Hästens Sleep Spa is on the edge of Coimbra’s old town, right on the River Mondego and steps from the city’s historic university.
Planes
Porto Airport is the nearest hub. Direct flights touch down there from London Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted. From there, it’s under a two-hour drive to the hotel – transfers can be arranged on request.
Trains
Coimbra A is your stop for regional trains, and you’ll want Coimbra B for high-speed services from Lisbon and Porto. Coimbra A is just a 10-minute walk away. If you’re coming from Coimbra B, hop on the R bus service to the Coimbra stop; from there, it’s a six-minute walk to the hotel.
Automobiles
No need for a car here – Coimbra’s cobbled streets and mediaeval make-up mean its more suited for strolling, and most of the city’s historic sites are easily walkable. Portugal is prime road trip territory, however, and Coimbra is a crowning pitstop. It’s a little over two hours by car from Lisbon and around an hour and a half from Porto. The hotel doesn’t have parking, but there are multiple 24-hour car parks under a 10-minute walk away, and cars can stop in the square in front of the hotel to drop off bags.
Worth getting out of bed for
Your first challenge – tear yourself from your Hästens bed. A night’s sleep here is enough to make a morning person of most, but if you’re in need of further coaxing, an à la carte breakfast on the balcony should do the trick. Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, now’s the time for some premier-league page-turning. Hide away with your hardback in the verdant vertical garden, then migrate to the rooftop terrace to mull it over with a mid-afternoon tipple. When night falls, let the bar’s live piano and free-flowing vinho lure you to stay sipping way past your bedtime. If you like your historic sites by the hectare, you’ve come to the right place. In Coimbra’s old quarter, you can’t move for mediaeval churches. First things first, though, tick the city’s hilltop university off your Unesco world heritage hit list. Chat to the Hästens’ concierge and they’ll hook you up with an insider jaunt to match your interests – whether that’s an archaeologist-led adventure through a conquering king’s castle or a five-course candlelit feast. Tailored tour sorted, take your Hästens-rested head and hasten (sorry) to the Joanina Library. Built in 1728, this baroque biblioteca is home to over 70,000 books, as well as a merry band of bug-hunting bats. And if that’s not enough for you, bibliophiles, ask at the hotel about a guided flick through the university’s ancient book collection. Still within the university walls is the Chapel of Sao Miguel, , a classically Coimbra collision of the Gothic and the Baroque, with intricate Azulejo tiles and a garland-swirled ceiling worth straining your neck for. And if all that mediaeval majesty hasn’t inspired your magnum opus, perhaps a stroll through Penedo da Saudade is in store. Perched above the old town, this public garden is peppered with stone plaques, each etched with the poetry of students past.
Local restaurants
Caffeine chasers, seek sanctuary in Cafe Santa Cruz, a 16th-century church turned coffee house and one of Coimbra’s cultural hubs. Here, a holy trinity of strong coffee, sweet treats and the city’s morning chatter are served under storied vaulted ceilings, so settle in and succumb to the temptation of a second pastel de nata – at least you’re in the right place to confess your sins. Duck into Dux Taberna Urbana for a light lunch of petiscos, Portugal’s take on tapas. With a menu including bite-sized bacalhau fritters and gravy-soaked veal pica pau, a meal here makes for a small-plate safari of the country’s tastiest traditions. For finely tuned traditional fare, snag yourself a table at tiny local favourite No Tacho. It’s a pint-sized place, but the seasonal menu packs in all the trappings of a top-notch Portuguese feast – freshly-caught fish, prime cuts of carne and lashings of locally produced wine. Play-it-by-ear punters, you’ll need to plan ahead, I’m afraid – but fear not, the chilli-laced farinheira will more than make up for it. When evening comes, wander down to aCapella, a candlelit spot cloistered away in a centuries-old chapel. You’ll find the full range of tipples and tapas at the bar, but when the clock strikes 9.30, crowds gather round tightly-packed tables for the nightly Fado show. Amen to that.
