Day trip to Sintra, a town northwest of Lisbon

We took a 40 minute train ride to a town outside of Lisbon where you feel you've stepped back in time to the 19th century.  It has a picturesque landscape with mountains, forests, castles, palaces and incredible gardens.  Of course, it is a popular destination for tourists.  There is a small town center and an area with intricate streets where you can eat and buy endless souvenirs.  There is so much to do in Sintra so we went with the plan to explore an estate called Quinta da Regaleira.

This is the main residence on the property.  We were allowed to explore inside where there were decorative wooden ceilings and lots of windows to look out to the gardens.  We didn't eat at the restaurant that is now attached to the back of the building.

As you walk through the property, there were tiny steep stone pathways that lead you to all sorts of impressive structures, like this tower with winding stone stairs.  

There were also two wells or 'subterranean towers' that go 27m into the earth.  This is a picture of the finished well, but there is another that seems incomplete and not as refined.  There was a spiral stone staircase that connected to some very dark tunnels.  

This is a picture as you exit one of the tunnels where you had to cross these tiny steps in the water.  Check out the images page for more photos of Sintra!