Conimbriga

Tickets and tours: all the options

Entry is simple: one ticket, bought at the visitor centre, covers both the ruins and the museum, and it is rarely necessary to book ahead. GetYourGuide resells the same entry ticket for those who prefer to pay in advance. There is no skip-the-line product because there is seldom a queue.

Guided options fall into a few kinds. From Coimbra there are half-day tours with transport and a guide, some combined with the Roman remains in Coimbra itself, and private tours that pair Conimbriga with the baroque Joanina Library of the university, which needs its own timed ticket. A tour on electric bikes from Coimbra covers the ride out and back with a guide. Another half-day tour adds the limestone caves of the Sico hills to the south. From Lisbon, full-day trips include transport and museum entry, with about two hours on the road each way and often a stop elsewhere on the return.

The site is well signed in Portuguese and English, and the museum explains daily life clearly, so a guide is less essential than at larger sites. If you have a car or can manage the bus, the standard ticket is the sensible option. Without a car, a guided half day from Coimbra is the easiest way to go; from Lisbon, the day trip saves a complicated connection.

A short history

A hill settlement stood here from about the 9th century BC, home to the Conii before the Romans arrived around 139 BC during the campaigns of Decimus Junius Brutus. The town became a municipium under Vespasian, between AD 69 and 79, and is thought to have had about 10,600 inhabitants. At the end of the 3rd century a shorter wall replaced the earlier circuit. The Suevi sacked the town between 465 and 468, and in the 6th century its bishopric moved to nearby Aeminium, which took on the name that became Coimbra. Digging began in 1873, the state bought the land and took over the excavation in 1930, and the site has been a National Monument since 1910.

Getting there

Coimbra is the base. Fast trains from Lisbon reach Coimbra-B in about an hour and three quarters, and Porto is an hour away; the nearest airports are Porto and Lisbon. From Coimbra bus station, regional buses run to Condeixa-a-Nova several times a day, and a few go on to the ruins. Otherwise it is a walk of about 2 km, around 25 minutes, from Condeixa along a signposted road with little pavement in places.

A taxi from Coimbra takes about 20 minutes. By car, leave the A1 motorway or the IC2 at Condeixa and follow the brown signs; there is a free car park by the visitor centre, where the ticket desk and the start of the path are.

Rules and what to bring

Stay on the paths and walkways, do not walk on the mosaics or climb the walls, and keep children from scrambling on the ruins. Drones need permission from the site. Shade is scarce, so in summer bring a hat, sunscreen and water, and wear shoes with good grip for the worn paving. Toilets, a cafe and a restaurant are in the visitor centre at the entrance, but there is nothing among the ruins themselves.

When to go

The quietest hours are the first after opening and the late afternoon. School groups visit on weekday mornings in spring, and coach tours from Lisbon or Fatima tend to arrive in the late morning, filling the walkways of the House of the Fountains for a while. If you come by bus, check the return times first, as they decide how long you can stay.

April to June and September to October are the best months, with mild days and green countryside. In July and August the inland heat can pass 35 degrees on the exposed site, so go early. Winter brings rain and short days but very few visitors, and wet mosaics show their colours well. Allow about two hours for the ruins and the museum, three if you want lunch on the terrace or a slow look at every house.