Villa Sassetti Trail

Sintra's central problem is getting up the hill: the 434 bus queues for an hour in season and the road is choked with cars. The Villa Sassetti trail is the answer most people do not know about. It is a footpath through the grounds of the Quinta da Villa Sassetti, a house built in the 1890s for Vittorio Sassetti, an Italian banker settled in Portugal, in a romantic revivalist manner with a round tower and loggias, set in a garden of terraces, rockwork and winding paths designed by Luigi Manini, who also worked on Buçaco. Parques de Sintra restored the estate and opened the path free of charge, linking Sintra town to the road below Pena and the Moorish castle. The walk up takes about forty minutes and is steep but paved and shaded; it passes the villa, which can be seen from outside, and joins the palace approach near the top.

What you actually see

• The villa - an 1890s revivalist house with a round tower, seen from the path.
• The Manini garden - terraces, rockwork and winding paths by Buçaco's designer.
• The link - a free route from Sintra town up to Pena and the Moorish castle.
• The alternative - a way up that avoids the bus queue and the traffic entirely.

When to go

April to October. One to two hours for the walk up. Morning, before the palace crowds. Free, unlike everything else on the hill.

Honest expectations

It is a steep continuous climb of about forty minutes - the bus exists for a reason. Gates have set opening hours and close in the evening. The villa itself is not open to visitors. Sintra's serra is often wet and the paving is slippery.

Nearby

Pena Palace and the Moorish castle are at the top; Sintra town is below.