Sintra- Bouldering Destination Guide

Photo credit: Chris ‘Tiffa’ Pearson

Sintra is an area to the north-west of Lisbon, approximately 45 mins to an hour drive from Lisbon International airport. The area is home to thousands of prominently granite boulders in lush forests that are rich in Cork Oak, Umbrella Pines and Eucalyptus. It offers grades from f3 to f8 and above, so has something for everyone to enjoy! As well as phenomenal bouldering the area boasts stunning granite trad climbing, limestone sport climbing and stunning beaches to surf the wild Atlantic swells. Accessing Sintra is simple with a vehicle and there is plenty of public transport to certain locations. 

Where to stay and food?

Our accommodation for the week was at the Oasis Backpackers Hostel, which provided us with a comfortable family room of 9 nights for €775 for three of us. The hostel had an off-site cafe (cheap coffee), supermarket, ATM, a range of evening food options (Pizza, Thai, Pasta, Burgers, Sushi and ice creams) plus two bars serving spirits and craft beer. The food was great quality and averaged €13 a meal. The food vendors were open Tuesday to Sunday from 1830 to 2130. 

Other food options

On Monday when all the food vendors at our hostel were closed we ventured to the small village of Colares and had good value steak and burgers at Hopsins craft brewery, as well as some excellent craft beer. Avoid the canned cider!  

Photo credit: Dave Williams

Bouldering information 

The guidebook for the area maps hundreds of granite bouldering routes, yet as we found out on our arrival to the bouldering shop there have been a limited number of books printed. So, I would highly advise purchasing both the Sintra Bouldering and Lisbon Climbing guidebooks, before travelling to the area. 

Our first point of call was the Sintra Bouldering Shop and we were welcomed in by Laura. Pad rental for two days was €45 and we luckily rented the last one. I’d recommend either bringing your own pad/s if you are intending to solely boulder in the area or calling ahead to reserve a pad from the shop.

Laura kindly let us look at the shop’s copy of the bouldering guide and with a few pictures and recommendations we headed off to check our first venue at Cupuchos. We parked for free in the Cupuchos Convent car park and wandered off into the surrounding woodland to find some of the stunning orange boulders in the dappled sunlight. 

I’d recommend checking out Boulder A (Ovo- 6a), Boulder J (Aquecimento Forcado- 6a and Bucha E Estica- 6a+) and Boulder U (Problem 2-5). We also made up our own traverse from left to right across the slab of Boulder U.

Photo credit: Peak Climbing School

Day 2 took us to Mito, which was close to Cupuchos but in a different area of the forest. It took us a while to navigate our way through the vegetation to locate this area and we finally came across Boulder G (Graciosa), which provided a range of steep, sharp-hold laden problems and also a tricky slab problem into a channel above. We attempted a running Dyno problem onto two razor edged holds, which resulted in a flapper or two. 

Our favourite boulder of the day at Mito was on Boulder D, which we didn't have a Topo for, but offered an obvious line at around 5+/6a. 

Trad climbing

Photo credit: Chris ‘Tiffa’ Pearson

After a few days of bouldering and with our fingers and arms sore, we ventured out to explore a more adventurous area of Sintra. We headed for the coast and the cliffs of Ponta Atlantica, which was located near Cabo Roca and its famous lighthouse. We parked the car on a rough area of land on the cliff top and found the path down towards the coast to the right hand side of a large house. The path followed the property's wall and descended down through the rocky cliffs to the right hand side of the headland. After descending for several hundred metres, I spotted the first bolted belay points and identified our location in relation to the climbs below. 

A 20/ 25 metre abseil took us down into a boulder strewn zawn, that was surrounded by several imposing granite faces. We chose the obvious trad line that was suggested at a grade 5 and ascended via a steep crack through a small overhang and up onto a slabby face above. I set off up and managed to overcome the steep crack with thankfully good gear (felt around VS 4c), before taking care to make my way with a loose, crumbly face above. I was soon joined by companions Tiffa and Dave.

Photo credit: Peak Climbing School

After a spot of lunch, myself and Dave returned to the base of the zawn to explore another grade 5 route that followed a rising traverse line. Dave led the way on pitch one, which offered the most memorable climbing of the trip and culminated in a tricky step across a hanging slab (felt around VS 4b). The exposure and coastal setting gave the pitch a superb atmosphere. The second pitch was relatively straightforward with a balancy step over a gap to a bolted belay. Dave arrived to meet having nearly fallen off as a hold had broken off in his hand! Dave scrambled off and called me up to follow to reunite with Tiffa and set off back to the car in the fading light. 

Sport climbing

Photo credit: Peak Climbing School

Day 4 brought cloudy skies and slightly cooler temperatures, so we headed along the coast to Farol da Guia near to the town of Cascais. The drive was a lovely winding coastal road that provided excellent views of the coast's many surfing beaches. 

We parked in a lay-by off the road and we were pleased to discover that parking was free on a Sunday (There are also free lay-bys further down the coast away from the town). We set off from the car down a narrow flight of steps between some buildings, the trail marked with a sign stating the School of Climbing. 

On the descent we found a noticeboard with all the routes in the area marked clear on a picture of the crag below and handily once we were at the crag, each route was marked with its name painted at its base along with its grade. 

The crag provided some interesting climbing and was a surprisingly good spot to hangout and enjoy the sea views. The routes were all well equipped and the routes were in excellent condition for their coastal location. We ended up spending two days climbing here during our stay in the area and the crag dried quickly after rain. 

We highly recommend Doce (4+), Tubo (5) and Bicepes (6a) all steep and passing through interesting features. But be aware of the polish and some stiff grading! 

Other climbing

We did attempt to investigate the climbing below the Moorish Castle in Sintra (Castelo dos Mouros) at Penedo da Amizade, which required parking in Sintra and taking a bus (the 434) up the hill out of the town, plus a steep walk up through the forest to its base. We did spot parking places closer to the crag, but they were limited and busy due to its proximity to the famous Palace and Moorish Castle. 

We sadly only managed one pitch and hasty retreat due to some sea fog dampening the lichenious granite, which turned it into a slippery nightmare. We found route finding tricky, even once we found the useless noticeboard Topo. The routes appeared mainly bolts, but a rack would be useful for some pitches. The routes were up to 120 metres long and top out near the castle above. 

Our descent from Penedo de Amizade took us past Sintra's palace with its bottle-shaped kilns and through the quant cobbled streets. An area that is definitely worth exploring! 

A review

Photo credit: Peak Climbing School

Sintra is a quiet backwater at the time of year we visited (end of November), but it is clear it offers a much livelier proposition in the summer months. We didn't see any other climbers at the crags apart from Farol da Guia, which is located very close to Lisbon. If we had had a guidebook and better weather at the end of the trip, there would have been numerous other bouldering areas to explore amongst the lush forests. Also there seems plenty of options for new routing! 

Our accommodation was good and relatively cheap, but there may be other options with more travellers and climbers to add to the atmosphere in the evenings.

The weather was generally good and the temperature was perfect for climbing, but beware of the potential for rain and sea fog. That's why the coast is so lush and green! 

My top tips of touching up Sintra

Photo credit: Dave Williams

• Granite is harsh on the fingers, so take plenty of tape.
• The problems are generally steep and powerful, so if you're climbing 6a and above you will have plenty of options. 
• Bring your own bouldering pad or reserve in advance as availability at the climbing shop is limited. 
• Buy a guidebook before travelling to the area.
• Gluten-free food options aren't readily available, so it’s worth bringing plenty of dietary substitutions.