Palácio Nacional de Queluz

Queluz is the royal palace closest to the cruise terminal and the easiest one to fit into a port day. It stands in a suburb about 15 km north-west of Jardim do Tabaco, on the railway to Sintra, and involves no shuttle bus or hill climb. If Pena is out of reach on your call, this is the realistic alternative for 18th-century royal interiors. By public transport, walk about 10 minutes to Santa Apolónia, take the metro Blue Line to Restauradores and walk two minutes to Rossio station. Sintra-line trains reach Queluz-Belas in about 20 minutes; from there the palace is a 10 to 15-minute walk (about 1 km) through ordinary suburban streets. Allow 50 to 60 minutes door to door each way. A taxi takes 25 to 30 minutes and makes sense on a short call or when several people share the fare. With 1.5 to 2 hours on site, you need at least 5 hours ashore if you go by taxi, or 6 hours by train, including being back at the terminal an hour before all-aboard. On an 8-hour call there is time to add the Baixa or Belém on the way back. Buy the Palace and Gardens ticket (13 euros); the interiors are the reason to come. The route runs through the state rooms: prioritise the Throne Room, the Music Room, the Ambassadors Room and the Don Quixote Room, where Pedro IV was born and died. Then go out to the gardens for the Tiled Canal, lined with blue-and-white azulejo panels, the Grand Cascade and the lead statues from John Cheere's London workshop. Skip the gardens-only ticket (6 euros) unless you have no interest in interiors. Do not try to add Pena on the same day: the two together need more time than a normal port call allows. The ticket office closes from 12:00 to 13:00, but ticket machines keep working, and an online ticket for your date avoids the issue.