From Cascais, Sintra and Cabo da Roca are both about 16 km away (20–25 minutes by car), Mafra and Ericeira are 35–38 km, and the Arrábida beaches and Óbidos take a little over an hour each way. This guide covers six day trips from Cascais by car with distances, driving times, tolls and 2026 ticket prices – including the one thing many visitors get wrong: you cannot drive up to the Pena Palace.
Cascais has a good train to Lisbon, but almost everything else worth seeing nearby is easier by car: the cliffs of Cabo da Roca, the beaches north of Sintra, Mafra, Ericeira and the Arrábida coast have slow or indirect public transport. Two motorways start at the edge of town, the A5 to Lisbon and the A16 to Sintra, and both are tolled; the coast road to Guincho and Cabo da Roca is free.
Need a car? Lisbon Airport, about 34 km and 30 minutes from Cascais on the A5, has by far the largest choice of rental companies. We compare them with DiscoverCars; most offers can be cancelled free of charge. There are also a few rental offices in Cascais itself – see our Cascais car rental guide and the Lisbon car rental guide.
Compare car rental at Lisbon Airport →| Day trip from Cascais | Distance (one way) | Driving time | Tolls | Main ticket |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabo da Roca (via Guincho) | about 16 km | 25 minutes | none | free |
| Sintra | about 16 km | 20–25 minutes | A16 tolled; N9 free | Pena Palace from €20, Quinta da Regaleira €20 |
| Mafra | about 35 km | 35–40 minutes | A16 tolled | National Palace €15 |
| Ericeira | about 38 km | 40–45 minutes | A16 tolled; A21 from Mafra tolled | free |
| Setúbal and Arrábida (Portinho) | about 70 km | 1 hour 10–15 minutes | A5 and A2 tolled; bridge €2.25 (into Lisbon only) | free |
| Óbidos | about 105 km | 1 hour 10–15 minutes | A16, CREL and A8, all tolled | free (walled town) |
| Lisbon Airport | about 34 km | 30 minutes | A5 tolled | – |
Distances are measured from the centre of Cascais with a route planner; times assume normal traffic, which is rare on the A5 in the morning rush hour and around Sintra on summer weekends. Toll figures are the 2026 rates for an ordinary car (class 1). For the A16 and for complete routes, use our Portugal toll calculator. Fuel: 95-octane petrol averaged about €2.08 per litre in Portugal in the week of 5–11 October 2026 (DGEG figures).
Sintra is about 16 km from Cascais, and its wooded hills, listed by UNESCO as a cultural landscape in 1995, hold the Pena Palace, the Moorish Castle, the National Palace in the old town and the gardens of Quinta da Regaleira with their famous initiation well.
The important thing to know is that you cannot drive to the Pena Palace: Parques de Sintra states that private vehicles are not authorised on the access road. Leave the car in Sintra and take bus 434 from the railway station, or walk up. The streets of the historic centre are narrow, parking there is very limited, and the council has been restricting private cars at busy times – in spring 2026 the centre was closed to visitors’ cars from 19 March to 6 April. The easiest plan is to use one of the car parks on the edge of town, such as the free park-and-ride at Lourel (543 spaces), and continue by bus.
The coast road north of Cascais passes Boca do Inferno and the dunes and surf of Guincho beach (about 7 km), then climbs through Malveira da Serra into the Sintra hills on the N247. A side road from Azóia leads to Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of mainland Europe, where a lighthouse stands on cliffs about 140 metres above the Atlantic.
It is always windy at the cape, so bring a jacket even in summer, and keep behind the fences: the cliff edge is unstable. From here you can continue to Colares, Praia das Maçãs and the cliff village of Azenhas do Mar (about 23 km from Cascais), or on to Sintra. We describe this loop in more detail in the Guincho and Cabo da Roca coastal drive.
Ericeira, a whitewashed fishing town on low cliffs, was declared a World Surfing Reserve in 2011, the first in Europe. Ribeira d’Ilhas, just north of the town, is its best-known wave. Even if you do not surf, it is a good place for a seafood lunch and a walk above the beaches.
The usual route is the A16 past Sintra and then the N9 to Mafra; from Mafra, Ericeira is about 10 km on the N116 (free) or the tolled A21. Ericeira and Mafra are easy to combine in one day.
The palace-convent of Mafra, built for King João V in the 18th century and a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2019, is one of the largest buildings in Portugal. The visit includes the royal apartments and a remarkable Rococo library.
The palace is also closed on 1 January, Easter Sunday, 1 May and 25 December, and its website says the basilica has been closed for restoration since January 2025. Next to the palace, the Tapada Nacional de Mafra, the former royal hunting park where deer roam freely, sells tickets from €5; book on its website.
Óbidos is a small medieval town completely enclosed by its walls, with whitewashed houses, a castle that is now a hotel and bars selling ginjinha, a sour-cherry liqueur, in chocolate cups. It is further than it looks on the map: about 105 km from Cascais, mostly on tolled motorways (A16, the CREL ring and the A8).
Cars are parked outside the walls, in the car parks by the aqueduct and the main gate; we could not confirm their current prices with the town council. Walking on top of the walls is free, but there is no railing on the inner side, so take care with children.
South of the Tagus, the limestone hills of the Arrábida Natural Park fall into clear, sheltered water at Figueirinha, Galapos, Galapinhos and Portinho da Arrábida. The city of Setúbal, at the eastern end, is known for fried cuttlefish and Moscatel wine.
You drive the A5 to Lisbon, cross the 25 de Abril Bridge and follow the A2. The bridge toll is charged only northbound, on the way back. In the bathing season the beach road is restricted: in 2026 private cars were kept out of the Figueirinha access between 07:00 and 20:00 from 4 June to 15 September, and the road to Portinho and Creiro was closed whenever the car parks were full. Outside those months you can normally drive down; in summer park in Setúbal and use the beach buses.
The A5 between Cascais and Lisbon has ordinary toll booths where you can pay by card or cash; the A16, A8, A21 and A2 are tolled as well. Rental companies usually offer a Via Verde transponder for a small daily fee, which lets you use the green lanes. Our guide to tolls in Portugal explains how rental cars are charged.
Street parking in Cascais is paid from Monday to Saturday, 09:00 to 19:00, and free on Sundays and public holidays. Municipal car parks such as Marechal Carmona (at most €5 a day) and the one at the railway station are open 24 hours. See parking in Cascais and the Cascais parking zones and rules.
Spring and early autumn are the most comfortable months for these trips. In July and August, Sintra is at its busiest from late morning, so go early or late in the day, and the Arrábida beach roads are restricted.
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Disclosure: Auto Jardim participates in the DiscoverCars affiliate programme. When you book a car through our links we may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Fact-checked on 11 October 2026. Sources: Parques de Sintra (Pena), Quinta da Regaleira, Museus e Monumentos de Portugal (Mafra), Tapada Nacional de Mafra, the IMT 2026 toll tables, Câmara Municipal de Sintra and Câmara Municipal de Setúbal traffic notices as reported by RTP and Lusa, Cascais municipal parking information, DGEG weekly fuel averages, and a route planner for distances and times. Distances and driving times are approximate; prices, opening hours and traffic rules change, so check before you travel.
