Are You Looking for Kid-Friendly Activities in Coimbra?
Portugal is not totally different than living in the United States when it comes to entertaining yourself and your kids. There are plenty of kid-friendly activities to do for all ages. The difference is just about the pace of life and what you like to do.
Similar Activities to Those in the U.S.
Our family is moving to the Coimbra area in about a year and a half, and I have been doing some research on kid-friendly activities for our son. I’ve been looking for what kinds of things there are to do there. I found that there are a few things that we do here that we will also be able to do there.
I like to fish. There are a few different licenses that you can get to do different kinds of fishing at different times of the year. There are also bowling and laser tag and a little bit of baseball. Futball (soccer) is of course a given in this part of the world, more so than here in the States.
Parque Infantil is a local park that has gardens, trees, and spaces to play basketball and futball. There are many parks like this in Portugal. There are also amusement parks. Because of COVID-19, these have been closed. I am hoping by the time we get there that the world will have a handle on this virus and we all can enjoy things and going places more often.
There are a few children’s museums in the area. They include science and art museums. Just to name a few –
- Museo Municipal de Coimbra
- Museu da Ciência da Universidade de Coimbra
- Exploratory – Coimbra Live Science Center – this one has life science things to see and do
- Museu da Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Coimbra
- Portugal dos Pequenitos is a museum that has small kid size houses from all over, not just Portugal
- There are botanical gardens to visit for a day out in nature.
As you can see, depending on what you want to do with the kids, there is something for everyone. These are things that are similar to the things we would do here in the United States.
What’s Different From the U.S.?
The things that are different are things like outdoor markets and some indoor markets that have not just your traditional farmer’s market items but things like fresh fish, herbs, and flowers from the area.
The nightlife is a little different, mostly the locations of them. Some venues are former church buildings which are beautiful to look at along with great acoustics because of the flying buttress ceilings. You won’t find anything like that here in the United States. You won’t find museums in buildings that are more than 300 years old.
I can’t wait to start visiting these places and sharing our experiences with you.
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