Chalet of the Countess of Edla

An Alpine House in a Portuguese Forest

Ferdinand II, the king-consort who built Pena Palace, created this chalet in the west of the park with Elise Hensler, an opera singer he first saw on the stage of the São Carlos in Lisbon. The Countess herself designed and planned it, inspired by the alpine chalets then in fashion across Europe, and Parques de Sintra describes a scenographic building whose facade and interiors reflect the couple's artistic tastes. It was built between 1864 and 1869.

The couple married in 1869, after Duke Ernest II of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha granted her the title Countess of Edla. Unlike the state rooms uphill, the official route here is domestic: dining rooms, a kitchen, a bedroom, two dressing rooms and a wardrobe. For the palace it belongs to, read the Pena Palace page.

Burned in 1999, Rebuilt and Awarded

Fire destroyed the chalet in 1999. Parques de Sintra spent four years on the restoration and reopened it to visitors in 2011, and the project won the European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage / Europa Nostra Award in 2013 in the Conservation category. What you visit today is that reconstruction.

Works continue on a smaller scale: the Open for Works page lists facade finishes maintenance until October 2026, and the King's Dressing Room was worked on in 2023. Parques keeps its sites open during works and says they can involve some constraints.

The No-Ticket Rule and the Midday Gate

This is the practical oddity. Parques de Sintra sells no chalet ticket. Entry comes with the Park of Pena ticket and with the Park and Palace ticket.

The chalet keeps shorter hours than the park, 09:00-17:30 with last admission at 17:00, and its own entrance gate is closed 12:00-14:00. In that window, tickets and access are at the other Park of Pena entrances, and you reach the chalet from inside the park. Private vehicles are not authorised, so arrive by bus 434 or on foot.

Inside the House

The official route takes in the Family Dining Room, the Kitchen, the Staircase Atrium, the Ivy Room, the Dining Room, the Bedroom, the King's Toilette, the Countess of Edla's Toilette and the Wardrobe. These are domestic rooms, a contrast with the state rooms of the palace uphill, and the separate toilettes for the king and the countess are named on the official list. The official page offers the Zoomguide digital guide and the Pena Maps orientation tool for the route.

Our estimate for the interior alone is 30 minutes at an unhurried pace.

The Garden and Its Features

The Garden of the Countess of Edla includes the Fern Garden, the Garden of Joina, the Arbor and the Labyrinth of Stone, which Parques calls an exotic landscape around the house. The Fern Garden and the Pena Farm greenhouses are under works for an indefinite period after Storm Martinho in March 2025, so check what is open on the day. The Chalet Stones and the Pena Farm complete the official list of points of interest.

The wider trails of the hill are on Sintra hiking.

Getting There Inside the Park

The chalet sits west of the palace, and the park's published transfer runs between the main entrance and the palace only, so it does not help you here. You walk on park paths. The Pena ticket is valid for one entry into the enclosure, so do the chalet before you leave the park.

The whole trip, from the train to the pastries, is planned on the Sintra city guide.

Thirty minutes covers the interior at a steady pace, and the garden brings it closer to an hour, our estimate. Plan it as a block inside a half-day in the Pena park, since the walk between the palace area and the chalet adds time the rooms do not. If you hold the Essential palace ticket, mind the clock: Parques de Sintra says to allow around 30 minutes between the park entrance gate and the palace, and a fast-track slot has no tolerance for lateness.

Our suggestion is the chalet first, then the palace.

Hours and the 12:00-14:00 Gate Closure

The Park of Pena opens 09:00-19:00 with last admission at 18:00. The chalet building opens 09:00-17:30 with last admission at 17:00. The chalet's own entrance gate is closed 12:00-14:00, and during those two hours ticket sales and access are at the other Park of Pena entrances, so you walk to the chalet from inside the park.

Last admission to the park is an hour later than to the chalet, so do not leave the chalet for the end of the day.

Tickets and What They Include

There is no chalet ticket. The Park of Pena ticket costs $13.84 (€12) adult, $11.54 (€10) youth and senior, $46.10 (€40) family, under 6 free, and it includes the chalet but not the palace interior. The Park and Palace Essential ticket costs $23.10 (€20) adult, $20.80 (€18) youth and senior, $75.00 (€65) family, and adds the timed palace route.

The $5.19 (€4.50) round trip transfer supplement runs between the main entrance and the palace only, so it does nothing for the chalet. Online tickets carry a mandatory date and can be rescheduled on the website up to 18:00 the day before, within one year. Compare every option on our tickets page.

Works and Closures to Expect

Facade finishes maintenance at the chalet is scheduled until October 2026. The Fern Garden of the Countess and the Pena Farm greenhouses are under works for an indefinite period after Storm Martinho in March 2025, with no published end date. In 2023 the King's Dressing Room was restored.

Parques de Sintra keeps sites open during works where possible, but constraints apply. Hilltop sites in Sintra have closed at short notice for extreme weather before, so check the official site on the morning of your visit.

Reaching the Park of Pena

Access is not authorised to private vehicles. Bus 434 (Scotturb) runs to the Park of Pena. If you prefer to arrive on foot, marked trails lead up to the hill: the Santa Maria Trail is 1,770 metres and about 1 hour, the Seteais Trail is 2,410 metres and about 1 hour 30, and the Villa Sassetti Trail is 1,850 metres and about 45 minutes to the park.

The Villa Sassetti gardens and path are free, 10:00-18:00. Our getting around page covers the buses, and the Sintra map helps you fix the entrances.

Accessibility at the Chalet

The Pena accessibility page describes an inclusive route of 100 metres from the Chalet entrance gate to the chalet itself, and an inclusive route of 570 metres from the gate to the Stables. That is a much easier approach than the palace, whose interior is not accessible to people with reduced mobility because of stairs throughout. Note that the park's internal transfer between the main entrance and the palace has its wheelchair platforms temporarily out of service.

Contact Parques de Sintra at info@parquesdesintra.pt or +351 21 923 73 00 to plan assistance.

Dogs and Rules

Dogs are not allowed at the chalet or the Park of Pena. Parques de Sintra welcomes dogs only at the Moorish Castle and the Park of Monserrate, with identified assistance dogs the exception. General ticket terms also forbid entering with food products and forbid smoking.

• The chalet was designed and planned by the Countess of Edla herself, not by a court architect. (Parques de Sintra, official chalet history page)
• The opera singer was born in Switzerland, lived for years in Boston, sang in Milan and Porto, and met the king at the São Carlos theatre in Lisbon. (Parques de Sintra, official chalet history page)
• After Ferdinand II died in 1885 she inherited Pena and the Moorish Castle, sold them to the state after a judicial process, and kept use of the chalet and garden until 1904. (Parques de Sintra, official chalet history page)
• The transfer inside the park runs between the main entrance and the palace only, so it does not serve the chalet, and the $5.19 (€4.50) supplement buys nothing on a chalet-only day. (Parques de Sintra, opening times and prices page)
• An inclusive route of 100 metres links the chalet's entrance gate to the building, while the palace interior uphill is not accessible at all. (Parques de Sintra, Pena accessibility page)
• The restoration after the 1999 fire won the Europa Nostra and EU Prize for Cultural Heritage award in 2013. (Parques de Sintra, official chalet history page)

The chalet rewards a specific kind of day. Arrive early on bus 434, take the park-only ticket if the palace interior is not a priority, and reach the chalet while its own gate is open, before 12:00 or after 14:00. If you hold an Essential ticket, put the palace slot in the afternoon, which Parques de Sintra says is currently the quieter time, and give the morning to the park and the chalet.

Walkers can arrive on the Villa Sassetti Trail, 1,850 metres and 45 minutes, or the Santa Maria Trail, 1,770 metres and 1 hour. A template for the hill is on the one day in Sintra page, the trails are on hiking, and the Pena Palace and Park entrance ticket at $14.00 bundles the park entrance and the chalet with an audio tour. With two days, the 2 days in Sintra plan pairs the chalet with the Moorish Castle.