Program & Contributions

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).