After spending a day admiring the beautiful historical buildings in University of Coimbra, you may want to explore some of the other interesting sites nearby. With a choice between a monastery, a palace, heritage canals and a surfing beach, there is something for everyone and each would make a great day trip from Coimbra.
(Click on the link to read about University of Coimbra’s Historic Buildings)
Here’s an idea of the various sites that you can visit around Coimbra. Let’s see which one interests you.
Tomar
The Knights Templar sure knew how to make an imposing first impression. From a viewpoint above we looked down upon the old Convento de Cristo to see its decorated roof rise high above the convent walls. It is an awe-inspiring site that is sure to impress.
Built in the 12th century by the Knights Templar, the fortified convent became an important site in the crusaders’ defense against the Moors.
Leading up the monastery is one of the fanciest aqueducts we’ve ever seen. The top of Aqueduct of Pegões is adorned with decorative posts that are topped with crosses.
Unfortunately the castle and convent unexpectedly closed just before our arrival. Apparently, the museum workers went on strike that afternoon. It meant we couldn’t go inside, but we were still able to wander around the grounds and see this amazing building from the outside.
The convent and castle buildings were added on to an modified many times over the last few hundred years so that today it is a massive complex. We entered the grounds at the back to find an impressive church standing in front of us. Convent of Christ Church’s elaborate south door is heavily decorated in Manueline style figures. The door is apparently consistent with a lot of the other designs inside, so we were quite upset that we couldn’t see the rest.
We first saw Manueline architecture style when we visit the tower and monastery in Belém. (You can read about those buildings here.)
Even the side of the church is interesting. The tall aqueduct that we saw earlier runs beside the church to deliver water to the convent. Not only it is utile, the aqueduct is also adds a unique design feature on the building.
Parts of the castle, including the old royal residence, is in ruins but this added a bit of mystery to the holy complex. On the other side of the yard is the old fortress wall. From the top of the wall we looked into the complex as well as down into the town of Tomar.
We’d love to go back one day to see what we missed inside.
Getting to Tomar – Located 75 km from Coimbra, Tomar can easily be reached on a day trip if you have a car. You can travel by public transport, bus or train, but it is cumbersome and would require an overnight stay.
Aveiro
Instead of cobblestone streets, historic canals run between heritage buildings in the small town of Aveiro. Located at the end of the Aveiro Estuary, the town was important in the salt and edible seaweed industries for many years. Historically, the canals were used to transport these goods on traditional boats, called moliceiros. The boats brought the salt and seaweed from sandbanks on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean to town.
Today those boats are still bobbing in the water, but instead of salt, they are used to take tourists for tours on the historic canals. Between the canals, the boats and the pastel coloured buildings, Aveiro a very pretty town.
The pretty heritage homes continue for a couple of blocks beyond the canals and is a nice area to explore on foot. The town is quite small and very touristy though, so a day trip is all that is needed.
Getting to Aveiro – Located 60 km from Coimbra, Aveiro can easily be reached on a day trip. If you have a car it is an easy drive, but you can also travel by bus or train. Many people also visit on a day trip from Porto.
Óbidos
The adorable town of Óbidos is a place you won’t want to miss on your next trip to Portugal. The entire historic town, including a castle, is enclosed inside a tall, medieval wall giving it an enchanting setting. You can read more about this charming town in our post A Day in the Fortified Town of Óbidos.
Getting to Óbidos – Located 140 kilometers from Coimbra, this day trip is best if you have your own car. It is possible to take a bus or a train, but they involve transfers and make the journey a little longer. Many people also visit Óbidos on a day trip from Porto.
Nazaré
North Beach (Praia do Norte), on the edge of the city of Nazaré, is the location of the tallest recorded waves ever surfed in the world. Every few years surfers seem to be riding taller and taller waves. The latest record breaking wave was surfed in April, 2024. This wave was a shocking 28.57 metres (93.73 feet) tall. That’s two and a half times taller than the average telephone pole, or the same as a 10 story apartment building! What a feat to ride a wave that big.
We thought we would find a great surfing beach with wild waves. Unfortunately, even though we were there during surfing season, it appears that we arrived on a calm day. In fact, there were almost no waves at North Beach on that day. Here’s a comparison of the view we saw, versus one of the massive waves. Slide the divider to compare the two images.
Credit to https://www.surf-escape.com/surfing-in-portugal/nazare/
There are several other beaches in the area too, making Nazaré a nice spot for a beach vacation, even for non-surfers.
Getting to Nazaré – The 100 km trip from Coimbra can easily be covered in a day if you have a car. Buses and trains also make the trip, but the stations are not that close to the beaches.
Mafra National Palace
On your way to Coimbra from Lisbon, plan to stop in the town of Mafra. It is home to the National Palace which is one of the most ornate buildings in the land. The palace is an enormous building, spread out over more than a city block. Its twin bell towers, domed roof, elaborate lintel and matching end towers, make it a majestic site. It is actually a little overwhelming to see such a large palace in this humble town.
In the early 1700s, King João promised his wife, Queen Maria, a palace if she gave him an offspring. The birth of their daughter meant that construction would begin on this ornate building. Funnily though, after giving his wife such an elaborate gift, the king lived at one end of the large palace while the queen lived in the opposite end.
The large UNESCO World Heritage Site is more than just a palace. It is also a monastery and basilica. We arrived too late in the day to visit inside, but we poked our heads in to find an ornate foyer in front of the basilica. It gave us a taste of what we will see when we return one day.
Getting to Mafra – Located 40 km north of Lisbon, if you are planning to drive from the capital to Coimbra, Mafra would be a great stop. It’s not far off the main highway between Lisbon and Coimbra.
The first map below is of the entire country. The second map is an expansion of the northern half. You can click on either for a closer look. You can find Coimbra, Aveiro, Tomar and Nazaré near the middle of the second map. Óbidos is at the bottom of the second map.
To read more of our adventures in Portugal, click here.
Coming Next – See The Sites In Picturesque Porto
For pictures from other blogs go to Gallery at monkeystale.ca
To read about more of our adventures go to Destinations.
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