Beira felt very different from Algarve and Alentejo. The rest of our bicycle tour, sort of paralleling the Atlantic Ocean from Coimbra to Lisbon, was once again very different from anything we had already seen in Portugal. Traffic was heavier, the hills were steeper, and the scenery wasn’t so beautiful as it’s generally a more built-up and populated part of the country. The monuments, however, wow! — it’s one UNESCO World Heritage Site after another.
We arrived in Coimbra from Penacova via a short, easy, scenic ride along the Mondego River, blissfully not realizing what a challenge the riding would be the two weeks to follow. It’s the historic University of Coimbra buildings that comprise the UNESCO site here. We’ve now visited six World Heritage sites in Portugal (with more still planned…), and the University of Coimbra is the only one where I could say “disappointing”. The star attraction is the Joanina Library, but it’s pretty small, and you only get 10 minutes. I had high expectations remembering the phenomenal library at El Escorial. The Coimbra University sites’ 12.50-Euro-entrance fee, more than double the entrance to most of the monuments, is steep. The roads in Coimbra are steep too, and the university sits on top of a hill.
Here is the main square at the university, Patio das Escolas:
