The city
Coimbra is located in the center-north of Portugal, 40 kilometers from the coast.
You can find some information about the city and the university:
We describe now some of the possible ways to reach the city:
By plane
There is no airport at Coimbra, and hence you must travel to Lisbon or Porto
international airports and come to Coimbra by train, bus orcar. The distance
from Porto is a bit more than 100 km and from Lisbon is around 200km.
By train
To come to Coimbra from Porto (Campanhã station) or Lisbon (Oriente Station,
closer to the airport, or Santa Apolonia Station, in the city center),
there are many trains everyday. There are three types:
- Regionais: They stop several times between both cities (so, they are very slow)
- Intercidades: just a few stops, much faster
- Alfa pendular: even less stops, even faster
You can check the timetables at the webpage of the Portuguese Railway company,
Caminhos de Ferro portugueses
By bus.
It is impossible for us to cover all possible international itineraries, you
should check the possibilities yourself. Inside Portugal, there is a bus
company which connects most of the cities
Rede-Expressos.
By car
Coimbra is connected to Porto and Lisbon by highway (A1) and to many other
portuguese cities by national roads (IP) .
We just want to remind you that you must pay to use portuguese highways, and
that the other roads have just one lane on each sense excepting a few short
sections.
Now, here are what we consider are the best options to come to Coimbra by car from Spain:
- From Galicia (and north of Spain): The best option is the highway: from the
border (the last spanish city is Tui) to Porto using the A3, and from
Porto to Coimbra using the A1. The connection is clearly indicated and
fairly simple.
- From Salamanca: This is the shortest path from the center of Spain, but
there are no highways. From the border (Ciudad Rodrigo) there are two
possibilities:
- IP5 Borderline- Viseu and IP3 Viseu-Coimbra.
- IP5 Borderline-Mangualde, then N234 which becomes, after 20km approx. ,
the (free) highway IC12, which meets the IP3 50 kms north from
Coimbra
- From Badajoz: spanish highway NV becomes the portuguese highway A6 when
crossing the border. You should follow it towards Évora and
Lisbon. Take the A12 and follow it
across the Tejo river (through the "Ponte Vasco de Gama", bridge constructed
for Expo 98). After that, you must take the A1 northwards (direction
Porto).
- From Andalucia: There is a highway connecting Sevilla and the border. When
in Portugal, it becomes the (free highway) A22. You should follow it
and then take the A2 toward Lisbon, till you cross the A12. There, you
change and follow the A12 across the Tejo (see above).
After that, you must take the A1 northwards (direction Porto).