Sintra · Portugal
Quinta da Regaleira
A practical guide to Quinta da Regaleira in Sintra: the Initiation Well, the tunnels, what order to see it in, how much time to give it, prices, timed tickets and what to avoid.
For many people it is the best thing in Sintra, better than Pena. The only problem is the line at the bottom of the well: head straight there as soon as you get in.
Quinta da Regaleira looks like a 16th-century Manueline palace, but it was built between 1904 and 1910. It is the estate the millionaire António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro put up in Sintra and filled with symbols: a palace, a chapel, gardens with grottoes and, underneath, tunnels connecting two wells with spiral staircases that never held water. The most famous, the Initiation Well, goes down 27 meters. It is part of the Cultural Landscape of Sintra, a World Heritage Site since 1995.
Our experience
We visited on a Wednesday at 1:05 in the afternoon, after lunch, as part of our full-day Sintra tour. The ticket was included and the guide handled the time slot. We had 90 minutes.
The plan was to go straight to the well as soon as we got in and leave the chapel and the palace for later. We decided that based on what we had read: the bottom of the well holds about 15 or 20 people, and on crowded days 40 or more show up, with waits of up to half an hour for the photo.
A bit of history
Carvalho Monteiro was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1848 and inherited a fortune in coffee and gemstones in Brazil. In Lisbon they called him “Monteiro dos Milhões” (Monteiro of the Millions). He had a library of more than 30,000 books, now in the U.S. Library of Congress, and he was interested in Freemasonry, the Rosicrucians, alchemy and the Templars, although there is no proof he belonged to a lodge.
He bought the estate in 1892 and gave the job to Luigi Manini, an Italian set designer who had spent years designing opera sets at the Teatro de São Carlos in Lisbon. It shows: every path ends in a surprise, like a scene change. After several owners, the Sintra municipality bought it in 1997 and opened it to the public in 1998.
How it fits into your day
Regaleira is a few minutes’ walk from central Sintra, so it pairs well with Pena Palace and a stop at Cabo da Roca. See our day in Sintra for the full schedule.
What to see, in order
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The Initiation Well
27 meters down a spiral staircase: nine flights of 15 steps, a nod to Dante's nine circles. It is now one-way: you enter at the top and leave through the tunnel at the bottom.
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The bottom of the well
Look at the floor, a compass rose with the Templar cross, and then look up. That is the photo.
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The tunnel and the lake
About 50 meters of dark, damp tunnel that comes out at a lake with a waterfall. The stepping stones across the waterfall are slippery: only in shoes with grip.
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The chapel
Many groups walk right past it. It has a pentagram and the cross of the Order of Christ on the floor, plus frescoes and stained glass full of symbols.
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The palace
A quick 10 to 15 minute visit: the hunting room with its carved wooden ceiling and the view from the upper terrace.
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The gardens
If you have time left, the Promenade of the Gods, the Egyptian fountain and the second well, smaller and unfinished.
Tips we wish we’d known
Tips
- Go to the Initiation Well first, even if it runs against the order on the map. The earlier you get there, the fewer people at the bottom.
- Plan on a 10 to 30 minute wait at the bottom for the photo on busy days. No ticket lets you skip it.
- The best light for the photo from the bottom is mid-morning, when it comes in evenly from above. Use your phone's wide-angle mode.
- If you are with a guide, do not pay for the audio guide.
Do
- Wear closed shoes with grippy soles: the tunnels and the staircase are damp.
- Bring your own water bottle; there are few fountains inside.
- For lunch, walk 8 to 10 minutes into central Sintra instead of using the cafés on the same street.
Don’t
- Do not pay anyone at the bottom of the well to take your photo. Tourists do it for each other for free.
- Do not buy "skip the line" tickets from sellers at the gate: there is no such thing.
- Do not sign up for "Templar tours" from informal guides on the street.
- Do not take a tuk-tuk from the station without agreeing on the price first.
Frequently asked questions
How much time do you need for Quinta da Regaleira?
About 90 minutes for the essentials: the well, the tunnel, the chapel and the palace. Two and a half hours to cover all the gardens.
Do you need to buy tickets in advance?
It is a good idea, because tickets are timed every 30 minutes. Buy them on the official ticket site or go with a tour that includes them.
Does the Lisboa Card include Regaleira?
No. There is only a small discount if you buy through the card's portal.
Can you do Pena and Regaleira on the same day?
Yes. The most practical plan is Pena early and Regaleira after lunch, which is what we did with our tour.
Were rituals really held in the well?
That is the story everyone tells, but no document confirms a rite was ever held there. Take it as legend.