Things to Do in Coimbra
No trip to Coimbra is complete without visiting the stunning university. You'll see the Paço das Escolas, the San Miguel Chapel, and the Joanina Library.
🌟 Discover the essence of Coimbra with an experienced and dedicated guide.
Would you like to experience Coimbra in a unique way? This tour goes beyond a simple tour: you'll discover Coimbra and all its architectural gems in a way that will transform your view of the city.
🚶♂️This Essential Tour includes:
- A journey into the past: From the iconic Praça 8 de Maio to the world-famous University of Coimbra, with its history and wonderful views, passing by the historic Old Cathedral, the medieval streets filled with fado, tunas, and student life, the New Cathedral, the former Episcopal Palace converted into a national museum, the Estado Novo faculties, and dozens of other iconic sites, historic buildings, and hidden corners. Well told, every step in this city will reveal secrets and stories that sometimes date back two thousand years.
- Exciting stories and anecdotes: Be amazed by the fascinating stories that, step by step and century by century, have helped Coimbra evolve into the hidden gem of Portugal that it is.
- Historical rigor and passion: Each story, documented and told from the heart, seeks to connect you deeply with the essence of the city.
- A pace designed for you: Forget the rush. This tour is an invitation to enjoy Coimbra. I'll adapt to your pace, and of course, curiosity is always welcome.
- Adaptation to the audience: No matter your age, no matter your prior knowledge of history, art, or architecture, I will adapt to your interests and needs so that the most important thing is that you have a pleasant experience from your visit.
- Intimacy and Connection: I work with small groups (5-10 people in low season, 20 in high season) to offer you a more personal, intimate, and therefore better experience.
- Recommendations, tips, and tricks: As an expert on Coimbra and its secrets, I'll put all my knowledge at your disposal so you can get even more out of your stay in the city: recommendations on where to eat, what to see beyond the tour limits, where to enjoy free traditional shows, etc. Take advantage of the tour to get the most out of the city!
🏆 Why Choose Me?
- Local Expert: 🎓 Your tour will be led by a passionate, college-educated, experienced guide who puts his heart and soul into every moment he comes down to the square to show you the city.
- Free Tour: Tip-based tour. Pay what you think is fair at the end; you set the price based on your level of satisfaction with the experience (that's why the guide gives his all every time he goes to the plaza 😉)
- Freelance Guide: Unlike some large free tour companies, here you'll find a freelance guide who has made their passion their profession. My income depends on my level of excellence . My goal is to offer you an authentic, high-quality experience, where every detail counts!
Don't hesitate, immerse yourself in a journey where every street whispers its story, every stone holds a legend, and every step brings you closer to the soul of Coimbra.
✨Book your spot now and let The Coimbra Guide reveal the best-kept secrets of this magical city!✨
Why Coimbra?
Let's find out as we journey through centuries of power, poetry, and quiet beauty. Led by a local guide passionate about storytelling, you’ll explore both iconic monuments and hidden corners, with context, charm, and a touch of mystery.
Main stops & topics:
- Arcos do Jardim (meeting point)
- Botanical Garden
- Monumental Stairs
- University of Coimbra (UNESCO)
- Machado de Castro Museum (exterior)
- Old Cathedral (Sé Velha)
- Quebra-Costas stairs
- Almedina Arch & Tower
- Church of Santa Cruz
- Largo da Portagem
- Parque Verde do Mondego (end of the tour)
We’ll talk about kings and templars, revolutions and rituals, secrets beneath the streets and gardens full of stories. This is Coimbra — lived, felt, and remembered.
🔖 Book now and join a tour where every step tells a story. Spots are limited!
On this tour, we explore the university, historical center, and downtown. It is a visit to the most historical area and one of the newest areas of the city. We will talk about the history, society, traditions of Coimbra and Portugal (including foods, sweets, and beers, liqueurs... yes we local beers, and a famous liqueurs in this region 🙂 )... be ready to walk! It's impossible to avoid the hills! 🙂
I have a lot of things to tell you about the city/ Portugal. If you don't like history... if you are not ready to walk, think very well... the city has a lot of things/stories (and hills). Please, if you don't have time to take the tour, if you really don't have the patience to walk or to get information, seriously, check the tour duration on the website, think about it. If you have few time, and you want to know the city, i understand, but, please, ask the guide if there are more people! If it's just us, obviously things are different, and it takes less time, we change the itinerary if you wish. It's not fair to judge the guide for that, because the information is given online and on the tour as well.
Itinerary:
- Largo da Portagem
- Baixa
- Historic Center
- University
- Botanical Garden...
- City Park
I kindly ask you to be at the right time for the tours to start. If you arrive later, or if you don't make the tour, please let me know whenever you can.
A delay more than 5 minutes means that: we may not have time to visit some historical places in the city (or we have to do it very fast), because between October/March season, some historical sites close early... or there can sometimes be big events in the city, and starting at the right time of the tour, we manage to avoid large crowds in certain areas of the city. Any delay, can lead the guide having to be more strict about time management and sometimes having to speak a little faster or speaking less. The city has several hills, which with any unforeseen event makes it even more difficult to carry out any tour in coimbra.
Bringing comfortable, lightweight shoes for the tour is a good idea. it is a city with hills, and with some medieval streets.
If you come between May/October, the sun is often strong, it's very hot. A hat, and sunscreen to protect the skin may also be needed.
*The tour may be cancelled if a minimum of 2 people is not reached.
As an International Relations student at the University of Coimbra, I see history as a living, breathing story. I don't just want to show you monuments; I want to help you understand what Coimbra truly is - the city that educated Portugal's kings and continues to inspire students and poets from around the world.
On our journey together, we'll uncover the layers of this Ancient Capital:
- Explore the iconic University, including the stunning Joanina Library, and hear the curious student traditions that bring these old stones to life.
- Step inside a powerful 12th-century church and discover its role in shaping the nation.
- Walk through history as we connect the dots between the city's most famous historical buildings.
- Learn not just the dates, but the stories, the symbolism, the dramas, and the passions that define Coimbra.
Gifts:
As my gift to you, after the tour, you'll receive my personally crafted 30-page guide to Coimbra, filled with my top tips for where to find the best lunch, a perfect coffee, a lively night out, or places for physical activities.
Ready to go beyond the guidebook and discover the real Coimbra?
Coimbra, former capital of the Kingdom of Portugal, scene of tragic loves and birthplace of one of the oldest universities in Europe.
From ancient legends to tense political confrontations, the Free Tour of Coimbra tells us the story of a city that has become bigger than a country.
Of course, the "Fado de Coimbra" and one of the most tragic love stories in memory, that of Inés de Castro and King Pedro, could never be missing from the Free Tour of Coimbra.
Passion, knowledge and power are intrinsic to the city and our Free Tour of Coimbra will be a time machine that will travel through centuries in the city, from the Romans to the Dictatorship of the New State .
At the Paço das Escolas , Free Tour of Coimbra will also tell you several curiosities about the Bell Tower, the Joanina Library, the Capelos Room and even the Academic Prison, which you can visit on your own after the visit.
In academic festivals and traditions, the Old Cathedral of Coimbra is the symbol of one of the most important moments in the life of any Coimbra student: The Monumental Serenade.
In another of the most popular places in Coimbra, the Jardim da Manga , the Free Tour of Coimbra will talk about the Jewish presence in the city since time immemorial and also about the Court of the Inquisition of Coimbra, one of the cruelest in the country.
Almost at the end of the tour, the Free Tour of Coimbra will pass by the Monastery of Santa Cruz , where we will reveal who the patron saint of the city is and what extraordinary episode took place in this city that is still told from generation to generation.
Free Tour of Coimbra is much more than a traditional guided tour of the city. A journey made of legends and traditions, of political games and forbidden loves, it is a journey through the history of Portugal and its first capital.
On this day trip to Tomar, Batalha, and Alcobaça from Coimbra, we'll visit three of the most remarkable UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Portugal!
Why is Portugal so decadent?
What do the locals live on?
What influence do students have on the city?
Is the black coat mandatory to use?
If you have asked yourself at least one of these questions during your trip to Portugal then this is the tour for you.
With us you will discover the reality, often kept hidden, of local daily life
The tour includes:
- Guided tour of the historical part of Coimbra
- Introduction to the academic life of students
- Analysis of the social and cultural situation of today's Coimbra
We are interested in accompanying people who want to discover something that a normal tour or Wikipedia does not tell you, that is what it means to live here in Coimbra today!
We do a tourism that we call 2.0, a tourism where the tourist is an active part of the tour. Where you should not only listen passively to the guide who speaks, this type of tourism we think is old.
We want to show an "Alternative Coimbra" and we want to do it our way.
In 1h30 we have a way to know all the main attractions of the city, with stories, legends and well-known characters of the city.
We will visit:
- Largo da Portagem (meeting point)
- Arch of Almedina
- Baixa
- Monastery of S.Cruz
- Municipal market
- Toga (official student store)
- AAC (University Academic Association)
- Praça da República
- Jardim da Sereia
- Botanical Garden and Arcos do Jardim
- University (only outside)
- Old Cathedral (only outside)
*The tour is based on donations only for groups of less than 6 people. If you are a group of more than 6 people, even if you come with different bookings, the payment will be 10 euros for each adult and 5€ for each child. Otherwise the guide has the right to exclude you from the group.
**The tour schedule can be changed according to the availability of the guides and the weather conditions. If the number of participants at the tour start time is less than 5 people, the tour will be cancelled. In this case you have to find an economical solution with the guide to make it happen.
On this food tour, we'll visit some of the most iconic places in Coimbra to sample the renowned petiscos. Enjoy some of the finest cuisine in Portugal!
Learn all about this superior quality wine on this tour of the Dão region from Coimbra - perfect for wine aficionados and connoisseurs.
