• Transfers as per itinerary and arrival transfer from Lisbon to Sintra
• Detailed Information Pack
• GPX tracks and access to our smartphone app
• 24/7 telephone support from our UK office

• Travel insurance (required)
• Travel to Lisbon before the start, and from Cascais on the final day
• Lunches and Dinners
• Drinks and snacks
• Personal equipment
• Entrance Fees

• Additional nights before, during and after the walk
• Transfer from Cascais to the airport on the final day

When To Go

You can start this walking tour on any day of the week from January through to June, and from September through to December, subject to availability. Sintra offers great weather most of the year round but we do not offer this tour in the months of July and August as it can get very hot then, and doesn't make for enjoyable walking. Both spring and autumn offer excellent conditions for walking. Average temperatures range from 10-15°C (70°F) in the winter to 25-30 °C (77 °F) in the summer months. The inland regions are always slightly cooler than Cascais due to the higher elevations.

Getting to the Start

Lisbon Airport is easily accessed by direct flights from across the UK, Europe and several cities in the US. Major airlines who fly there include American Airlines, TAP, British Airways, Easyjet and Ryanair amongst others.

If you are travelling to Lisbon from elsewhere in Portugal or Spain, it is also easily accessed by rail. View rail timetables at the Comboios de Portugal website.  

Getting from the End

Transfers are not included on the final day. It is very easy to get between Cascais and Lisbon Airport by public transport. You can take the train to Casa do Sodre station in Lisbon (40min), and then catch the bus to the airport (20min).

Baggage Transfer

Your bags will be transferred from your accommodation as per your itinerary and moved onto your next overnight accommodation, giving you the freedom to walk each day with just a day pack. We ask you to limit your luggage to one bag of up to 20kg per person. Please ensure that you do not bring more than one bag of 20kg as if this occurs, you may be asked to pay an additional fee for an extra bag.

At Macs Adventure, we work in partnership with many luggage transfer providers who set a limit on how many bags/suitcases they will transfer per person, and also the weight of the bag/suitcase.  Your booking includes transfer of 1 bag per person.  It is very important that you read the luggage information specific to your tour before departure. If you do not adhere to these limits, there is a great possibility that you will be charged locally both for extra bags or if they are too heavy. This limitation can be a challenge, especially as airlines generally have limits that are higher. However, our luggage providers have reasons for these limits (usually due to the Health and Safety of their employees), which we must respect.

General Information

The distances and ascents/descents are approximations of the recommended routes. 

Equipment

Travel Insurance

It is a requirement of booking this tour with Macs Adventure that you have suitable travel insurance which covers you for the activity and emergency evacuation and hospital care.