Sintra Wine Tasting Tour | Colares DOC Wine Experience from Lisbon
- Private vehicle and local driver-guide exclusively for your group (up to 8 people).
Duration
8 Hours
Tour Type
Private
Group Size
Máx. 8px/Van
Pickup & Drop-off
Lisbon city centre (outside centre on request)
Main highlights
Colares, Sintra, Cabo da Roca, Cascais, Estoril
Price
From €285 per private vehicle (see pricing below)
Rated 5/5 on TripAdvisor.
based on +3.000 reviews
Tour Overview
This private wine tour from Lisbon visits the Colares DOC wine region (30 km west) and three sightseeing destinations in a single 8-hour day: Sintra (UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Landscape since 1995), Cabo da Roca (westernmost point of continental Europe, 140 m cliffs), and Cascais.
The tour is 100% private – your group, your vehicle, your licensed driver-guide. No shared vehicle, no strangers, no fixed group schedule.
Wine add-on level (+€35/+€55/+€85 per person) is selected at booking.
Why Travellers Choose This Private Tour
- Private vehicle and licensed driver-guide – your group only, no strangers, no fixed group schedule.
- Colares DOC winery visit – one of Europe’s rarest wines (annual production 100-400 hectolitres), ungrafted vines that survived the 19th-century phylloxera epidemic
- Sintra (UNESCO 1995) + Cabo da Roca + Cascais combined with the wine experience in a single 8-hour day.
- Wine experience level chosen by you at booking: wine shop tasting (€35/pax), cellar visit with tapas (€55/pax), or full cellar with Port wine (€85/pax).
Tips for This Tour
Choose your wine option before booking. Option 1 is a 45-minute tasting at a local wine shop – the right choice if you want an introduction to Colares without a full cellar experience. Options 2 and 3 include a working cellar visit (1-1.5 hours). Option 3 adds a glass of Port wine and extends the tasting to 5–7 wines including aged Ramisco reserve.
Book palace tickets in advance. Pena Palace and Quinta da Regaleira require separate timed-entry tickets (not included in the tour price). In July and August, Pena Palace slots sell out 3-4 weeks ahead. Book at parquesdesintra.pt and regaleira.pt before your tour date. Coordinate your entry time with us when booking.
September-October is the harvest window. Winery visits during harvest season may include observation of pressing. Book the tour 5–7 days in advance during this period as winery schedules change with harvest activity.
Non-drinkers are welcome. Non-alcoholic alternatives (juice, water, soft drinks) are available at the winery visits on request. The sightseeing portion – Sintra, Cabo da Roca, Cascais – is identical regardless of wine option selected. Inform us when booking.
Wear comfortable footwear. Sintra’s historic centre has cobblestone streets. Pena Palace involves a 15-minute uphill walk from the park entrance to the palace. Flat, closed-toe shoes are essential.
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What You Can See
Colares – Europe’s Rarest Wine Region
The Colares DOC sits on the Atlantic coast 30 km west of Lisbon, inside the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park. It is classified as the westernmost wine DOC in continental Europe.
What makes Colares wine unusual has nothing to do with winemaking technique and everything to do with soil. The main red grape, Ramisco, grows in the coastal sand dunes. In the 1860s, the phylloxera louse (*Daktulosphaira vitifoliae*) began devastating European vineyards — by 1900, an estimated 60% of all European vines had been destroyed. The standard solution was to graft European varieties onto American rootstocks, which are naturally resistant to phylloxera. Colares never needed this solution. The louse cannot burrow through sandy substrate, so the roots of Ramisco vines were never reached. These vines were never grafted. This makes them among the oldest continuously growing ungrafted wine vines in Europe.
Annual production of Colares wine is estimated at approximately 100–400 hectolitres in recent vintages — to compare: the Douro Valley produces several million hectolitres per year. Colares is not a curiosity. It is a functional, serious wine region that happens to exist in circumstances that destroyed its competition everywhere else.
The white variety, Malvasia de Colares, shares the same coastal conditions: Atlantic fog, high year-round humidity, and significant temperature moderation from the ocean. The resulting whites are mineral, saline, and structurally quite different from inland Portuguese whites.
The Colares area — villages of Colares, Almoçageme, and the Praia das Maçãs coastline — sits between the Serra de Sintra hills and the Atlantic. The drive from Lisbon (30 km west via the N9 or A37) passes the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park boundary before descending to the coast. The Ramisco vineyards are visible from the road in Colares parish — low-growing vines in deep sand, staked with poles to keep the growth off the damp dune surface.
We take our wine groups to a working winery in the Colares DOC area. The specific producer varies depending on harvest schedule and availability — we work with several partners in the region. The wine experience takes approximately 1 to 2 hours and includes the options below.
Sintra Historic Centre
Sintra is 28 km northwest of Lisbon at 200–500 m elevation in the Serra de Sintra. In 1995, UNESCO designated the Sintra Cultural Landscape (World Heritage List no. 723) as a protected area covering the historic centre, its palaces, surrounding estates, and the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park. The municipality has approximately 380,000 residents.
The town is built around the Sintra National Palace — the best-preserved medieval royal palace on the Iberian Peninsula, with twin conical chimneys 33 m tall, built in the 14th century to vent the palace kitchens. The historic centre has approximately 400 permanent residents, several restaurants, and Piriquita bakery (established 1862), which produces the local travesseiro — puff pastry with almond and egg cream, approximately €2.50 each.
Palace tickets (Pena Palace, Quinta da Regaleira, Moorish Castle) are not included. In July–August, Pena Palace slots sell out 3–4 weeks ahead — book independently if you plan to enter. Your guide can advise on which palace suits your group.
Cabo da Roca – Westernmost Point of Continental Europe
Cabo da Roca (38°47’N, 9°30’W) is the westernmost point of the European mainland and the Eurasian landmass — further west than any point in Ireland, Iceland’s mainland, or Norway. The granite cliffs are 140 m above sea level.
The lighthouse has been operational since 1772, built under the Marquis of Pombal. It is 22 m tall and remains an active navigation aid today, visible 26 nautical miles offshore. Portuguese poet Luís de Camões described this cape in *Os Lusíadas* (1572) with the phrase “onde a terra se acaba e o mar começa” (where the land ends and the sea begins). A stone stele with this verse was erected here in 1979.
The visitor centre issues personalised certificates of reaching the westernmost point of Europe.
Cascais
Cascais is 30 km west of Lisbon (25 min via A5). King Luís I of Portugal chose it as his summer residence in 1870 — European nobility followed, creating the “Portuguese Riviera” reputation. Municipality population: 214,158 (2021 INE census).
Key stops: Cascais Bay (three adjacent urban beaches: Praia da Rainha, Praia de Cascais, Praia da Conceição), the old town (Mercado da Vila, established 1952), and Boca do Inferno — a sea arch 2 km west of Cascais where waves exceed 10 m in winter. British occultist Aleister Crowley staged his fake disappearance here in September 1930, reappearing in Berlin three weeks later.
The Wine Experience
The wine experience is a dedicated visit to a working winery in the Colares DOC area. It takes approximately 1 to 2 hours depending on the option selected and is scheduled in the morning before the Sintra and coastal stops.
We work with several partner wineries in the Colares region and select based on availability and your booking date. During harvest season (September–October), visits may include observation of the pressing process.
Option 1 (€35/person): Tasting at a local wine shop in the Colares area. You’ll try 3–4 wines (typically Ramisco red, Malvasia white, and one aged reserve) with a traditional Sintra pastry. Duration: approximately 45–60 minutes.
Option 2 (€55/person): Full cellar visit – you’ll see the production area, barrels, and the winemaking setup before a guided tasting of 4–6 wines paired with tapas (local cheese, charcuterie) and Sintra pastry. Duration: approximately 1–1.5 hours.
Option 3 (€85/person): The complete experience – cellar tour, tasting of 5–7 wines including a premium aged Ramisco, tapas, a glass of Port wine, and Sintra pastry.
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What’s Included
- 8 hours with private licensed driver-guide
- Private air-conditioned vehicle (up to 8 passengers)
- Local Guide in English, Spanish, French, or Portuguese
- Hotel/apartment pickup and drop-off in Lisbon city centre
- Mandatory passenger insurance
- Fuel, tolls and parking at all stops
- Wine experience as selected (Option 1, 2, or 3)
Not included:
- Meals and drinks beyond wine experience inclusions
- Palace/monument entrance tickets
- Tips (optional and appreciated)
Note: Some Sintra attractions require timed-entry tickets. We recommend buying tickets in advance when possible.
Prices
Sintra Wine Tour
Prices are per vehicle, not per person.
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Up to 2 Pax €285
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3 to 4 Pax €340
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5 to 8 Pax €470
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure.
Cancellations within 24 hours of departure are non-refundable.
additional wine and tapas experiences
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Option 1 +€35*
Wine Tasting in a Local Wine Shop + Taste Local Traditional Pastry
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Option 2 +€55*
Visit a Wine Cellar & Wine Tasting + Tapas + Taste Local Traditional Pastry
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Option 3 +€85*
Visit a Wine Cellar & Wine Tasting + Tapas + Port Wine Tasting + Taste Local Traditional Pastry
*Price per person
Example: 4 people, Sintra Wine Tour + Option 2, €340 (vehicle) + 4 × €55 =€560 total = €140 per person
Contact Us and Book Your Tour
Best Time of Year for This Tour
This tour runs year-round. The wine experience is available in all seasons. Each period has different conditions at the winery and vineyard.
September–October (harvest window): Ramisco grapes are harvested in late September to mid-October depending on the vintage. Winery visits during this period may include observation of foot treading or pressing – the only time of year when the full production cycle is visible. Colares harvest typically starts 2–3 weeks later than inland Portuguese regions due to Atlantic fog moderating temperatures. Book 5–7 days in advance during harvest as winery schedules shift with picking activity.
April–June (recommended for vineyards): The Colares vineyards are in active vegetative growth – the distinctive low-growing Ramisco vines on sandy dunes are visually at their best. Temperatures in the Colares coastal area 18–21°C. Wine shop and cellar availability at its highest before summer peak demand.
July–August: The Colares area is cooler than Lisbon (Atlantic influence keeps coastal temperatures 3–5°C lower than the city centre). Wine experience options fully available. Harvest is still 6–8 weeks away – wines from the previous vintage are the selection. The main impact of peak season is on palace tickets, not on the wine experience itself.
November–March: The vines are dormant. Cellar visits during this period often include barrel tastings of the current vintage still in ageing – a different experience from bottled tastings available in other seasons. Colares DOC ages its wines for a minimum of 6 months; reserve wines from small producers are sometimes only accessible this way.
Check other wine regions
If you would like to discover more wine experiences beyond Sintra, we invite you to explore other remarkable regions across Portugal. From the terraced vineyards to the sun-soaked plains, each destination offers its own unique flavours, landscapes and traditions.
Take a look at the wine experiences we have selected for you and continue exploring Portugal, one region and one glass at a time.
FAQ
What wines will we taste at the Colares winery?
The wine list depends on the producer available for your date and the season. Expect at least one Ramisco red (the main Colares DOC variety, grown on sandy coastal dunes) and usually a Malvasia de Colares white. Option 3 includes a premium aged selection. Your guide explains each wine in context of the region.
Which winery do you visit?
We work with several partner wineries in the Colares DOC area and select based on availability and your booking date. We do not publicly name specific producers — this allows us to adapt to harvest schedules and ensure the best available experience. Your guide confirms the winery before the tour.
How long is the wine experience?
Option 1 (wine shop tasting): approximately 45–60 minutes. Options 2 and 3 (cellar visit): approximately 1 to 2 hours. The remainder of the 8-hour day covers Sintra, Cabo da Roca, and Cascais.
Is Option 3 worth the extra cost over Option 2?
Option 3 adds a glass of Port wine and extends the premium tasting to 5–7 wines including aged Ramisco reserve. If you’re specifically interested in aged Colares wine — increasingly rare and expensive on the market — Option 3 is worth it. For a good general introduction, Option 2 is sufficient.
What is Ramisco?
Ramisco is the primary red grape of the Colares DOC. It produces wines with high tannin, high acidity, and earthy, mineral character shaped by the Atlantic climate and sandy soil. It is one of the rarest single-origin wines in commercial production in Europe — annual production of Colares DOC wine is approximately 100–400 hectolitres. Ramisco wines age well; older vintages from the 1960s and 1970s still appear at wine auctions.
Can we buy wine at the winery to bring home?
Yes, in most cases. Colares wine is difficult to find outside Portugal — purchasing directly during the visit is recommended if you want to take a bottle home.
Is this tour suitable for wine beginners?
Yes. Your guide explains each wine in non-technical terms. The Colares story (phylloxera, sand dunes, ungrafted vines) is accessible and interesting regardless of wine knowledge. No prior experience is needed.
Can I do this tour without a wine add-on?
Yes. The base price covers the full sightseeing route (Sintra, Cabo da Roca, Cascais) without a winery visit. You still drive through the Colares wine area. Select “no wine add-on” in the booking form.
Is the price per person or per vehicle?
Per vehicle. A group of 4 pays €340 total — €85 per person base. Wine add-ons are per person on top.
What is the cancellation policy?
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure. Cancellations within 24 hours are non-refundable.
What Our Guests Say
Read what our guests say about Yellow Cab TT Tours on Tripadvisor – 3,372 reviews, rated 5.0/5.
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