Dear Travellers,
I'm off to Portugal soon with my boyfriend. We will be backpacking and we are looking for clean, cheap & well-located budget accommodation in Sintra (if it exists!), Obidos and Tomar or surrounding areas. Any suggestions?
Also I have read that some locals rent cheap rooms at their place. Where can we find those? Do they wait for you at the train/bus stations?
Thanks a million for your tips.
Eve
In Sintra - didn't stay there myself, but local friends recommended Pensao Nova Sintra, close to the train station.
I stayed at Residencial Luz (32.50 euros for a double ensuite) in Tomar on Tuesday and can advise that it's cheap, relatively clean, and very centrally located. It's not the best property of its type in which I've stayed in Portugal, but it does the job and you can ask for (and get) rooms that essentially front on the Praca da Republica and, if you turn your head, you get a wonderful view of the Convento de Cristo ramparts from your room. Tomar is a lovely town, and markedly absent of tourists at this time of year (I counted 20 the entire time we were at the Convento de Cristo, and almost all of them seemed to be Portuguese), and well worth the detour.
I found out too late that train fare to Tomar and admission to the Convento is covered by the Lisboa Card -- as are the UNESCO sites in Batalha and Alcobaca, as well as comboio trips to Sintra and Cascais -- so you might just want to think about getting a cheap room in Lisbon for four or five days and making day trips to the surrounding region, with one overnight at Tomar. If I had to do my recent trip over again, and wanted to do it cheaply, I'd have done this:
Day 1: Lisbon. Buy the Lisbon Card for three days (approx 30 Euros/person for three days) and spend an hour or two at the Castelo de Sao Jorge if you haven't seen it before. Head off to Tomar by train and tour the Convento. Overnight in Tomar. You can try to work in a quick sidetrip to Alcobaca or Batalha (there's about four or five buses a day on the Nazare-Batalha-Alcobaca-Tomar route @ 8.6 Euros a person), but that would make for a very long day.
Day 2: Take the train from Tomar to Santa Appollonia station, the metro from SA to Restauradores station, and then the Sintra interurban train to Sintra. That's three hours of travelling right there, but you'll then have the day in Sintra. After touring Sintra, return in the evening and crash in a cheap room in Lisbon. All transit costs are again covered by the Lisbon Card.
Day 3: Tour the Alfama district in the morning, Belem in the afternoon, and, if you're up to it, have dinner in Cascais. All transit is, again, covered by the Lisbon Card.
I found the Lisbon Card to be a good deal, but you have to remember to keep the accompanying book with you, as many attractions will demand the coupons in the book before they will give you the promised discount. I'd also suggest that the 2006 LP book "Best of Lisbon" is already out of date and contains some misinformation (Sintra trains leave from Rossio, not Entrecampos!), so be wary of it.
Finally, no one advertised cheap rooms at the various bus and train stations that I visited in the same way that one would be able to get a casa particular in Cuba by just showing up. I was, however, handed an ad for what looked like a cheap residencial in Lisbon while waiting around for a train at Santa Appolonia station. I already had a room, so didn't investigate further.
Have fun! Although I just returned from Portugal myself, I'd go back again in a heartbeat.
Dear David,
Thank you so much for your long and VERY helpful reply. We are off to portugal tomorrow & we shall follow your advice.
Thanks again for taking the time and...
Happy future travelling to you!
Eve
Just got back from Portugal, glorious place! Stayed two nights in Sintra, which was a good way to see the big sites and not worry about rushing back to Lisbon. Word to the wise -- Sintra is beautiful, but also very touristy (after a week in the country, I had wondered where all the ugly Americans were - they are in Sintra). Stayed at this place for 45 euro with private bathroom: http://www.dmariaparreirinha.com/ Nothing fancy, but great location near train station and easy walk to "downtown" tourist attractions as well as supermarkets and whatnot in the modern part of town. Try to include a Sunday in your stay so you can visit a few places for free in the morning (Modern Art Museum, National Palace). FYI: Pena Palace is not free, just slightly discounted on Sunday morning: it cost 9.50 each for the palace and gardens, plus 4.50 each for the all-day, hop on and hop off bus. Did the Mourish Castle another day, hiked the 2 miles up and down, totally worth going to. Get a one day rover pass if you think you'll take lots of buses in the region, it's 10 euro and includes buses to Cascais and other nearby towns (3.55 each) or the Train + Bus pass for 12 euro including train to and from Lisbon if within 24 hours. Also, food is expensive in Sintra since it's a tourist town, I liked the Chinese place across from the train station and Don Pappas down the street from our hotel, as well as the Two Squared Hostel.
Have fun!