About Coimbra

The city

Coimbra is one of the most important urban centers of Portugal and plays a role as the chief city of the central part of the country. The city, which was the capital of Portugal from 1139 to about 1260, has a large archeological site with extensive ruins dating from the time it was a Roman town called Aeminium.

Coimbra developed into an important cultural centre, mainly because of the University of Coimbra founded in 1290. The university, located on a hill overlooking the river Mondego, is one of the oldest in Europe and due to its monumental buildings and history attracts tourists from around the world.

With a student population of around 22 000, Coimbra today is a vital and renewed city, proud of its ancient past and academic tradition, while facing the future with confidence.

Lodging, bureaucracy, and more...

The Graduate Mobility Centre is a department of the Divisão de Relações Internacionais, Imagem e Comunicação (DRIIC) of the University of Coimbra. Its mission is to enhance the mobility of researchers and graduate students. Here you can find useful information concerning visas, social security, health insurance and lodging. The Graduate Mobility Centre is a member of the European Network of Mobility Centres (ERA-MORE).

Still concerning lodging, renting an apartment is always a possibility and different options are available here.

How to get to Coimbra

There is no airport in Coimbra, so you must fly to Lisbon or Porto international airports and reach Coimbra by train, coach or car.

The distance between Coimbra and Porto is around 100 km and between Coimbra and Lisbon is around 200km.

There are several daily trains connecting Coimbra and Porto (the railway station is Campanhã) and Lisbon (Gare do Oriente, closer to the airport, and Santa Apolónia, in the city centre). There are two types of fast trains:

• Intercidades: just a few stops

• Alfa pendular: faster, some are direct
  

In both cases, leave at Coimbra B and take the connecting train to Coimbra A, in the city centre.

There are also daily coaches connecting the three cities (Lisboa-Coimbra-Porto). The coach stations are not located in the airports so you must take a taxi or use the public transportation system to reach them.

The A1 motorway connecting Lisbon and Porto goes by Coimbra.

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