COIMBRA - Portugal - page 301

Cost and Hours: €9, kids ages 3-13-€5.50, kids under 2 free, daily March-May
10:00-19:00, June-mid-Sept 9:00-20:00, mid-Sept-Feb 10:00-17:00, last entry 30 minutes
before closing, Rossio de Santa Clara, tel. [phone], www.portugaldospequenitos.pt .
Kayaks,Cruises,andAdventureSports —To enjoy the region's natural beauty, consider
these activities.
Kayaking: The company called O Pioneiro do Mondego buses you from Coimbra
to Penacova (15 miles away), where you can kayak down the Mondego River for about
four hours back into Coimbra (€22.50, 10 percent discount with this topic, daily June-
Sept, one- and two-person kayaks available, book by phone or email, meet at park near
TI, tel. [phone], www.opioneirodomondego.com , [e-mail] ,
Kristien and Jonas speak English). Most people stop to swim or picnic on the way back,
so it often turns into an all-day journey. For the first 12.5 miles, you'll go easily with the
flow, but you'll get your exercise paddling the remaining stretch. To avoid the workout
(and the more boring part of the Mondego River), ask to be picked up 2.5 miles before
Coimbra, at Portela do Mondego, where the river's current slows down.
Cruises: If you'd rather let someone else do the work, Basófias boats float up and
down the river on a 55-minute joyride that runs daily except Monday (€6.50; departures
from dock across from TI at 15:00, 16:00, and 17:00; in summer also at 18:00 and 19:00;
schedule posted at dock, no narration, tel. [phone], www.basofias.com ).
Adventure Sports: Located in the nearby town of Foz da Figueira, Capitão Dureza
specializes in at-your-own-risk activities: rappelling, rafting, mountain biking, hiking, and
canyoning (pickup and drop-off in Coimbra, tel. [phone], www.capitaodureza.com ) .
Near Coimbra
▲ Conímbriga Roman Ruins —Portugal's best Roman sight is impressive...unless
you've been to Rome. What remains of the Roman city is divided in two, in part because
its inhabitants tore down buildings to erect a quick defensive wall against an expected
barbarian attack. Today, this wall cuts crudely through the site.