Queluz National Palace

Queluz was built from 1747 as a summer retreat for Pedro, later Pedro III, and grew into a full royal residence in a French-influenced rococo that has no real parallel in Portugal - pink and white ranges around gardens, with a throne room of mirrors, gilt and chandeliers, a music room, a ceremonial hall painted with scenes from Don Quixote, and a tiled corridor to the gardens. The court moved here permanently after the Ajuda palace burned in 1794, and Maria I, whose mental illness had by then made her incapable of ruling, spent her last Portuguese years in these rooms; contemporaries recorded her screaming being audible in the gardens. The formal gardens have box parterres, statuary, fountains, and a canal lined with azulejo panels that was filled with water for boating parties. A wing serves as a state guest residence.

What you actually see

• The throne room - mirrors, gilt and chandeliers in full rococo.
• The tiled canal - a watercourse lined with azulejo panels for boating parties.
• The Don Quixote room - a domed hall painted with scenes from the novel.
• The court of Maria I - the rooms where the queen's illness played out after 1794.

When to go

April to October for the gardens. Two to three hours. Closed on some days; check before travelling. Far less crowded than Sintra up the road.

Honest expectations

The gardens need dry weather and the canal is usually empty of water. Some rooms are closed when the state wing is in use. The train station is a fifteen-minute walk through an ordinary suburb. Photography is restricted indoors.

Nearby

Sintra is west up the line; Lisbon is east.