A weekend in Coimbra, an underrated Portuguese gem

How I ended up spending a long weekend in Coimbra

The pandemic grew into the second wave in Europe while I was traveling in Portugal. In early November there was a long weekend due to a public holiday and the Portuguese government put some measures in place to prevent the spread of COVID. Therefore the local population wasn’t allowed to leave their respective municipalities for the long weekend. Shortly after it was announced, they decided to exempt tourists from this rule, but it just felt wrong to travel. And this is how I ended up spending some extra time in Coimbra.

And look at this beauty! It certainly isn’t a bad place to be ‘stuck’. With around 106.000 inhabitants, Coimbra is still pretty small, but it is rich in monuments and beauty and has plenty of entertainment, restaurants and shops. For the budget traveler there are many hostels to choose from and because it is a student city, you can also find your cheap eats.

I’d booked a hostel in the middle of the center, right on the corner of Rua de Fernandes Thomas and Rue Quebra Costas. There was a lively little square with small cafés that had some outdoor seating. Since Rue Quebra Costas ends up in stairs, there wasn’t much traffic and the square was a popular place for people to spend a few hours. At times some Brazilian musicians came and played for hours. Even from the living room at the hostel we could enjoy their songs. The hostel was super quiet. There were a few people who seemed to live there and a handful of tourists. Because of this, I felt very much at home and enjoyed spending time in the living area, chatting away to the others.

Religious heritage in Coimbra

A popular thing to do in Coimbra is to climb up to the tower of the university, but due to COVID that was closed. The stairway is just too narrow. At the Museu da Santa Casa da Misericórdia they didn’t seem to have the same regulations. For a small fee you can enter the museum, the church and the tower. You climb up a very small staircase and exit through this hatch. From the top there is a nice view towards the river and the city center.
Furthermore the museum does include a beautiful church and a tour past some paintings and small sculptures, relics etc.

From the outside the Igreja da Sé Velha looks a bit like a fortress. It’s square and even seems to have battlements. But when you stand in front of it, the arched doorway gives away the building’s purpose. From the inside the church is truly beautiful with art sculpted by Frenchman Jean of Rouen and many other detailed sculptures that can only leave you in awe. In the 18th century a bigger cathedral was needed and the Sé Nova was built, closer to the university.

The major seminary of Coimbra is situated next to the botanical garden. I signed up for a tour of the premises, even though part of it was under construction and I couldn’t visit everything. As it turned out I was the only participant, so I could spend as much time as I liked admiring the old building. The building was in desperate need of some love and luckily they were doing some construction. The hallways felt chilly and somber, but there were some beautiful details in the rooms, like massive old books in the library and some ceilings decorated with beautiful patterns. In the old days the students would live on one of the floors. They each had a small room with the necessary furniture. I was very surprised to found out that Coimbra’s priests now lived in these tiny rooms. They did have a beautiful chapel to pray in, at least when the tourists weren’t coming to see it.

On the other side of the Mondego river lies the Convento de Santa Clara a Nova. The convent was built to replace the old one that lay too close to the river and kept getting flooded. It’s a bit of a climb to reach it and I honestly still don’t know if I thought it was worth it. The building is a bit spooky, all quiet. Perhaps it was also the rain that created a strange atmosphere while I was there. The cloisters were dreary, cold and wet. I was very impressed with the church though, where the remains of Queen Saint Isabel are kept, but besides that, there wasn’t that much to see.

I was very impressed by the immense building of the Museu Machado de Castro. It’s built on top of the old Roman forum and in its belly it still hides some incredible Roman heritage called the cryptoportico, or covered walkways. Since the city was built on a hill, they used these walkways to support the platform for the Forum of the city Aeminium above it. You can access the two levels of underground corridors before you enter the modern building with the main exhibition.
The building is like a maze, but there are people waiting to give you directions every time you finish a part of the museum.
The art inside was saved from churches and other religious buildings in the area and is simply stunning. Even if you are not religious you must appreciate the craftsmanship. Coimbra has attracted some talented artists over the years and I mainly enjoyed the section of sculptures. They had even placed a whole altar in a corner of the building!

Coimbra’s university

The city of Coimbra is probably most well known for its university that lies beautifully on top of the hill. You can buy combi-tickets for the different attractions. They were very smart; if you want to visit the famous library, you have to buy the full ticket. This will also give you access to the tower (not during COVID), the Jesus college, the science museum and St. Michael’s chapel.

Chapel of St. Michael – In the long hallway that leads to the cafeteria you first pass the chapel of St. Michael. It’s fairly small, but very pretty. Although a chapel was built here in the 11th century, what you see has been renovated in the 16th century.
Biblioteca Joanina – the old library is probably the main reason to visit the university. It is absolutely stunning and can be visited under supervision. There is a red carpet on the floor, between tall wooden bookcases, filled with old books. The book cases are two stories high and there are small walkways to access the 2nd floor. The high ceiling is painted with lively colors and seems to shine light into the dark room. Everything is lavishly decorated with gold and it has the grandeur of a palace. You can visit the academic prisons underneath first (unfortunately not during COVID), and then the rooms of the library itself. This alone is worth the entry fee for the university. Unfortunately photos are not allowed.

In the same corner as the library and chapel, you can find the Jesus College. At first I was a little disappointed to see the inside of the university buildings, but some rooms are simply stunning and make up for the disappointing hallways. It is after all the oldest university in Portugal, founded in the 13th century, so naturally it needs some repairs here and there, but also has some history to show.

I almost didn’t visit the science museum and boy am I glad I ended up visiting after all! In the building where you enter the museum you can find a small exhibition and see the old lecture hall and work benches of the science students. This is pretty cool, but the better part was when they took me on a supervised tour of the building across the street. Wow! There is a huge exhibition of old instruments in a couple of rooms and further along an exhibition with animal bones and taxidermy. It’s really cool and they even have siamese lambs and animals with two heads on display. “And that is the bone of a whale penis” our guide proudly presented and we walked passed a gigantic whale skeleton.

Parks and viewpoints

Once you’ve visited the university, you may as well enter the botanical garden. It lays against the hillside and you can stroll all the way down until you reach the river. It’s a very peaceful and pleasant spot with some beautiful trees and shaded benches, the perfect place to unwind a bit. But Coimbra’s got more nice green spaces to enjoy.

At Jardim da Manga you can find a very interesting structure in the small park. It looks like there’s a café with terrace which would be nice on a hot summer day. You can find this park on your way to the public market, where you can get fresh fruits and vegetables from the surrounding countryside.
The Jardim da Sereia, near Parça da República, really surprised me. There is a long entry boulevard leading to a beautiful sculpture/water feature. The park then symmetrically goes up the hill and is very lush and green. I found some really nice peaceful corners and really enjoyed stumbling upon this park.
Parque Douter Manuel Braga was under construction a bit, but is right along the river, on the flat park of the city and therefore great for runners. You can even cross a footbridge to the other side and make some loops on both sides.

My favorite was the viewpoint at Penedo da Saudade. From the center I had to cross the hill to the other side of the university. Then I arrived in a nice residential area with a stretched out park on the hillside. It’s terraced and I found two fitness groups on the Sunday morning. The park itself if really cute, with small walkways and nice landscaping. But the best thing is that you can look out over the South and East side of the city.

Once you’re tired after a day of exploring, the Main Street offers some great cafés and pastelarias. Pastéis de Santa Clara is the local variety of a custard tart and Arrufada is a sweet bread you can find in all the pastelarias. If you want some neat souvenirs to take home, you can find a bunch of shops selling all the standard stuff, as well as some local crafts like the hand painted ceramics with the local patterns or Portuguese cork products.

I really enjoyed wandering through the streets of Coimbra and soaking in the atmosphere. Coimbra is big enough to have everything you’d expect of a city, including a massive shopping mall (Forum Coimbra), but small enough to be able to relax, unwind and recover from your travels.