Adult
Moorish Castle full site
€22
- Full battlement walk · outer and inner walls, Royal Tower
- Romanesque chapel + archaeological site
- Skip-the-line priority entry
- 5-minute audio history sent before your visit
Climb the wall the Moors built into the granite
Sintra's 8th-century hilltop fortress — 1,200-year-old battlements running along the ridge above the village. From the Royal Tower you can see Pena Palace one ridge over, the entire Sintra valley, and the Atlantic on the western horizon — the same view the sentries had before Portugal existed.
See ticket options- UNESCO Cultural Landscape of Sintra, 1995
- 8th–9th c. Umayyad Moorish hilltop fortress
- 450 m of battlements across the Sintra ridge
- 1147 Surrendered to Afonso Henriques
Choose your ticket
Youth
Ages 6–17 (with parent/guardian)
€19
- Full battlement walk · outer and inner walls, Royal Tower
- Romanesque chapel + archaeological site
- Valid with photo ID at entry (birth year / senior ID)
- 5-minute audio history sent before your visit
Senior
Ages 65+ (photo ID required at entry)
€19
- Full battlement walk · outer and inner walls, Royal Tower
- Romanesque chapel + archaeological site
- Valid with photo ID at entry (birth year / senior ID)
- 5-minute audio history sent before your visit
- Book in your languageYour currency, final price.
- Pro tips includedBest times, secret spots, the room most miss.
- Ready before you flyMobile ticket, ready in your inbox.
- 24/7 human supportReal people, instant answers — any hour, any time zone.
Brighton, UK
“Did the Moorish Castle at the 09:30 opening and Pena Palace at the 11:30 timed slot — walked between the two entrances along the Parques de Sintra forest path in about 25 minutes. The concierge sequenced both bookings for the same day so we didn't have to think about it.”
Tokyo, Japan
“Windy on the battlements, even in May. The concierge warned us to bring a jacket — good advice, half the tourists in t-shirts were freezing. 360-degree views once we got to the Royal Tower.”
Barcelona, Spain
“Took the 434 bus up from Sintra station rather than walking the trail from town — good call, the climb is no joke. Dog-friendly which surprised us (ours is a small one). Great-Wall-of-Portugal feeling wrapping the ridge.”
5-minute audio guide
Your Castelo dos Mouros 5-minute guide
Hand-written, narrated by a heritage host, sent to every customer the day before their visit. Five minutes on Sintra's oldest fortification — built by 8th-9th century Moors, captured by Afonso Henriques in 1147, restored as a Romantic ruin by Ferdinand II in the 1840s.
Included with your booking — your full guide arrives with your ticket.Get your guide
- Why the Moors picked this exact ridge — and what they could see
- The 1147 surrender to Afonso Henriques without a fight
- Ferdinand II's restoration: preserving the ruin, not rebuilding
- What to look for on the wall walk and the cistern stairs
Included free with every ticket. No app, no download — plays in any browser.
About Castelo dos Mouros (Moorish Castle)
The Castelo dos Mouros — the Moorish Castle — is an 8th- to 9th-century hilltop fortress on the Sintra ridge, built under Umayyad rule to guard the western approaches to al-Ushbuna (the Arab name for Lisbon). Its 450 metres of battlements trace a narrow mountain crest at roughly 450 metres above sea level, looking across on one side to the Atlantic and on the other to the Tagus and the Lisbon plain.
The castle surrendered peacefully to Afonso Henriques, Portugal's first king, in 1147 — shortly after the Christian capture of Lisbon. Afonso granted a charter to thirty settlers in 1154. The castle lost military importance from the 15th century; the 1755 Lisbon earthquake left it partially ruined. In the 1840s King Ferdinand II began a Romantic-era restoration — consolidating the walls, restoring towers, reforesting the site — while he built Pena Palace on the adjacent peak. He treated the castle as a Romantic ruin to be seen from Pena, and the result is a deliberate visual pairing that shaped every subsequent image of Sintra.
UNESCO inscribed the Moorish Castle along with Pena, Sintra, Regaleira, and the surrounding mountains as the Cultural Landscape of Sintra in 1995 — the first European cultural landscape ever listed as a World Heritage Site. The monument today is managed by Parques de Sintra – Monte da Lua S.A., the state heritage company.
Practical information
- Opening hours
- Daily 09:30–18:00 · last ticket and last admission 17:30. Ticket office closes for lunch 12:00–13:00 (automatic machines remain available). Confirm current holiday hours on parquesdesintra.pt.
- Address
- Castelo dos Mouros, 2710-405 Sintra, Portugal
- Getting there from Sintra station
- Tourist bus 434 (Scotturb 'Circuito da Pena') climbs the ridge in under 15 minutes and serves both the Moorish Castle and Pena Palace on the same loop. A 24-hour hop-on/hop-off ticket covers both stops. Walking: about 3.5 km uphill through forest via the Santa Maria or Seteais trails — roughly 45–60 minutes with ~400 m of climb.
- Getting there from Lisbon
- CP train from Rossio or Oriente to Sintra (~40 minutes), then bus 434.
- Accessibility
- Partial. Ramps, lifts, and an elevator reach parts of the access route; traction-manual wheelchairs are available at the ticket desk. Gift shop, café, and restrooms are wheelchair-accessible. The battlement walk itself — narrow stone steps with exposed edges — is NOT wheelchair-accessible.
- Photography
- Personal photography allowed throughout; tripods and drones require operator authorisation. Flash permitted outdoors on the open battlements.
- Footwear
- Sturdy, grippy closed shoes essential — battlement stones are polished and slippery when wet or windy.
- Children
- Welcome with close supervision on the battlement walk (narrow steps, low parapets in places, sheer drops outside the wall).
- What to wear
- No formal code. Wind-resistant layer strongly recommended; the ridge is exposed year-round.
About our service
Moorish Castle Tickets is an independent concierge service. We facilitate ticket purchases from Parques de Sintra – Monte da Lua S.A., the official operator, on behalf of international visitors. We do not resell tickets — we provide a personalised booking and support service in your own language. Our service fee is included in the displayed price. For those who prefer to purchase directly, the official ticket site is parquesdesintra.pt.
Plan your visit
Practical guides written by our concierge team
The Best Time to Visit the Moorish Castle in Sintra
A month-by-month guide to weather, mist, light and crowds on the Sintra ridge — and why the Castelo dos Mouros rewards a different itinerary slot than Pena Palace.
How to Get to the Moorish Castle from Lisbon
Every realistic transport option from central Lisbon to the gates of the Castelo dos Mouros, with timings, transfer points, the bus 434 loop, and the Santa Maria walking trail from Sintra town.
Moorish Castle vs Pena Palace: Which One — or Both — Should You Visit?
The two monuments share a ridge, a UNESCO inscription and an operator, but they are very different experiences. Here's how to choose, or how to do both well in one day.
Frequently asked
What's included in the Moorish Castle ticket?
Full site access: outer and inner walls with the complete battlement walk, the Royal Tower keep, rectangular and circular flanking towers, the Romanesque Chapel of São Pedro de Canaferrim, the archaeological site outside the walls, the cistern, and the interpretive exhibition. Audio guides are a separate rental.
How long do I need at the Moorish Castle?
Minimum 1 hour to walk the battlement circuit and climb the Royal Tower. 1.5–2 hours to include the chapel, archaeological site, and take in the views without rushing.
Can I combine it with Pena?
Yes — both sit on the same ridge about 1.5–2 km apart (20–40 minutes on foot or one stop on bus 434). The Moorish Castle is open admission across opening hours, while Pena's interior tour is a fixed timed slot — so book Pena Palace first to lock the slot, then visit the Moorish Castle whenever suits your day. We can add a Pena Palace ticket to your booking after checkout if you'd like one sequenced into the same day.
Is the battlement walk safe?
Generally safe with normal care, but the stone steps are narrow and some battlement sections have low parapets with sheer drops outside. In wet or very windy weather Parques de Sintra may close the most exposed sections. Supervise children closely and wear grippy closed shoes.
Is it worth it?
Yes, especially paired with Pena. The Moorish Castle has the most panoramic views in Sintra — town, Pena, Atlantic, Cascais all visible from the Royal Tower — and the monument itself is atmospheric and low-key compared with the busier Pena Palace and Regaleira.
What is the Castelo dos Mouros (Moorish Castle)?
The Castelo dos Mouros, or Moorish Castle, is a ruined medieval hilltop fortress on the Sintra ridge in Portugal, roughly 25 kilometres north-west of Lisbon. It was built by the Moors during the 8th and 9th centuries, when the Iberian Peninsula was under Umayyad rule, to guard the approaches to Lisbon and the surrounding countryside. After the Christian conquest of Lisbon in 1147, the castle surrendered to Afonso Henriques, Portugal's first king, who granted its settlers a charter in 1154. The fortress later fell into ruin and was partly damaged by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. In the 1840s King Ferdinand II began a Romantic-era restoration, consolidating the walls and reforesting the slopes. Today its battlements wind along the granite crest, offering panoramic views over the town of Sintra, the surrounding hills, and the Atlantic on the western horizon. It forms part of the UNESCO Cultural Landscape of Sintra, inscribed in 1995.
How do I get to the Castelo dos Mouros (Moorish Castle)?
The Moorish Castle sits on the Sintra ridge, about 25 kilometres north-west of Lisbon, and most visitors reach it in two stages. From Lisbon, take the suburban train from Rossio station in the city centre to Sintra, a journey of about 40 minutes with frequent departures. From Sintra station, the simplest option is bus 434, a hop-on circular service that climbs the ridge and stops at the Moorish Castle before continuing to Pena Palace. The bus takes under fifteen minutes and runs roughly every fifteen to twenty minutes in high season. Walking up is also possible: the Santa Maria trail from the town centre climbs about 2.5 kilometres through forest and takes 30 to 45 minutes. Driving is discouraged, as there is no parking at the gate and the mountain roads are narrow and congested. Many visitors walk up by trail and ride bus 434 back down.