After so many posts about the Netherlands I'm finally ready to talk about somewhere different. For now we'll be heading to Portugal, where my wife and I spent seven action packed days back in early May of this year (2022).
We flew into the city of Porto super early in the morning and rented a car at the airport and then drove to the city of Coimbra. We spent the better part of day one of our trip there before heading to a neighbouring town of Aveiro on route back to Porto where we spent two nights.
Coimbra is located in the North Central part of of the country about an hour and 15 minutes away from the city of Porto and around 2 hours away from Lisbon.
It's located along the Mondago River which runs down its center and you can get a few good birds eye views of it, and the city, from the historic University on top of the hill.
You can also get some good views of the city itself from the bridge that spans the river (like the one at the begining of this post).
Character
Coimbra is a historic town known for its large and bustling squares and many tall narrow streets and alleyways.
I for one do love a good alleyway.
Especially when they are old looking or even a bit rundown...
or if they have a bunch of shit hanging across them.
No sarcasm there either, seriously I do like that.
One thing that I wasn't entirely keen on was the quantity and quality (i.e. lack there of) of the graffiti tags scribbled on pretty much every single wall that we came across. There is a ton of bad graffiti all over the city, which ended up being a pretty common occurrence across the country from what I could tell.
Still, it can make for some cool photos I suppose.
There is a nice main shopping street along R. Visc da Luz if you like to shop. We didn't buy anything ourselves but it's an option.
It also helps that money goes just a little bit further in the country, so that's always a bonus.
I really liked this building along the street. I'm a bit of sucker for tall narrow buildings that create a fork in the road though.
Brief History
Coimbra was once the capital of Portugal before the city of Lisbon was captured during a military siege in 1147.
It was also the birthplace of Portugals first six kings, two of which were buried in the Monastery of Santa Cruz.
Coimbra has always been an intellectual center of Portugal. It is a College town with a historic University that remains one of the city's main attractions even to this day.
The University
The University of Coimbra was built in the 12th century and is the oldest University in Portugal, as well as one of the oldest in Europe. Attached to it is Joanina Library, which according to some sources is considered to be one of the most beautiful libraries in the world.
The University complex is surprisingly well maintained and preserved given its age, but I guess it has to be since it's still in use to this day.
There were quite a few students walking around the courtyard during our visit and they were wearing these traditional black cloaks that were really neat to see. I think they were graduating around that time because we saw a few groups posing for photos inside and out.
There was construction and renovation work being done to the exterior facade and I expect that would be an ongoing occurrence, but it doesn't really detract from the experience.
You can tour the outside of the building for free or take a tour inside for a fee. This was one of the last things that we did in the city and it was getting a bit late in the day so unfortunately we didn't end up going inside.
I was quite satisfied just enjoying the buildings architecture...
and seeing the views of the city from the courtyard balcony (i.e. Faculty Square).
Monuments
There are a lot of historical monuments to see in the city and I don't know the names of them all but I'll try to list off a few.
This one is the old Cathedral - Sé Velha. It was built in the Romanesque style and dates back to the 1100's.
Each monument charges a fee to enter but most are very reasonably priced around 2.00 - 2.50€.
We are generally picky and choosy about the monuments we enter when traveling, so we didn't go into them all. I'm usually more turned off by seeing a line out front then by the price.
I'll spend a few euros to see something cool of course but I won't wait in line for 15 minutes on a whim.
For that it needs to be something I had already planned to see or something that looks so amazing that I'd regret not partaking in it. The latter is pretty rare though.
We did end up going into the Monastery of Santa Cruz.
It was free to enter and there was no line so it was an obvious spot to pop into.
The original church dates back to the 1100's but it was completely renovated in the 16th century.
It's biggest claim to fame was mentioned above already but as a reminder, it is the burial site of Portugals first two original kings.
It was the first church I had been into in Portugal so it was neat to see something different than the usual Notre Dame in France.
It had a very impressive 18th century organ that was elaborately decorated...
and I really liked the white and blue tile work. I found that to be uniquely Portuguese.
There were churches located all around the old town of course.
We obviously didn't go into them all, but they were quite beautiful and really added a lot of historical character to the city.
Note the man on the balcony in these two photos. That's such a cool spot in my opinion.
Final Thoughts
We only spent about half of a day in Coimbra but the city has so many monuments and attractions and it is large enough that you could easily spend a few days there if you were so inclined. The old town is large and has a lot of character which make the city well worth visiting if you plan to travel to Portugal. Overall we really liked Coimbra and I would definitely recommend it as a destination in the country.