Castelo dos Mouros in Sintra, Portugal: Photo spots, tips, and how to get there

Anyone looking for a medieval castle featuring amazing views over the town of Sintra? Then this is the perfect spot for you.

Looming above the surrounding forest, the Castelo dos Mouros gives you spectacular views over the town of Sintra. Despite not being as popular or elegant as Pena Palace, the Castelo dos Mouros deserves a visit while visiting Sintra. This is a great castle ruin that is still fairly intact despite abandonment, fires, and even earthquake damage – you will get a sense of what it must have been like to have been a medieval watchman on its ramparts. With winding walls measuring 450 meters long, and imposing lookout towers throughout, you’ll want to photograph every corner of the Castelo.

Tip: When visiting the Castelo dos Mouros bring comfortable shoes. No high heels or new shoes. As mentioned earlier, there are hundreds of steps along the way. We visited on a sunny day, but I imagine that if it rains it might get slippery. Also, because Castelo dos Mouros sits 210m above the town it might get chillier so bring a sweater with you if it’s not that warm. Bottom line: just make sure you dress accordingly.

What is the Castelo dos Mouros?

Be transported to the eras of knights and Muslim conquerors when visiting this fortification. Founded in the 10th century, during the Muslim occupation of the Iberian Peninsula, the Castelo dos Mouros strived to protect its surroundings along with the maritime access routes to Lisbon. It was such an imposing fortress in its heyday, that when a Viking war chief spotted the castle from sea, he had to stop for a visit. The Moors were here until 1147 when Sintra was handed over to Afonso Henriques, who was the first King of Portugal.

Then shortly thereafter, it was abandoned, having to survive a litany of damage over the epochs. Fast-forwarding to the 19th century King Ferdinand II renovated the castle including the damaged part of the Christian burial grounds of the Church. The Castelo overlooks the town of Sintra and is classified as part of the Sintra Cultural Landscape, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

What to do

Enjoy panoramic views: The Castelo dos Mouros is composed of a double belt of walls and gives you magnificent views of the town of Sintra with the Atlantic Ocean in the background. And from here you can spot Sintra’s top attractions including the Quinta da Regaleira, Pena Palace and the National Palace of Sintra (on a clear day you can even see Lisbon). If you have a camera with a good lens, your photos will be spectacular.

Read blog: Sintra, Portugal pictures that will make you fall in love

Climb to the towers: Do not forget to also visit the towers – the largest being the Torre Real, which can be reached by climbing up 500 steps from the main courtyard. Yes, we already told you there is plenty of walking at the Castelo! This tower provides the best views with the Palace of Pena forming the backdrop, and it was King Ferdinand’s favorite tower.

Visit the cistern: Since the Castelo gave protection for people, there is also a cistern that provided water and can still be visited today. The Cistern is covered with a vault and has the capacity amounting to around 600m3.

Stop by the silos: The use of silos for food storage space (including for cereals and grains) was introduced in Al-Andalus by Muslims (the mid to southern section of the Iberian Peninsula) with several inside and outside the Castelo. They come in all shapes and sizes, carved into rocks of the hill.

View the tomb: In the tomb there is an inscription that reads “What man brought together, only God may separate” given the inability to distinguish whether these were Christian or Moorish human remains. The tomb was commissioned by King Ferdinand given that the Christian burial grounds of the church was damaged, and bones had to be stored somewhere else. There is also a small museum nearby (a few feet away) with artifacts dating back to pre-history.

Explore tours to the Castelo dos Mouros

How to get to the Castelo dos Mouros

There are several ways to get to the Castelo dos Mouros:

On foot: It’s possible to walk up to the Castelo dos Mouros from downtown Sintra. It should be about 2 kms uphill. However, we don’t really recommend it as it is very high up the sierra. Once you get to the entrance, you still need to walk up another 400 mts to get to the castle itself and then you have tons of stairs all around. We suggest you save your energy. However if you really want to walk up and exercise, remember to bring comfortable shoes and water because there are no shops along the way.

Uber: This was our preferred option – very convenient, extremely reliable and not expensive.

Bus 434: This is another option that you can explore. Buses leave from the center of Sintra and stop at the most popular attractions including the Castelo. However, these buses are extremely packed during the high season (and frankly in the low season as well) so you might have to wait for a bus that’s not crowded. The good thing about these buses is that you can hop on and off for 24 hours and visit all attractions.

Tuk tuk: There are plenty of tuk tuk offering to give you a tour of the most visited attractions. We hear that they sometimes overcharge so keep this in mind and agree on the price of your trip in advance so there are no surprises.

Opening hours and tickets information

Sintra is a very popular destination given that it has so many amazing attractions. Therefore, it gets very crowded and no one wants to stand in line for hours (especially on cold or hot days). I recommend you head early to the Castelo dos Mouros. When we visited, we arrived around 10 am and it was almost empty. I imagine everyone else was in line at Pena Palace. We also bought the tickets in advance just in case. We recommend you do the same – especially if you are visiting during the high season.

As of April 2023, the ticket costs 8 euros per person. The castle hours are from 9:30am to 8pm in spring and summer and in the autumn-winter season from 10am to 6pm.

We are part of several affiliate programs including Viator and Amazon which means that we will earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you make a purchase through the links included in this post.