The university city of Coimbra is the 3rd largest in Portugal, with only Lisbon and Porto larger. A beautiful city, resting on the Mondego river with glorious architecture, Coimbra has something for everyone. Coimbra was the capital of Portugal between 1154 and 1250, before it was moved to Lisbon.

Coimbra is famous for it's fado music. Fado is essentially Portuguese folk music and is traditionally only sung by men. However, this tradition has change over the years and there are now as many female fado students as male. It's origins are thought to stem from African slaves, laments which found an echo in the hearts of homesick Portuguese sailors of voyages of discovery. Fado in Coimbra developed around homesick students of yore. There are a number of bars and restaurants where you can see traditional fado music. Times and venues can be obtained from the local tourist information office.

It is also a large university city. The university at Coimbra is among one of the oldest in europe. Settled in Coimbra in 1537 it was the only university in Coimbra for 400 years. The buzz of city life is highly charged whilst the students are in residence, with something going on somewhere all the time.

For those of you who like shopping there is the shopping centres of Coimbra Shopping, with the huge Continente hypermarket, the bigger Dolce Vita shopping centre, a well as numerous more "touristy" shops in the old town. The dolce vita, built onto the side of the Estadio Municipal the home of Premier League football side Academica, contains all manner of shops and also a 12 screen multiplex cinema. Around the cinema are numerous well knowm food outlets including Burger King, KFC & Pizza Hut.