Coimbra Old Town

Coimbra’s Old Town (Alta) climbs the hillside from the river to the university, with narrow medieval streets, fado bars (Coimbra fado is different from Lisbon fado, more academic and melancholic), and the Se Velha (Old Cathedral, free to enter the nave). Free to walk. Budget travelers take the cheap train from Lisbon or Porto, climb through the old town to the university, and discover a city that shaped Portugal’s culture for seven centuries.