Visa Requirements

Portugal is in the Schengen area (comprising 26 European countries), for which foreigners may need an entry visa.  If you do need it, please make sure you apply for it well in advance before your departure.  In the Schengen area, you may travel freely between member countries. However, we recommend you access the SEF (Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras – Immigration and Border Services) website and Portal das Comunidades Portuguesas. For more information or questions contact the Local Organizing Committee. 

How to get to Coimbra

The international airports are the Airport of Porto (about 100 km, north of Coimbra) and the Airport of Lisbon (at about 200 km, south of Coimbra). Both airports have regularly scheduled flights to and from all main European destinations as well as major world cities [see more…]. Coimbra has no international airport.

The quickest/cheapest way will be to arrive either in Lisbon or Porto and take the train to Coimbra. To get in either case from the airport to the train station, your best bet is the metro.

From Lisbon Airport

If coming by Lisbon:

By Train

The recommended route is:

Lisbon Airport –metro/taxi–> Lisboa Oriente –train–> Coimbra-B

If you choose to travel to Portugal directly through the Airport of Lisbon please have in mind that this Airport is 200 km from Coimbra but it has more connecting flights from most international centres. Arrive at Portela Airport, and take the metro to Gare do Oriente.

You need to buy a metro card (Viva Viagem/7 Colinas card) and charge it with tickets. One ticket is needed to go from the airport to Oriente, and it is quite a short ride, about 10 mins. A new metro will arrive every 6-10 minutes depending on the time of day. There is just a single metro line at the airport, it ends at the airport and it goes through Oriente, so it should be easy.

At Oriente, take the train to Coimbra:

https://www.cp.pt/StaticFiles/horarios/longo-curso/comboios-alfa-pendular-intercidades-lisboa-norte-sul.pdf

The line goes from Lisbon to Porto via Coimbra. You can pre-book your tickets at www.cp.pt, https://www.cp.pt/passageiros/en, or just buy them at the station.

A 2nd class ticket should be around 25€ from Lisbon to Coimbra (with small variations according to the speed of the train). You should choose either Alfa (AP) or Intercidades (IC). AP trains are more comfortable than IC trains and also quicker. 

You will arrive at Coimbra-B train station. You can continue traveling using your ticket to Coimbra-A (the central train station) but you will need to change trains. The connection trip takes just 4 min and there is a connection every 10-30 minutes (depending on the time of day). You can also take a taxi to your hotel from Coimbra-B (which should cost no more than 10€).

Note that the last IC train leaving Lisbon for “Coimbra-B” departs not very late from Lisboa “Oriente” (at the moment, in 2022, it is at 22:00, but please check nearer the conference date).

By Bus

By express bus: you will need to take the metro or catch a taxi to “Sete Rios” Bus Station; the journey should take approximately 15 minutes. Express buses to Coimbra run every hour (during the day) and you should expect the journey to take approximately 2 hours and a half. The price of the ticket should cost around 15€.

Check the website of the Express Buses Network for the timetable and prices.

https://www.rede-expressos.pt/en/default.aspx

By Airport Shuttle

An alternative is the service of airport shuttles from the airports (either Lisbon or Porto) direct to Coimbra hotels (and vice-versa). You can book online https://www.airportshuttle.pt/ or contact directly coimbra@airportshuttle.pt.

By Car

By car: when leaving the airport you should take the A1 motorway to Coimbra and exit Coimbra Sul. You should expect the journey to take about 2 hours.

From Porto Airport

Otherwise, if coming by Porto:

If you choose to travel to Portugal directly through the Airport of Porto please remember that although this Airport is closer to Coimbra it may have fewer connecting flights to most international centres. If you are flying to Lisbon you can pick a connecting flight to Porto but this will not save you time.

By Train

The recommended route is:

Porto Airport –metro/taxi–> Porto-Campanhã –train–> Coimbra-B

Arrive at Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport, and take the metro (tram) to Estação de Campanhã.

You’ll need to buy a metro card (Andante Azul card) and charge it with tickets (you will need to charge with Z4 tickets). Just a single line (line E – violet line) goes from Aeroporto to Estádio do Dragão – Campanhã is the stop before the last. The trip will take 33 minutes and there is a new connection every 20-30 minutes (depending on the time of day).

At Campanhã, take the train to Coimbra:

https://www.cp.pt/StaticFiles/horarios/longo-curso/comboios-alfa-pendular-intercidades-lisboa-norte-sul.pdf

(Yes, it’s the same link as before, the line is the same just in the opposite direction)

You can pre-book your tickets at www.cp.pt, https://www.cp.pt/passageiros/en, or just buy them at the station.

A 2nd class ticket should be less than 20€ from Porto to Coimbra (with variations according to the speed of the train). You should choose either Alfa (AP) or Intercidades (IC). AP trains are more comfortable than IC trains and also quicker. 

You will arrive at Coimbra-B train station. You can continue traveling with your ticket to Coimbra-A (the central train station) but you will need to change trains. The connection trip takes just 4 min and there is a connection every 10-30 minutes (depending on the time of day). You can also take a taxi to your hotel from Coimbra-B (which should cost no more than 10€).

Note that the last IC train leaving Porto for “Coimbra-B” departs early from Porto “Campanhã” (at the moment the last one is at 20:32, but check nearer the conference date). 

By Bus

By express bus: you will need to travel by metro (line E) until the “Campo 24 de Agosto” Stop (25 minutes). From there, you can cross the square to walk to the Bus Station “Campo 24 de Agosto”. Express buses to Coimbra run every hour and you should expect the journey to take approximately 1 hour and a half. The price of the ticket should cost around 15 euros.

Check the website of the Express Buses Network for the timetable and prices.

https://www.rede-expressos.pt/en/default.aspx

By Airport Shuttle

An alternative is the service of airport shuttles from the airports (either Lisbon or Porto) direct to Coimbra hotels (and vice-versa).  You can book online https://www.airportshuttle.pt/ or contact directly coimbra@airportshuttle.pt.

By Car

By car: when leaving the airport you should take the A1 motorway to Coimbra and exit at Coimbra Norte. You should expect the journey to take about 1h 15m.

Once you are in Coimbra 

The Department of Mathematics is located on the main campus of the University of Coimbra, known as “Pólo I“.

There are many hotels within walking distance of the University. If you choose a hotel further away from the city centre, you can travel to the University by taxi (about €10,00) or by city bus.

City buses:

• line 103: (Estação Velha – Sto António dos Olivais (via Universidade)), which connects the main train station (Estação Velha), the centre of Coimbra to the  University of Coimbra (Pólo I) and the Faculty of Economics (Sto António dos Olivais);

Line 103 is quite convenient whenever you are in the central urban area of Coimbra (Baixa – downtown).

The main campus of the University of Coimbra is also served by other city buses. These do not go through the main campus itself, but the stop “Arcos do Jardim” is within a 2 minutes walking distance from the Department of Mathematics:

• Line 5: Pedrulha – Estádio
• Line 11, Line 11C: Arnado – Bairro Norton de Matos
• Line 24: Arnado – Quinta da Nora
• Line 24T: Bairro Norton de Matos – Palácio da Justiça

Timetables in Portuguese are available on the SMTUC web page (in Portuguese). 

You may also find the moovit app useful for getting around on public transport in Coimbra. You can buy tickets from the driver (1.70€) and you should have preferably the exact amount or small change. You can also buy a card and charge it with a minimum of 3 tickets.