Best neighborhoods in Coimbra

6 areas in Coimbra, Portugal — what each one feels like, who it suits, and roughly what it costs.

• Celas ($) — Hospitals, big houses, quietly bourgeois Best for Long stays, families. Avenida Dias da Silva's old mansions, the sixteenth-century Mosteiro de Celas and the Penedo da Saudade viewpoint. Not a tourist neighbourhood and does not pretend to be — fine for a week, dull for two nights. Getting around: Bus-dependent; the Metrobus branch to Praça da República is only part-open
• Baixa ($) — Flat, commercial, tiled, everyday-busy Best for First visits, eating. Stay off Rua Ferreira Borges and Santa Cruz, the Mercado D. Pedro V and most of the tascas are eight flat minutes away. The one central area with no views, and some back alleys are scruffy — but it is the only one where you are not fighting a hill. Getting around: Entirely on foot; every bus route converges at Portagem
• Praça da República ($) — Student bars, wide leafy streets Best for Nightlife, slow stays. Sleep around the praça and you are between the Jardim da Sereia, the Botanic Garden and the flattest way up into the Alta. The genuine student-nightlife square, which cuts both ways: term-time noise late, near-silence in August. Getting around: Walk; buses along Rua Padre António Vieira
• Santa Clara ($) — Left bank, green, spacious, calm Best for Couples, drivers. Base near Rossio de Santa Clara for Portugal dos Pequenitos, then cross the Pedro e Inês footbridge into town. Sold as just across the river — it is a real ten to fifteen minutes each way, and after dinner you will want a taxi. Getting around: Bridges on foot, buses to Portagem; the easiest area to park
• Solum ($) — Modern, practical, stadium-and-mall Best for Value, families. Alma Shopping, the Estádio Cidade de Coimbra and good bakeries, with parks breaking up the blocks. Promoted as one of the city's most attractive neighbourhoods; in truth it is competent 1990s urbanism — stay for price and parking. Getting around: Bus to Portagem in 10-15 minutes; a car works here in a way it does not in the Alta
• Alta & Universidade ($$) — Medieval, vertical, student-haunted, UNESCO Best for University, atmosphere. Base near Couraça dos Apóstolos and you are at the Porta Férrea in five minutes, then down Quebra-Costas for dinner. Guidebooks call it walkable. It is walkable downhill — Quebra-Costas means back-breaker and it is not a joke. Getting around: Feet, the Elevador do Mercado and the Linha Azul minibus; do not bring a car

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