Pena Palace Tickets: Prices, Time Slots and What Happens If You're Late
Palace and park cost €20, the park alone €12. Your palace slot has no late tolerance and a missed slot is not refunded. How to book, which ticket to pick, and how long the climb to the door really takes.
Your Pena Palace ticket has a time printed on it, and Parques de Sintra means it to the minute. Arrive after it and you do not get in, with no refund. Arrive early and you wait outside.
The catch is that the time is for the palace door, which sits at the top of a hill about half an hour above the park gate. Most visitors who miss their slot were in Sintra in good time. They just did not know where the clock was running from.
In 3 minutes
- €20 palace and park, €12 park only. Same price on the official site and on GetYourGuide.
- No late entry. Your slot is for the palace door, about 30 minutes uphill from the gate. Be at the gate 45 to 60 minutes early.
- Book on the official site if your plans might move: it lets you reschedule within a year. The GetYourGuide ticket is fixed to the date you pick.
How much do Pena Palace tickets cost?
Parques de Sintra sells two tickets most visitors choose between:
- Palace and park (Essential Visit): €20 adults (18 to 64) · €18 ages 6 to 17 and over 65 · under 6 free · €65 family (2 adults and 2 youths). Includes the New Wing state rooms, the panoramic terraces, the park and the Chalet of the Countess of Edla.
- Park only: €12 adults · €10 reduced · under 6 free · €40 family. No time slot.
Two add-ons are worth knowing. The transfer shuttle from the main gate to the palace is €4.50 return and must be bought in advance. The Full Tour at €45 adds the Private Apartments with a staff assistant and caps the group at 20.
GetYourGuide sells the official ticket at the official €20, with the same Zoomguide audio app. The price is the same, and the difference is in the conditions, which matter here more than at most monuments.
Where to book
Our take: Book on the official site if your Sintra day could move, since it reschedules within a year, and use GetYourGuide when you want the ticket with the rest of your trip and your date is fixed, because its ticket cannot be changed or refunded.
The Pena Palace guide: park, palace and Chalet in one half-day, in the right order
- Why to leave by the Lakes gate, and the downhill loop through the Valley of the Lakes that ends there
- Park in the morning, palace after lunch: the order Parques de Sintra recommends, laid out as a half-day route
- How to fit the Chalet of the Countess of Edla around its 12:00 to 14:00 closure
Is the palace interior worth it, or is the park ticket enough?
The yellow and red towers, the tiled walls and the views over Sintra are outside. The €12 park ticket gets you the grounds, the Chalet and the palace seen from below and around it, and it has no slot to miss. That makes it the safer buy on a tight or rainy day.
The €20 ticket is for people who want to see how the last Portuguese royals lived: the New Wing state rooms of the palace Ferdinand II rebuilt between 1842 and 1854, where Queen Amélie spent her last night before leaving for exile in 1910. It also opens the panoramic terraces. Visitors who went inside in 2026 describe narrow corridors and a line at the door of a few hundred people at busy hours. Buy it for the rooms, not for photos you can take from the park.
What happens if you miss your time slot?
Nothing good. Parques de Sintra's rule is "there is no delay tolerance": late means no entry and no refund. You also cannot enter early, so being on time means being at the palace door inside your slot.
If you bought on the official site, you can reschedule date and time online within one year, as long as you do it before the slot. The GetYourGuide ticket is non-refundable and valid only for the date you chose. That single difference is why the official site is the better choice when your Sintra day depends on weather or a train.
How to get up the hill in time
Trains on the Sintra line leave from Rossio, Oriente and Entrecampos. From Sintra station, bus 434 runs a loop past the Moorish Castle to Pena about four times an hour. A 24-hour ticket costs €10.96; local guides report the €4.55 single is often not on sale at peak times. In summer the queue at the station stop is the slow part. Private cars cannot drive up to Pena.
Then the park itself: about 30 minutes on foot from the gate to the palace door, uphill. Visitors recommend being at the gate 45 to 60 minutes before your slot, and the €4.50 shuttle helps if the climb is a problem.
When is the best time to visit?
Parques de Sintra currently suggests the park in the morning and the palace in the afternoon, when the interior is least crowded. Midday is the worst window for everyone: tour groups, the longest shuttle line and the fullest rooms. The hilltop also makes its own weather. Fog can sit on the terraces when Lisbon is sunny, so bring a layer whatever the forecast says.
What most visitors wish they knew
The Chalet closes at lunch. The gate to the Chalet and Garden of the Countess of Edla shuts from 12:00 to 14:00. Plan it before or after, not on the way back down at noon.
A skip-the-line ticket does not skip the crowd inside. It saves time at the gate. The rooms are as full as they are.
The kiosk at the gate is not a backup plan. Its queue is long even in low season, and on busy days the palace slots you want are already gone.
- Park hours
- 09:00–19:00 · Last ticket and entry 18:00
- Palace hours
- 09:30–18:30 · Last ticket 17:30 · Last entry 18:00 · Entry only at your booked time
- Palace and park
- €20 (18–64) · €18 (6–17, 65+) · Under 6 free · Family €65
- Park only
- €12 · €10 reduced · Under 6 free · Family €40
- Extras
- Transfer gate to palace €4.50 return · Full Tour €45
- Chalet of the Countess of Edla
- Gate closed 12:00–14:00
- Book at
- GetYourGuide (€20, official ticket) · official site (reschedulable)
- Getting there
- Train to Sintra, then bus 434 · Gate to palace about 30 min uphill
- Time needed
- Half a day for park and palace
Hours and prices can change. Confirm on the Parques de Sintra site before you go.
Last verified: October 2026
Frequently asked questions
How much are Pena Palace tickets?
The palace and park ticket (Parques de Sintra calls it the Essential Visit) costs €20 for adults aged 18 to 64 and €18 for ages 6 to 17 and over 65. Children under 6 go free and a family ticket for two adults and two youths is €65. A park-only ticket is €12 adult and €10 reduced. The Full Tour, which adds the Private Apartments with a staff assistant and a group cap of 20, is €45. GetYourGuide sells the official €20 ticket at the same price.
Do I need to book Pena Palace tickets in advance?
Yes, for the palace. Entry to the interior only happens at the date and time printed on your ticket, and the palace slots are the part that runs out first in spring, summer and school holidays. The ticket kiosks at the park gate draw long queues even in low season, so buying online saves time as well as the risk of finding your preferred hour gone.
What happens if I arrive late for my Pena Palace time slot?
You do not get in. Parques de Sintra states there is no delay tolerance: arrive after your slot and you cannot enter the palace, and the ticket is not refunded. Arriving early does not help either, since you cannot enter before your time. Tickets bought on the official site can be rescheduled online within one year, if you do it before the slot. The GetYourGuide ticket is non-refundable and valid only for the date you choose.
Is the park-only ticket enough at Pena?
For many visitors, yes. The colours, towers and views that make Pena famous are outside, and the €12 park ticket has no time slot to miss. The €20 ticket adds the New Wing state rooms and access to the panoramic terraces. Visitors who went inside describe tight corridors and a long line at the door, so buy it if the rooms matter to you, not just for the photos.
How long does it take to get from the park gate to the palace?
Parques de Sintra says about 30 minutes, uphill, whichever route you take. A transfer shuttle runs from the main gate to the palace for €4.50 return and has to be bought in advance. Visitors recommend reaching the gate 45 to 60 minutes before your palace slot.
If you only remember one thing: set your alarm by the palace door, not the train. Back in Lisbon, the Jerónimos Monastery and the Belém Tower run on timed entry too.
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