Casa Piriquita

Casa Piriquita has been baking in Sintra’s old town since 1862, when baker Amaro dos Santos and his wife, Constância Gomes, opened it. The name has a royal story children tend to enjoy. King Carlos I, who spent his summers in Sintra, nicknamed Constância “Piriquita” because she was small, and the name stuck to the shop. The king liked queijadas, Sintra’s little cheese tarts, and encouraged the couple to make them.

The travesseiro came much later. In the 1940s, during the Second World War, when ingredients were hard to get, the founders’ granddaughter Constança Luísa dos Santos Cunha worked out a new pastry from an old cookbook. Visit Sintra, the town’s tourist board, calls it one of Sintra’s symbols, and the exact recipe is still a family secret.

Travesseiro means pillow, and the pastry looks like one: puff pastry wrapped round a filling of egg cream and almonds, finished with sugar. It is crisp outside and soft and creamy inside.

For children who don’t like almonds, Piriquita also makes a Nutella travesseiro, and that is usually the easy choice. Allergy-wise, the official shop lists gluten, milk, eggs and nuts for the travesseiro.

• Queijadas: small tarts of fresh cheese, sugar, eggs, flour and a little cinnamon in a crisp, crackly case.
• Pastéis de Sintra and pastéis da Cruz Alta, two more of the town’s traditional sweets.
• Nozes douradas, or golden walnuts.

The online shop sells boxes, and it gives a fair idea of cost. When we checked in September 2026, four travesseiros cost €8.80 (so about €2.20 each), six cost €13.20, and a pack of six queijadas cost €7.50. Prices at the counter may differ. The online shop itself was closed until October when we looked.

Rua das Padarias (“bakers’ street”) is a short street in the old town. Piriquita I, the original, is at number 1 and Piriquita II is at number 18, a few doors up. Both are listed on Google as offering dine-in and takeaway. If one is packed, try the other. When we checked on a Monday in late September, Google showed Piriquita I open until 7.30pm and Piriquita II until 6pm; the official website doesn’t publish hours.

Sintra’s old town is hilly and busy with visitors, and Piriquita is one of its best-known stops, so expect a queue at busy times. With tired children, a bag of travesseiros to take away is often easier than waiting for a table.

If you can’t get to Sintra, Piriquita also sells in Lisbon, at a shop on Avenida de Roma and at El Corte Inglés.

Piriquita is an easy stop before or after Quinta da Regaleira, where children walk down a spiral well into tunnels. Families with a creative child can book the clay workshop at Estúdio Lazuli, and teenagers who like ghost stories may enjoy Miguel Boim’s night walks in the Sintra hills. For a meal out with younger children, Plataforma is a magic-school pizza restaurant in Rio de Mouro.

What is a travesseiro?

A pillow-shaped puff pastry filled with egg cream and almonds and dusted with sugar. Casa Piriquita created it in the 1940s.

Is there a travesseiro without almonds?

Yes. Piriquita makes a Nutella travesseiro, which most children prefer.

Can you sit down at Casa Piriquita?

Yes. Both Piriquita I and Piriquita II are listed as offering dine-in as well as takeaway.

How much is a travesseiro?

The official online shop sold a box of four for €8.80 when we checked in September 2026, about €2.20 each. Counter prices may differ.

Which Piriquita shop is the original?

Piriquita I, at Rua das Padarias 1. Piriquita II is further up the same street at number 18.