Sophia Residences

The apartment worked well for us, with a big bathroom, comfortable bed, and an okay kitchen. But the location in the heart of Coimbra was the real selling point. There’s public parking nearby for around €15, open from 7 to 21. If you don’t have many coins, I’d use the app shown on the parking machine. It says you can only set parking for four hours, but setting it to start with no end time kept it running for as long as needed.

We arrived in a really congested area, and the building signs were unclear, easy to confuse with Sophia Studios. The suggested parking area didn’t feel like somewhere we wanted to leave the car. Rather than risk a third strike and lose our payment, we gave up and found a hotel on the quiet Rua Alexander Herculano with complimentary underground parking. They rescued our Coimbra trip!

The apartment was clean and spacious, with a stylish look, a comfortable bed, a full kitchen, and very roomy modern closets. I’d recommend it, but check the parking first and try to book a studio on a lower floor. The area gets noisy from traffic, and there’s no lift. If you’re assigned a third-floor studio, you’ll face 49 steps on a narrow, steep staircase. The parking arrangement is the real scam: they direct you to the mercado car park, around €24 a day, even though street parking is free just a two-minute drive away.

Everything you need is in the nicely decorated apartments, and there’s a big kitchen if you feel like cooking, plus space to have a drink with friends or family. It’s all near the center, with easy access to historic sights and good restaurants for when you’d rather eat out. Such a beautiful hostel, and the standard was high enough to make me feel like a rich lady.