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Coimbra or Sao Martinho do Porto

Posted by on

Heading to Portugal with my family in a few weeks, and the plan is to leave from Porto to Lisbon, and stop off for a few nights on the way. I origianlly had planned to stay in Coimbra, but then thought maybe would be nice to stay on the beach and just do a daytrip to coimbra. I'll be with my two younger boys (ages 12 & 10) and so amount of time spent in museums/churches is usually kept to a minimum. I booked a place in Sao Martinho do Porto as well, but wondered
a. if anyone had been to this town and would suggest it, or is there another beach town that would have more to do?
b. if we should stick with Coimbra (not sure if theres more than just the university there to explore)

Thanks all for any input you have!!

Posted by
1680 posts

São Martinho do Porto is a nice small town. The beach, as you may know already, is very calm due to the horseshoe bay. It’s ideal for children for this reason. From there you can visit Alcobaca, Batalha, Nazaré, Obidos and Coimbrã (a bit further).
I think your boys would prefer it to Coimbrã. There are a number of nice restaurants. Foz do Arelho is quite close with a huge beach and several nice beach restaurants.
I stayed in São Martinho for a week in 2015 before moving here and really enjoyed it.

Posted by
49 posts

Thank you for your input and ideas. I think you're right, that our boys would prefer it to Coimbra.

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