Useful Information
Attendees may benefit from special rates in some hotels in the city of Coimbra. We advise participants to contact the hotel directly to make a reservation.
Please see the conditions offered below:
Accommodation
10% discount on the best available rate. Reservations must be made through the email geral@hotelbotanicocoimbra.pt mentioning the SAW - Seeing and Acting Workshop
10% discount on the best available rate. Reservations must be made through this link
10% discount on the best available rate. Reservations must be made through the website using the promotional code LOVECOIMBRA
12% discount on the best available rate. Reservations must be made through the website using the promotional code SAW2023
Restaurants
Near the Chemistry Laboratory
Loggia (Mod)
Near Machado de Castro Museum
Papa (Mod)
Near Arcos do Jardim
Trovador (T)
Near the Sé Velha catedral
Passaporte (Mod)
Restaurante Sabores da Romeira (T)
Tapas na costas (Mod)
Fangas maior (Mod)
Sete (Mod)
A Taberna (T)
Dom Duarte (T)
O Açude (T)
Casas do Bragal (Mod)
Munich (Mar)
Arcadas (Mod)
Pedro e Inês (T)
Cordel Maneirista (Mod)
Dona Lúcia (T)
Zé Manel dos Ossos (T)
Fangas Vegetariano (Veg)
Greenside (lunch only) (Veg)
Cozinha Consciente (lunch only) (Veg)
Praxis (Brew)
Coola Boola (Brew)
Ma restaurante (J)
Kyoto House (J)
Seoul Chicken (K)
Vara (B)
Honorato (B)
Nacional (T)
Dona Elvira (T)
Dux Petiscos e Vinhos (Mod)
Dux Taberna Urbana (Mod)
Cantinho dos Reis (T)
Sol do Mondego (A)
Osteria 44 (It)
Italia (It)
O Burrito (Veg, M)
Casa das Caldeiras (Mod)
Terraço da Alta (Mod)
Tokki (K)
COSI Gelato
T - Portuguese Traditional food
Mod - Modern take on Portuguese food
J - Japonese
C - Chinese
I - Indian
It - Italian
M - Mexican
Int - Internacional
Mar - Seafood
Veg - Vegetarian
Brew - Breweries
A - African
K - Korean
B - Burgers
Places to visit in and around Coimbra
University of Coimbra
With 730 years of history, the University of Coimbra is an unavoidable institution in the history of Portugal and the entire Portuguese-speaking world. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2013, due to its unique material and immaterial heritage, fundamental in the history of Portuguese, European and world scientific culture.
Faculdade de Psicologia e Ciências da Educação da Universidade de Coimbra
The historical roots of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences date back to 1911/1912, making it one of the most recent organisational units of the University of Coimbra which is more than 700 years old (the oldest Portuguese university and the fifth European university according to the date of its foundation) and was recently recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Patrimony.
Jardim Botânico da Universidade de Coimbra
A visit to the Botanic Garden is like traveling around the planet earth without leaving the city. The plant collections which occupy every corner of the Garden take us on a journey to distinct latitudes and regions of the world, thus transforming the Garden into a living museum.The Botanical Garden of the University of Coimbra (JBUC), founded in 1772, is a Cultural Extension and Training Support Unit of this higher education institution and its missions are research, biodiversity conservation, education and dissemination of science, with a special focus on raising awareness to the knowledge and importance of plant diversity, climate change and the sustainable use of resources.
Jardim da Quinta Das Lágrimas
It was at Quinta das Lágrimas that, in the 14th century, Prince Pedro's forbidden love affair with a beautiful Galician maiden named Inês de Castro took place. Legend has it that it was at Quinta das Lágrimas that Inês cried for the last time, when she was stabbed by the daggers of the three nobles to whom Pedro's father, King Afonso IV, had ordered her death. The blood that she shed then still gives color to the stones of the fountain that was born from her tears.
Jardim da Sereia / Parque de Santa Cruz
The Santa Cruz Garden, still called that today, as it belonged to the Santa Cruz Monastery, was created in the 18th century, on the old fence of the Monastery. It functioned as a recreation and meditation park for the monks, and at the time its arboreal composition was mostly made up of oak and laurel. The Fonte da Nogueira, with a statue that represents a merman opening the mouth of a fish, is at the origin of the popular designation of Jardim da “Sereia” (mermaid in english).
Mosteiro De Santa Clara-A-Velha
The ruins of Santa Clara-a-Velha de Coimbra comprise, in addition to the magnificent church with very peculiar characteristics, a cloister with monumental dimensions, which make it the largest Gothic cloister known in Portugal.
Museu Nacional Machado de Castro
The Machado de Castro National Museum is one of the most important museums of fine arts and archeology in the country. It presents important collections of painting, sculpture and decorative arts, covering a history of more than two thousand years.
Penedo da Saudade
Among the vegetation, there are tombstones with poems that recall the student times of various elements of the academy (the oldest dates from 1855). Highlights include the Retiro dos Poetas and the Sala dos Cursos, as well as the busts of the writer Eça de Queirós and the poet António Nobre and the statue of the pedagogue João de Deus.
Sé Nova de Coimbra
It is a magnificent Jesuit temple, integrated in the Colégio da Companhia de Jesus, which began to be built in 1598. The main façade, austere but elegant, is composed of two superimposed bodies that correspond to two different periods of construction: the first, up to two thirds in height, is classical in style, while the second is Baroque.
Sé Velha de Coimbra
It is the only Romanesque Portuguese cathedral, from the time of the Reconquest, which has survived relatively intact to the present day. In academic festivals and traditions, the Sé Velha is a symbol of one of the most important moments in the course of any student in Coimbra. It is on the steps of this church that the emblematic monumental serenade that marks the beginning of the Queima das Fitas takes place every year.
Mosteiro de Santa Cruz / Jardim da Manga
The Monastery of Santa Cruz was founded in 1131 by the Order of Canons Regular of Saint Augustine. The quality of the artistic interventions in the monastery, particularly in the Manueline period, make it one of the main historical and artistic monuments in the country. Jardim da Manga, one of the first entirely Renaissance architectural works made in Portugal, is currently located behind the Monastery of Santa Cruz. Legend has it that, one day, King João III of Portugal, when visiting the Monastery, would have come across a large unused space; on the sleeve of his doublet he sketched a cloister and surrounding garden, which he later had executed.