Sintra · PortugalEstablished 1996

The hand-painted blue-and-white azulejo panel beside the front door, lettered “Casa da Paderna”.

A 19th-century chalet in the heart of Sintra Old Town

Six rooms, fourteen guests and the Arraçário Valley falling away green beneath every window.

Check dates See the rooms
Casa da Paderna seen from the lane below: whitewashed walls, scalloped eaves, terracotta roof tiles and a blue azulejo saint set into the façade, framed by foliage against a deep blue sky.

The house

Come down the hill and put your feet up

Casa da Paderna is a sunny, light-filled chalet built in the 1800s, ten minutes on foot from the middle of Sintra Old Town and a world away from it. Three floors step down the slope with patios, terraces and gardens between them. A studio of its own stands apart in the garden. And every single room faces the valley, which is what brings people back: the Arraçário pouring away beneath the windows in seventy shades of green, the palaces standing on the ridge above it and the light moving over all of it from first thing in the morning until the sun goes down behind the hill.

Most people come here to get everybody back under one roof at once — the grandparents, the cousins, the ones who never manage to make it. We sleep fourteen, plus three babies or small children. Dogs are welcome. The family has been doing this since 1996 — long enough that the guest books have filled a shelf.

The house from the air, its three floors stepping down the wooded slope, with the marquee pitched in the garden below it.
Three floors down the slope, the marquee in the garden below
Sleeps
14 guests
Rooms
Six
Events
Up to 35
To Old Town
10 min on foot
Kitchens
One per floor
Dogs
Welcome

The main floor

Rooms that were built for a crowd

Chandeliers, a working fireplace, a wall of books and a dining table that puts twelve of you round it at once. These rooms were built for a family at full strength and that is when they are happiest. The doors open onto the garden and mostly stay that way.

The house is self-catering. There is a kitchen on every floor as well as one in the studio — the old tiled one in the photographs belongs to this floor — so fourteen of you can cook without anybody queueing for a hob. Palace Square, the heart of the Old Town, is ten minutes up the hill.

The living room: a chandelier, an open fireplace, dusty-pink armchairs and sofas grouped on a patterned rug.
The living room and its fireplace
A second view of the living room, with tall bookshelves filling the far wall beside the windows.
A wall of books
The dining room, with an antique dresser displaying painted plates beneath a chandelier.
The extra leaf seats twelve
Double doors standing open from the house onto the garden, an antique cabinet to one side and greenery beyond.
The garden door
The kitchen, with original 19th-century blue-and-white azulejo tiling behind the hob and a stone surround.
Original 19th-century tiles in the kitchen
The long garden table set under the trees, with the terraced hillside and the Arraçário Valley opening up beyond it.
The long table in the garden, the valley beyond it
The terraced hillside falling away below the house, layered in ferns, hedges and old trees — the seventy shades of green of the Arraçário Valley.
Seventy shades of green, straight down the slope
The studio's own terrace: loungers and a parasol on the stone, with the wooded valley beyond the railing.
The studio’s own terrace
A slatted table on the terrace with a wicker lantern and a bowl on it, chairs drawn up, the valley behind.
The lantern on the terrace table

Six rooms

Wake up to a magnificent view

The rooms are known by their colours, the way the family has always called them. What they have in common is the window. There is not one room in this house that does not open onto the valley — you throw back the shutters and the whole Arraçário is lying there green in front of you. The guest books come back to that view before they mention anything else. Take whichever one you like the look of.

The house from above, its terracotta roofs and dormer windows set among the gardens, with the green of the valley all around it.
The house, from over the garden
A stone table and two chairs in the garden, in the sun, looking out over the terraced valley.
The valley, from a table in the garden
An evening over the valley, in twenty seconds
The Blue Room: a double bed dressed in blue against white walls, beside a red lacquered cabinet.
The Blue Room's reading corner: a blue velvet armchair beside the window, with a chest of drawers alongside. The Blue Room's bathroom: the 19th-century roll-top tub on claw feet against blue-bordered tiles.
Blue

The Blue Room

A double bed facing the valley and a blue velvet chair in the window to sit and look at it from. En suite, with the 19th-century tub and its original tiles.
The Yellow Room: a mustard-yellow sofa and bed beside an antique dresser with a mirror, lit by a corner window.
The Yellow Room from the other side, with an antique dresser and mirror beside the window. The Yellow Room's fully renovated bathroom, with a timber vanity and a walk-in shower.
Yellow

The Yellow Room

A wide corner window over the valley and nooks enough to settle into. En suite, with a fully renovated bathroom.
The Green Room: a bed with a painted iron headboard beside a green-framed window opening onto the trees.
The Green Room from the doorway, the bed turned towards the green-framed window. The Green Room's reading corner: a chair set at a tall window that opens onto the trees.
Green

The Green Room

A bed beside green shutters that fold back onto the hillside and a reading corner at the window, with a terrace on this floor to share.
The Twin Room: two single beds under a sloping attic ceiling, beside a green-framed window and a painted toy chest.
The Twin Room under the eaves, with an embroidered chair and an oval mirror on the sloping wall. The Twin Room's bathroom in the old style, with a green-framed window and patterned floor tiles.
Twin

The Twin Room

Two single beds under the eaves, best for the younger ones, with a door straight out to the terraced gardens.
The Birds Room: a double bed against wallpaper of flowering branches, with a doorway through to the library.
The Birds Room's window, the greenery pressing right up against the glass. The Birds Room's fully renovated bathroom, with a walk-in shower and a marble surround.
Birds

The Birds Room

A double bed in a sunny room, papered in flowering branches, with the greenery at the window and a fully renovated bathroom.
The Studio's own terrace: a table laid under a blue sky, looking out over the valley to the hills and rooftops of Sintra.
The Studio's terrace in full sun, with loungers and a parasol above the garden. The Studio's queen bed against wallpaper of green leaves.
Studio

The Studio

A queen bed with a private bath and its own kitchen, standing apart in the garden with the one terrace that belongs to a single room. Small and all yours.
A wedding party crowded together in the garden, lifting the bride in her veil, everyone laughing.

The Babaji Garden

Big enough for everyone who matters

The garden takes thirty-five, which is exactly the point. Enough for a micro-wedding, an anniversary, a workshop, a retreat or a birthday that deserves more than a restaurant. Few enough that you will have talked to every single person there before the afternoon is out.

Fourteen of you can stay the night. The other twenty-one will have to go home.

Ask about an event

Guests seated along a long table in the garden, mid-meal, with the wooded valley behind them.
Long table, longer lunch
A celebration under a white marquee, with paper lanterns strung overhead and guests raising their glasses.
Under the marquee
A party of guests waving at the camera from a long table set among the garden greenery.
Thirty-five, at the most

Thirty years of guest books

What people write on the way out

We have kept every guest book since 1996 — a shelf of them, handwritten. These few made it onto the website. The rest are on the table in the hall and you are welcome to read them.

The house is indeed very special and I felt at home very quickly. The smell of the roses when I opened the door to the terrace is something I will miss for sure. Also the view, it was the best!
Maria — Grainau, GermanyMarch 2025
This is an incredible house. This is probably the best place to stay in Sintra! The views are amazing, the house really close to town, and the interior is so charming and comfortable. Couldn't recommend it enough. Just the best experience.
Amanda — Helsinki, FinlandJune 2024
Joana and her family were extremely helpful and understanding with details that were specific to my family. Wonderful and professional hosts! Would 100% recommend for your stay in Sintra.
Steff — New Jersey, USAAugust 2023
Such a beautiful and authentic place! Great outdoor space and lots of fun family history to see around the house. The view of Regaleira is a big plus.
Anny — Vancouver, CanadaJuly 2022
Location is amazing. Claudia and Rosa were super caring and welcoming. The house is perfect for resting and close friends or families reunions. Top 10!
Marguerita — Bristol, UKMay 2021

Before you write to us

The things people ask

How many people does the house sleep?

Fourteen, across six rooms, plus three babies or small children. If you are holding an event as well, the property takes thirty-five people in total — and the fourteen sleeping here count towards that thirty-five, they are not on top of it.

Is the whole house ours?

Yes. You take Casa da Paderna as one house, three floors of it, with the studio standing on its own in the garden. The gardens, the patios and the terraces come with it: the whole property is yours for as long as you are here.

Is it self-catering?

It is. There is a kitchen on every floor and another in the studio, so a family spread over three floors never queues for a hob. Nobody cooks for you and nobody clears you out at nine in the morning.

How far is Sintra Old Town?

Ten minutes on foot. The house sits below the town, so it is downhill coming home and uphill going out, and Palace Square is the heart of what you are walking to.

Where do we park?

On the street, for nothing. The property runs along half the lane, so there is room out there in a way there is nowhere else in Sintra, and none of it is metered.

Is there wifi?

A gigabit of it, which is more than the house has any need for and enough for whoever has brought work with them.

Who lets us in?

We do, in person, every time. On weekday mornings our housekeeper is on the property as well — out of your way, in her own part of it — and she is there for the laundry or anything else you find you need.

Can we bring the dog?

Yes. Dogs are welcome here and always have been.

Can we hold a wedding or a retreat?

Yes, up to thirty-five people in total, with the fourteen staying in the house counted among them. That makes it a micro-wedding, an anniversary, a workshop or a retreat rather than a hundred-guest affair. An event is charged on top of the stay: there are packages at different prices, and each one is quoted for what you actually have in mind. Write and tell us, and we will send you a price.

Are there discounts for a longer stay?

Two. Book six months or more ahead and you save ten per cent. Stay seven nights and the eighth is on us, because a week in Sintra goes very quickly.

How long has the family been doing this?

Since 1996. The guest books have filled a shelf.

Reservations

Get in touch. Choose your dates. Book today.

Check availability on the calendar or just write to us — we answer our own email.

Save 10%

Book six months or more ahead and the early-bird discount is yours.

8th night free

Stay seven nights and the eighth is on us. There is so much to see in Sintra that a week goes very quickly.

Check availability Email us instead
Sintra Old Town from the air: pastel houses and terracotta roofs packed under the wooded ridge, with the Moorish castle running along the top of it.
Sintra Old Town, ten minutes up the hill