We have three days to do day trips from Porto. So far we think we would like to do one day to Duoro river valley, one day to Guimares, and we are undecided on the third day. We are considering Coimbra, Braga, Viana do Castelo. Any thoughts/opinions? Thanks.
Joe
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
I spent a night in Coimbra before heading to Porto by train. Coimbra is an interesting old university town on a hill. If you like old universities, you might like it. (You can tour the university - I did.) If not, I probably wouldn't bother. Coimbra has some old-town charm for sure, but it's not very big, given the time investment to get there. It's also not very touristy, which is a nice relief from the touristy Porto and especially Lisbon. If you go, look at taking one of the few regional trains that goes directly from Porto Campanhã station to Coimbra (avoiding the layover at Coimbra B station that the fast trains use). Even though the regional trains stop more often, I found them comfortable - not crowded and no reserved seats so I could spread out. The IC train I took in this same region was definitely faster - but then we had a layover at Coimbra B anyway, negating much of the time savings, and I was stuck in a tight seat on the IC train and could not really move out of my reserved seat.