When we left from Porto heading to the Algarve, we had a long journey ahead of us, which meant we had to stop a few times along the way. I had many options for the first pit stop, but when I met Ilana from Ilana On The Road she confirmed what I had already heard, that Coimbra is a beautiful place worth visiting. Since this was more of a “let’s get out of the car and straighten our legs” kind of stop, I cannot write about all the things one can do here, but I can share with you some pictures I’ve taken on my short but charming visit.

We parked our car next to a cute park and after walking around for a bit, I remembered I wanted to see the famous University of Coimbra, one of the oldest in the world (and THE oldest in Portugal). That is literally all I knew about the city (which is highly unlikely for me) so we found a tourist information center where we got directions and the nice lady told us about all there is to see in the Old Town (including a Portugal in miniature exhibition called Portugal dos Pequenitos), which made me regret not having enough time.

There were a lot of stairs to get to the university. A lot! Imagine being a student and having to climb them every day at least twice. Imagine getting up there and remembering you’ve forgotten your notebook. The horror! But the university was indeed as beautiful as everyone has told me and you can see for yourself in the following pictures.

The water, as seen from the top of the hill, had a freakishly red color, I assumed it was because of the soil, which also had some red overtones. I may be wrong though.

Going down the same steps (what have I done wrong?!), we had decided to stop at the cafe at the bottom of the hill and treat ourselves with some delicious pastries. Treat yo self, you’re on holiday! 😉

Finally, it was time to hit the road again, but I still managed to take some photos from the car window.

Have you ever visited a city for a few hours and left wishing you had more time?