Coimbra's Alta is a hill that holds the city's history in layers, and the Alta Universitária is its crown. Where Roman Aeminium once stood and a Moorish palace later watched over the river, the Portuguese kings built their own palace, which became the university. Today the Paço das Escolas, the courtyard with a view over the Mondego, is where students gather for photographs and where ceremonies take place, and the sound of the bell, long a sign for lessons, still rings out over the rooftops.
The traditions here are quirky and strong. Students wear black capes, torn at the edges to mark their adventures, and in May each year the Queima das Fitas, the Burning of the Ribbons, brings a week of parades and concerts to celebrate the end of the year. The city's own kind of fado, sung by men in capes, is distinct from the Lisbon kind, with a serenade tradition under the windows of loved ones. If you hear a guitar drifting from a stairwell at night, that is probably it.
Coming from the south, the ride from Tomar, with its great Convent of Christ of the Knights Templar, to Coimbra runs through hills of cork oak, eucalyptus and pine, with farmland and small villages. The roads vary from fast and wide to narrow and twisty, and surfaces are mostly good. Approaching Coimbra, traffic builds, and the last climb to the Alta is steep and complicated. Plan a route to a car park by the river and take the staircases or the lifts up the hill.
The Alta has few fuel stations, but the lower town and the outskirts of Coimbra have plenty. Coffee is a ritual here, with the small strong bica served in cafés with outdoor tables on the squares, and snacks include pastel de nata and ham sandwiches. Prices are modest because of the student population.
Weekday evenings in term time are the liveliest, with the stone steps full of students, and the light on the old walls is most beautiful at sunset.