We will start the visit to the city of Coimbra through the University, we will visit the Paço das Escolas, the Joanina Library, São Miguel Chapel and the Royal Palace).
We will pass by the Sé Nova Cathedral and continue our visit through the historic part of the city.
The Old Cathedral is located in one of the most tourist spots in the city of Coimbra and consequently in one of the oldest places in the history of the Portuguese nation.
We will pass through the main portal of the ancient walled city of Coimbra.
At this point, we will talk about Rua da Sofia, Pátio da Iniquiricao and end our guided tour at the beautiful Santa Cruz Church.
The tour guide was very knowledgeable and gave a lot of interesting commentary on the history. He brought us to see the main highlights where we spent a good amount of time visiting each one.
Wondrerful way to get to know tge history and hidden Gems of Coimbra. Following was a great host. The university library was amazing.
The tour was a perfect introduction to the university and old part of the city of Coimbra. Felipe was an excellent guide and answered our questions.
Filipe was wonderful. The other tour guides, on the other hand, were extremely loud and disruptive. At times, it made it very hard to hear our tour guide.
A very good tour, with an in-depth visit to most Most of the time on this tour was spent at the university with only about 45 minutes or so on the old part of the city below the university. The tour was a very good in-depth tour of Coimbra University (library, chapel, history, student customs, etc). Eva, our guide, as very knowledgeable about both the university and city. I would definitely recommend her as a guide.
Felipe was very knowledgeable, helpful and patient. He gave us a lot of historical and cultural background for everything we saw. It was an excellent tour.
Filipe was very knowledgeable and attentive to our group. We had a very good experience and enjoyed out tour.
Excellent tour with Filipe around the old university and city landmarks. Very knowledgeable and personable young man. Especially liked the small group of 8 so easy to ask questions. Most enjoyable afternoon!
Great tour. Renan was so knowledgeable. We loved hearing all about the history of the University and the town of Coimbra.
A fascinating afternoon with Jenna, our tour guide, who is an historian now doing a PhD as well. Learned, passionate, and animated in his approach. We learned a great deal. The University - and especially the Great Hall where students still defend their doctorates - and the Joanine Library were riveting for us. Terrific afternoon.
I really enjoyed this tour! Renan was a fantastic tour guide. He knows so much about Portuguese history and was able to tailor the tour to my interests. He was pleasant to have a conversation with and is clearly super passionate about his work. I really feel like I understand Coimbra now. Can't recommend Renan and this tour enough! Worth every penny!
Our guide was friendly, helpful and very knowledgeable!
It was a lovely experience. The tour really expanded our perspective, everything is so much better when you actually understand what you're looking at. Renan was an amazing guide: knowledgeable, funny, and kept us thoroughly engaged. The time flew by. Highly recommended!
Nuno was a great tour guide. He was knowledgeable and helpful, giving tips for how to use free time. Highlight of the tour was the view from the top of the cathedral!
Guide was excellent. So knowledgeable friendly and lovely. Really enjoyed ourselves. Had the best time!
Our guide, Renan, was excellent. He was knowledgeable and passionate about sharing the university and the city with us. We had a small group, which was lovely - we all had an opportunity to ask questions and not get lost in a crowd.
Renan was a super knowledgeable, friendly and passionate guide. A wonderful experience]
Renan was terrific! Great grasp of Portuguese history to contextualize the tour, and my kids (11 and 14) were able to follow along and really enjoy it. Great tour for a cool spot in Portugal!
We had a great time on our tour of The University of Coimbra and the city. Our guide Phillipe, was very knowledgable and conveyed the information very well. The tour was well planned and included time for a quick break. It was very hot the day of our tour, so it would have been good for him to more overtly seek shade, but overall he was a great guide. He was personable and friendly.
Great experience. Very knowledgeable guide. We were able to easily traverse all the sites within the guidelines of the University. Highly recommend.
Had the BEST tour with Renan! He knew so much about every place he took us to! We enjoyed every part of our trip as well as his recommendations. 100% recommend booking with Renan if you are into history/a great time!
Very informative and interesting. Lots of detail and history provided. Very cool to see the school atmosphere.
Loved our guide and our tour of the university
Liked the personal aspects to the tour from a current student’s perspective. He had quite the humorous zingers!
Pedro was knowledgeable and personable. The library and school are definitely worth seeing with a guide. Side note- don't try to drive and park at meeting place.
We had a fantastic walking tour of Coimbra with Mateus and absolutely loved it. He showed us all the main sites and shared so much history and local insight along the way. He was incredibly knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and made the whole experience both fun and interesting. It was especially great to tour with someone who is a student in Coimbra, because he gave us a real local perspective on the city and university life. His passion for Coimbra really came through, and it made the tour feel personal and memorable. If you’re visiting Coimbra and want a great way to explore the city, we highly recommend booking with Mateus through coimbraprivatetours.com! He’s also pretty easy on the eyes!
This was a really great tour. Renan is an excellent guide who speaks excellent English. Extremely knowledgeable in the history of the area and also of Portugal. He is very funny and animated, and also tells fun stories about the people and the area. I would highly recommend this tour. I use Viator throughout the world for tours and only once did they fall short. They instantly refunded me the money.
Renan was a fantastic guide! He was chock full of information and very engaging with the group. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and learned so much!
The torrential rain did not deter the enthusiasm of Renan our guide who gave us a very interesting and educational tour. But he made it exceptionally interesting by sharing his knowledge of Portuguese history sprinkled with witticism and anecdotes. It was a great way to spend a rainy day in the beautiful city of Coimbra and appreciate the unesco world heritage University. Strongly recommend
Phellipe's knowledge is something to write books about! I would never have been able to get so much out of a short time on my own, even if I had longer time. I would certainly not know where to go to start off with. A certain must.
Filipe was amazing! He was incredibly knowledgeable and shared so many interesting stories and facts! He also gave great recommendations for local bakeries, restaurants, and pastries to try!
Our guide Renan was a living history book! Amazing to receive a tour by a PhD student. He was able to bring alive the Portugal from the 1100s to today!
Personalized tour with amazing guide who had so much knowledge about coimbra and Portugal history. Got a good recommendation for lunch too
Excellent experience, a highlight of my first trip to Portugal! Our guide was very knowledgeable, friendly, had a nice sense of humor. Loved visiting the university, especially the library (the bats and cats! 💜). What I learned in this tour about the university and the city actually helped me understand other places as well. Really worth it!
The University is at the highest point of the city. Great view and so much history. I am so glad I went to the library. I have never seen anything like it.
A thorough orientation to the medieval old town Coimbra and the University. Our guide, Felipe, was knowledgeable and willing to answer any questions we had. The University's history is very interesting. Would highly recommend this tour; it is a great introduction to the city. Be prepared for many stairs and inclines/slopes!
It was great to spend the afternoon with Filipe learning about Coimbra University history and customs. From the pre-tour communication throughout the tour he was informative, thoughtful and interesting. I learned a lot! For me the highlight was the old library, but the chapel was also very interesting, as well as the stories of student life, both long ago and contemporary. Recommended.
Filipe was a fantastic guide! He answered all our questions. He reached out before the tour & suggested things for after
Our guide, Renan, was outstanding. His mastery of history was amazing. He is a genius and master storyteller. We give this tour our highest rating!!
Filipe was knowledgeable, entertaining and spoke clearly! His English was excellent! I would highly recommend him to anyone!
Renan was an outstanding tour guide. He had an exceptional knowledge of Coimbra history and an engaging way of sharing information. He went above and beyond in meeting the needs and interests of the group. I would happily do another tour with him.
We booked a private tour, but one other couple joined for the first half, and if we were at the back, we couldn’t hear what the guide was saying. The other couple left for the second half of our tour and we had the guide to ourselves, which was what we were looking for. The guide and tour as really good
It was a bit tricky getting from the train to the meet-up point. Take a Bolt! I learned so many "insider tips" about the University!
Our family went on the walking tour of the university and Coimbra with Filipe. He was such a delightful guide! He was very knowledgeable about the university, having previously attended and worked for the school. He also grew up in Coimbra. He was very easy going and we enjoyed talking with him about his studies and life in Portugal. He certainly gave context to everything we saw and made our time in Coimbra so much better. I would definitely recommend this company, and Filipe specifically, if you are in Coimbra.
Reanan was great! As a former student of the university he was very knowledgeable and provided personal information about different parts of the university. He was very enthusiastic and engaging. The tour of the historical portions of the city was wonderful. Well worth the booking this tour.
We learned so much on our tour today! Renan had the best energy and so much knowledge about the history of Portugal, Coimbra, and the University. He was expressive and made the history relatable. We loved our tour and can’t recommend it enough! And, we added the downtown tour and not only did Renan share more history, but he pointed out a restaurant we tried later that night. It was the best meal we’ve had so far in Portugal.
Renan was very passionate and knowledgeable about the Coimbra university and portugese history which He shared during the tour. There were never a dull moment in the tour. He was very friendly and courteous as well. Strongly recommend the tour with him.
During this tour, you’ll discover the deep and fascinating history of Coimbra University. The tour turned out to be so much more fun and interesting than we expected. And our tour guide, Renan, was responsible for that. He attends the university as he works his way through his doctorate. So he does not only have in-depth knowledge of the tour stops at the university and in the town, but his passion and boundless enthusiasm for both brings their history to life. He also recommended a fantastic place for fado (Café Santa Cruz) and for dinner (OAK). One other recommendation that we can make from our stay in Coimbra: The Kaju restaurant. I had the most amazing Pancakes Pistachio there.
Our guide, Filipe was very knowledgeable, patient and kind. He answered all of our questions and gave us very good recommendations for dinner, shows and shopping
For context, it was hot as Hades when we toured, something our guide had no control over; however, that probably dampened our enthusiasm before we even started. I found the tour somewhat tedious and, on at least three occasions, was promised, "Just a few steps, I promise," only to encounter many stairs, some inside and some outside. We left after touring the library, suspecting that the remainder of the tour included more stairs and heat. If you wish to tour the university, there are less pricey options.
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