2 Best Sights in Coimbra and Central Portugal, Portugal

On the Baixa district's Rua Ferreira Borges—one of the city's principal shopping streets—the very modest Arco de Almedina opens onto a courtyard. The 12th-century arch is one of the last vestiges of the medieval city walls, and above it are a Renaissance carving of the Virgin and Child and an early Portuguese coat of arms. The sino de correr (warning bell) was used from the Middle Ages until 1870 to signal the populace to run to the safety of the city walls.

One of Figueira da Foz's more curious sights is the 18th-century Casa do Paço, the interior of which is decorated with about 7,000 Delft tiles. These Dutch tiles were salvaged from a shipwreck at the mouth of the harbor in the late 1600s. The entrance is a little difficult to find---ask a local to point you in the right direction.