Spain and Portugal (4) - Coimbra

The train ride to Coimbra, Portugal was quite uncomfortable. First of all, the schedule was awful. The train left Salamanca, Spain at 1am, and it was supposed to arrive at Coimbra, Portugal around 5am. Since Portugal is one hour behind Spain, this was supposed to be a 5-hour ride. But somehow we stopped a long time at the Spain / Portugal borders. Nobody got on the train to check passports or anything. The only indication we knew we were in Portugal after the train moved again was that the conductor checked everybody's tickets and said 'good morning' in Portuguese this time. Probably due to the long stop, we arrived in Coimbra 40 minutes late. There was no announcement or electronic display of anything on the train to explain the delay, or prepare people for the upcoming stops. We were totally on our own to watch out for our stop and get off quickly when our stop came because the train only stopped like a minute or two in Coimbra.

There are two train stations in Coimbra: Coimbra (A) and Coimbra-B. Coimbra (A) station is close to city center, but only regional train (slow train) stops here. Coimbra-B station is about 2km out, high-speed train and inter-city train stop here. You can take any regional train for free to reach the other station if you have a train ticket. But when we arrived in Coimbra-B, the next regional train that was going to Coimbra (A) was an hour away, so we took a taxi instead. It cost €6 to reach the other train station. The taxi driver didn't speak any English, otherwise I would have told him to drop us off at the hotel, which was just around the corner from Coimbra (A) station.

Like Salamanca, Coimbra is better known for its university, one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest academic institution in the Portuguese-speaking world. You only need a day to see Coimbra. We stayed here 4 nights because:
i) We needed an early check in (5am) due to the awful train schedule, so I paid for the night before our arrival.
ii) We were using Coimbra as our base to visit Alcobaça, Batalha, Fatima and Tomar (in 2 days) so we didn't have to move hotel again.
iii) Staying at Coimbra gave us the flexibility to visit Porto as a day trip if we wanted. We didn't have time to do that this trip but I heard good things about Porto, so go if you have an extra day.

1. Coimbra from the other side of the Mondego River.


2. Coimbra.


3. Coimbra.


4. Following Rick Steves' Coimbra walking tour, this is the starting point.


5. Following Rick Steves' Coimbra walking tour.


6. Building lined with tiles.


7. Monastery of Santa Cruz is on the walking tour. It is a beautiful church and it is free.


8. Coimbra is quite hilly. To save energy, you can take the cute little electric bus (seen here), or as the walking tour suggested, take the elevator next to the city market, which is what we did.


9. Baroque pipe organ of the 18th century inside the Monastery of Santa Cruz.


10. Tiles lined the walls inside the Monastery of Santa Cruz.


11. The main altar at the Monastery of Santa Cruz.


12. Following Rick Steves' Coimbra walking tour. Sceneries made of tiles.


13. Following Rick Steves' Coimbra walking tour. This was just before the elevator ride.


14. After the elevator ride. You can see sceneries made of tiles in #12 in the bottom of this picture.


15. After the elevator ride. You can see the blue building in #13 in the lower right corner of this picture.


16. Walking toward University of Coimbra.


17. Saw this mural on the way.


18. The main square and buildings of the historic block of the University of Coimbra. None of the attractions allowed pictures inside.


19. Old library (Biblioteca Joanina) of the University of Coimbra, which is pretty amazing, really old bookshelves, tables, and books insiide. This is what people come to Coimbra to see the most.


20. Some of the University of Coimbra students still wear black robes both on-campus ...


21. or off-campus (this was taken at Coimbra bus station).


(To be continued)