Casa de Cima

Casa de Cima sits at Largo de Santo António in Sintra, set back into the hillside with the wooded slopes rising behind it. Five bedrooms, ten guests, and the seclusion that gives the house its name.

The pool is heated — which on this side of the Serra, where the sea mist sits into the morning, is not optional — and there is a sauna, an indoor fireplace and a workspace. The garden and BBQ terrace face the hillside view.

Sintra is a UNESCO landscape and behaves like one: the Pena Palace, the Moorish castle, Quinta da Regaleira and Monserrate are all within a few kilometres, and the microclimate keeps the hills green when the rest of the country is not. The Atlantic beaches at Praia Grande are ten minutes down, and Lisbon is under an hour. A seven-night minimum matches how long it takes to see any of it properly.