I visited this WHS in July 2020. It is actually made up of 4 components, the Tapada hunting grounds some 7km away from the Mafra Palace-Convent, the Cerco garden and the Basilica which are next to each other.

The Jardim do Cerco is a Baroque garden just next to Mafra Palace and is open everyday. There is an aviary containing a variety of birds, a fountain, a herb garden and a children’s playground but nothing really special or world heritage material. It is a pleasant garden to keep in mind just after visiting the Mafra Palace and going back to the paid parking area.

The Basilica and the Mafra Palace-Convent are open every day except Tuesdays. The basilica is free to visit while a visit inside the palace and convent will cost you 6 euros (with the possibility of paying 5 euros to only visit the courtyard terrace which really doesn't make any sense). Since I slept over in Mafra, I was the first and only visitor at 9am and had the enormous place to myself (apart from the huge amount of cleaners needed to keep this huge palace spotless).

After passing through the infirmary, the kitchens and the convent cells, I went through a never ending list of rooms. Unlike other palaces  on the WH list such as Caserta or Versailles, this one is more like a less opulent huge mansion than a proper palace. The throne room or audience room is one of the most adorned rooms and reminded me of Palazzo Te in Mantua, Italy. The 18th century Baroque and Neoclassical palace-convent has a whopping 1,200 rooms so it gets quite repetitive and a bit boring after a while.

The most interesting rooms by far are the hunting trophy room which blatantly hints at why the Tapada hunting park has only semi-wild or captive animals left and the gorgeous library. The latter alone in my opinion is worth the price ticket and the time allowed to get there, being the last room before heading back to the exit. The 280 foot long Rococo library is a fitting home for the thousands of valuable old volumes that line the wooden bookshelves. Most libraries control book eating pests with the use of chemicals or gamma radiation. However, the Mafra Palace Library has a very special force of airborne defenders - bats!

During the day, a colony of bats sleeps behind the bookcases or out in the palace garden. At night, after the library is closed, bats are allowed to feast on any pests present. This has been going on for centuries, perhaps as far back as the creation of the library itself. This comes with one disadvantage though - the copious amount of droppings each and every night. To combat this, library workers cover the furniture before they leave, and spend their mornings carefully cleaning the marble floors to erase all evidence of the bats' presence.

The Tapada hunting park is more of a mini-zoo attraction with 'free roaming' deer and boars. Just like the Cerco Garden, it is open every day including Tuesdays. I found the entrance ticket a bit too expensive for what you get to visit and if pressed for time, I reckon that a peek at the surrounding hills and landscape from outside and at the parking area would be enough to save some time and money.

The town proudly displays the UNESCO sign literally at every entrance of every single component, but also on the pavement, next to the tourist information office, before reaching Mafra, etc. It is a very pleasant place to visit as a half day trip from Lisbon but I'd recommend staying overnight to beat any of the morning and lunch time crowds.