Just over halfway between Lisbon and Porto is Coimbra.

My favourite person and I travelled by train from Lisbon to Coimbra. It’s about a 2 hour trip, including a short wait at Coimbra B railway station for the train into Coimbra itself. It’s about an hour from Porto if you are coming the other way.

Coimbra was once the capital of Portugal, although that was a long time ago. Today its a modern provincial city with a preserved medieval town and an impressive historical university.

However for me Coimbra will always be the place that I truly embraced Portugal’s favourite food, the Ham and Cheese Toastie, although by the time we’d completed our visit I’d become a connoisseur, and my preference was for the ham, cheese and tomato version.

Before I arrived in Portugal I had assumed the national food was the Portuguese tart!

In preparing for our visit to Portugal we had read about Coimbra and seen a number of blog posts suggesting that Coimbra was place to spend more than a day visiting, We took the advice and stayed three nights.

Our late afternoon arrival gave us a chance to visit the Santa Cruz Church and Monestary in the square, Praça 8 de Maid. The main building is free to access but for a small fee you can access the altar, museums, cloisters, choir loft and more. It is a beautiful building filled with history. I loved the choir loft with the story of Portuguese exploration emblazened upon it and the incredible pipes of the organ.

Next door to the cathedral is an impressive cafe where the “national dish” is served. We had our toastie washed down with some local white wine.

Coimbra is famous for its university which is perched on top of the hill. Once a palace, it makes an impressive sight. It is the second oldest university in Europe.

To get to the university from our hotel on the railway station side of Coimbra involved a walk up through the Main Street where I was able to confirm that coffee was not the strong point of the town but pastries were. As we walked up through the narrow streets we stopped at a local art studio and passed an impressive church. We’d also noticed that there were barber shops everywhere! More of that later.

We arrived at the university in time to visit the New Church as they were setting up for a wedding. Our visit was accompanied by two musicians warming up for the wedding. The church was of course impressive with the painting in the dome the highlight.

From there it was a short walk to the ticket office opposite the Cabinet of Physics and the Natural History Gallery.

Don’t let anyone tell you the exhibits aren’t worth the admission. The Physics cabinet is a walk through history. There were some amazing instruments and experiments on display, with plenty of information available in English. It’s also worth taking a minute to sit in the lecture theatre and imagine what it would have been like to take a lecture in a bygone era.

From the Physics cabinet it is across to the Natural History Gallery and its amazing exhibits. It’s jaw dropping to walk through the exhibits. There are Narwhal horns, snakes in bottles, herds of animals, a two headed lamb, skeletons of whales, stuffed birds and it goes on. It is quite incredible. What a selection of “curiosities” gathered in the name of science.

Inaddition to these two ticketed exhibits there are two free halls, one about the Jesuits and the other containing interactive exhibits. I found the story of the oldest Jesuit college in the world interesting. The college was transformed into a university when the Jesuits were expelled from Portugal.

From there it was a short walk through the University grounds to the library. Entrance to the library is based on a timed entry. It’s a bit of a mad house with people being herded through the royal library. It reeks opulence. It is also home to a colony of bats who hide in the eves, coming out at night to get rid of the vermin. They still rollout leather mats across the wood surfaces to protect them from bat droppings.

From the royal library, it’s across to the palace and chapel that surround a large square with wonderful views across the city. For me however, the highlight was the palace hall where doctoral defences are made and doctoral degrees are received.

In my last year of my PhD I have dreams and sometimes nightmares of submitting my thesis and then the ceremony where I receive my Doctorate. It would be incredible to receive it at Europe’ second oldest university palace hall.

One thing for sure, as we wandered through the university my motivation to finish my studies was increased.

As we walked back from our university visit I was intent on my toastie, but the opportunity of a glass of wine and haircut got the best of me. My first Portuguese haircut. They’d become my local barber weren’t on the other side of the world.

With my hair nicely cut it was off for a toastie at a local bar in one of the many squares of the old city.

With the extra day we’d allowed ourselves in Coimbra we walked along the river and took in the views. From there we visited the botanical gardens which stretch from the river up to the university. They were damaged in storms a couple of years ago and so were not fully open however, the bamboo forest, the old church and the ancient garden were all worth a visit. We exited at the viaduct and then took the short walk down to the Praça Republica which was not as impressive as we had expected.

Our second day was completed with a meal at a local restaurant and a chance to listen to some fado.

Before concluding this post, I have to mention Coimbra food. We had some amazing meals. Great fresh seafood and a goat stew. Food is well priced and there are generous serves.

Travel tips

• Buy the tickets for the University, Library and Palace visit at the Physics and Natural History buildings and not by the Library as the queue is smaller.

• Take the advice of the Man in Seat 61 and buy your tickets from the Portuguese rail network rather than through ticket sellers. There is an English option on their website.