Hotels near Castelo dos Mouros

The Moorish Castle (Castelo dos Mouros) predates everything else on this list. Muslim builders raised it in the 8th and 9th centuries as a lookout over the Atlantic approach to Lisbon, and Afonso Henriques took it in 1147. What survives is a serrated line of granite wall running along two rocky peaks, consolidated in the 1840s by the same King Ferdinand II who built Pena Palace.

Walking the full rampart circuit takes about 45 minutes and involves several hundred uneven steps beside low parapets. The payoff is a 360-degree view across the Sintra hills, the Atlantic coastline and, on clear days, Lisbon itself. Admission is roughly 12 EUR. There is almost no shade anywhere on the walls, so summer afternoons here are punishing.

Pro Tip: Walk down from Pena Palace to the Moorish Castle instead of waiting for the 434 bus between them. The signposted forest path takes about 15 minutes downhill, saves a fare, and drops you at the castle's lower gate.