Things to do in Coimbra

Attractions, tours and experiences in Coimbra, Portugal, ordered by how much they are worth your time — and flagged where you should book ahead.

• Paço das Escolas & Biblioteca Joanina — historical. UNESCO royal palace turned university, with the Baroque library and its bat colony.
• Sé Velha de Coimbra — landmark. Fortress-like twelfth-century Romanesque cathedral with a gilded Gothic altarpiece.
• Mosteiro de Santa Cruz — cultural. Founded 1131; holds the tombs of Portugal's first two kings behind a Manueline portal.
• Museu da Ciência da UC — museum. The eighteenth-century Laboratório Chimico and a cabinet of instruments, minerals and oddities.
• Jardim Botânico da UC — park. Thirteen hectares founded in 1772 — sequoias, ginkgos and the Great Greenhouse.
• Portugal dos Pequenitos — entertainment. A 1940s miniature Portugal — the country's monuments shrunk to child height.
• Parque Verde do Mondego — nature. Four kilometres of riverbank paths, the Pedro e Inês footbridge and the Expo 2000 pavilion.
• Elevador do Mercado — transport. A lift and inclined funicular climbing 51 metres from the market to the Alta.

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