This itinerary links three distinct Portuguese cities by rail across four nights: the Alentejo walled city of Évora, the university city of Coimbra on the Mondego, and the canal city of Aveiro on the Ria. Before booking, read the routing honestly.
The routing note: Évora lies southeast of Lisbon in the Alentejo, and Coimbra lies north of Lisbon on the Porto line. There is no direct rail connection between Évora and Coimbra. Travelling between them requires returning to Lisbon Oriente (approximately 1 hour 35 minutes from Évora) and then boarding the northbound Alfa Pendular (approximately 1 hour 40 minutes to Coimbra-B). The total Day Two journey is approximately 3 hours 15 minutes to 3 hours 30 minutes, with a station transfer in Lisbon. This is manageable but should not be underestimated.
Book all train legs at cp.pt before race week. The Alfa Pendular is a reserved-seat service; advance fares are significantly cheaper than walk-up prices.
Lisboa Oriente → (1h 35m, Intercidades) → Évora (1 night)
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(return to Lisboa Oriente, ~1h 35m, then north)
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Lisboa Oriente → (1h 40m, Alfa Pendular) → Coimbra-B → (5 min) → Coimbra-A (1 night)
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(30 min, Alfa Pendular north)
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Aveiro (2 nights)
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Lisboa Oriente ← (2h 30m, Alfa Pendular)
Night One: Évora
Board the CP Intercidades from Lisboa Oriente on Monday morning (1 hour 35 minutes southeast to Évora). Spend the afternoon and evening in the walled city: the Praça do Giraldo, the Templo Romano (14 Corinthian columns of Estremoz marble from the 1st or 2nd century AD), and the Igreja de São Francisco with the Chapel of Bones - a small interior chapel whose walls and ceiling are covered with the bones and skulls of approximately 5,000 Franciscan monks.
The historic centre is compact and flat in its core sections. December finds it operating for its 56,000 residents. The restaurants serving carne de porco à Alentejana (pork with clams and coriander) and the Alentejo red wines are open year-round; look for a wood-burning fireplace.
Night Two: Transit Day and Coimbra
Return to Lisboa Oriente from Évora (approximately 1 hour 35 minutes). Board the northbound Alfa Pendular to Coimbra-B (approximately 1 hour 40 minutes). At Coimbra-B, take the short CP Urbano shuttle (5 minutes) to Coimbra-A in the city centre.
Plan the Évora departure for 07:00--09:00 and you arrive in Coimbra by early afternoon. The Parque Verde do Mondego riverfront - flat reclaimed ground on the south bank of the Mondego, linked to the city centre by the pedestrian footbridge - gives the afternoon walk. The evening: Fado ao Centro on Rua Quebra Costas presents Coimbra fado in a seated, intimate setting; book in advance at fadoaocentro.com. Take a taxi to the door - the street is steep.
Coimbra the next morning: The lower-town grid around Rua Ferreira Borges and the Mosteiro de Santa Cruz (Royal Monastery of the Holy Cross, containing the tombs of Portugal's first two kings) are flat and substantial. The Universidade de Coimbra and the Biblioteca Joanina - one of the most elaborately decorated Baroque library interiors in the world - require advance booking at uc.pt and a steep uphill approach; leave them for this morning when the legs have had an extra day.
Nights Three and Four: Aveiro
From Coimbra-B, the Alfa Pendular continues north to Aveiro in approximately 30 minutes. Aveiro station is central; the canal network is a flat five-minute walk.
Aveiro is Portugal's canal city: a network of urban channels and salt lagoons crossed by bridges and navigated by traditional moliceiro boats, their prows painted with folk-art scenes. A moliceiro cruise through the channels and out into the Ria de Aveiro is the post-marathon activity that requires no walking and provides the full Aveiro geography from the water.
The Art Nouveau facades of the old centre - a legacy of the prosperity that Aveiro's salt and trade economy produced in the early 20th century - are a flat walking tour of painted tile and ornamental ironwork. The Museu de Aveiro (Santa Joana Museum, in the former Convent of Jesus) and the central canal promenade fill Day Three.
Day Four: Costa Nova, the beach village on the Atlantic barrier island south of Aveiro, reached by bus line 11 (approximately 30 minutes). The striped fishermen's houses (palheiros) painted in vertical bands of colour are the landmark; the beach faces the Atlantic directly and in December the surf is active.
Ovos moles - Aveiro's sweet wafer pastries filled with egg-yolk cream, shaped as fish, shells, or barrels - are sold from confeitarias throughout the centre. Buy them from the traditional shops, not the tourist outlets near the station.
Return to Lisboa Oriente by Alfa Pendular on Day Five (approximately 2 hours 30 minutes south).