Places to party in Coimbra

Places to party

As I have already said in my first post, Coimbra is very much a university city, and one where lots of people come to, not just from all over Portugal, but from all over the world, whether they're Erasmus students or international students studying their whole degree there.

For this reason, there are many places to party, but I am going to name the main places used by people on Erasmus, because those are the ones I have been to and the ones I can therefore give an opinion on.

Whatsapp and Mandarim

These two places are small bars where you can go to drink a beer. They serve a drink called sangria that is very tasty and typical of these places, but it's not just about the sangria, as it's served as a mix of sangria, beer, tequila and some other things.

Here isn't the place that I went to the most, but it was always full of people, Italian Erasmus students in particular. The music that they played here was usually Spanish reggaeton. If you are with the ESN (explained in another post, but are essentially groups run by students for Erasmus students, organising events etc. ), you get a discount.

Low Kost

This place, near to Praça da República and to Brunns, is the one that the Erasmus Spaniards went to the most during the first term. Although it's small it has very good deals on its alcohol, it treats the people who go there well and it plays very good music. The music tends to be Spanish, not just reggaeton, but music of all genres, and if you ask the DJ to play some music, they might end up putting it on. It closes around five o'clock in the morning. It has also changed owners, which is why we stopped going so much, but now it has returned back to its original owners and has begun to fill up again.

Académica

The Asociación Académica de Coimbra (Coimbra Academic Association) is near to the Praça da República and is one of the places where you will find the most Portuguese people. So if what you want to do is liaise with Portuguese people, I would totally recommend coming here. Furthermore, the music is what the Portuguese actually listen to and the atmosphere is really good. This place is a great place, although it does close at four o'clock in the morning. Furthermore, during the day you can go to the bar to drink a bar and make use of its library.

Cabido

Cabido, situated in Sé Velha, it is the place that I went to most during this Erasmus. It's a very small place, but very warm and inviting. Here there are incredible drink offers, and if you go you can enjoy a particular drink from this bar only. It's sangria with absinthe. Here, you can enjoy the different challenges you can take on. For example, there is a challenge where you have to drink five shots in five minutes and, if you manage to do it, which is very easy, they will give you a t-shirt from the bar as a memory. In addition, the waiters are very friendly and you can ask for the music that you'd like them to play, which they will then play. There is also a table where you can play Beer Pong. It closes at five in the morning and it is one of the best places to go to for a night out.

Aqui Base Tango

This place is, literally, a flat that has been opened to the public, and where you can go to drink a beer from four in the afternoon.

The people that go here tend to be here until five in the morning, drinking and listening to music of every kind, as there is a different DJ every day, and you can meet lots of new people and listen to lots of different music. There are three floors and they are all very peculiar. The prices aren't expensive at all. It's a very alternative bar.

Noites Longas

Also known simply as NL, this is the best place for rock music in all of Coimbra. People tend to come here at around six in the morning, because it is more of an after-party place, so you can stay as long as you like. Drinks are very cheap. When you go in they give you a card and when you leave, you then pay for everything you've consumed that night. The card only costs €2. 50.

NB

This is one of the only clubs that you will find in Coimbra. Here they play different music depending on the day and, again, they give you a card and you pay when you leave the club. If you are with the ESN group, you will also get a discount. People tend to go around two or three at night, but if you arrive too late then you won't be able to get in.

O Reitor

This bar is a place where you can go to for an after-party, just like NL, althought I prefere NL. To get in you also have to pay an entrance fee of 3 euros, and another option is to go in the afternoon or at night, when they organise Beer Pong competitions.

Erasmus house parties

Yes, here it is also very normal for Erasmus people that have houses with large gardens to host parties. For example, in the Garden House at the beginning of the year there were some parties. They also host them in the Black, Blue and White House (the White House being considered the best house of this year, according to some votes that took place), where they host parties throughout the year, of which some were 'bring your own booze', and in some you could buy your drinks there.

You have to be careful if you live in one of these houses that not everything ends up completely destroyed, but if you like parties, you will love living there.

I am sure that you will have notices that almost all of these houses here are distinguished by their name, which is a colour.

Karaoke

Although it's not necessarily to do with clubbing, we also have karaoke. Here, you also enter with a card - as long as you're not too drunk - and you can sing songs of all kinds since they have a lot of variety (Spaniards can find about 10 or 15, but all are very well known, and there are almost always options for songs in English). A very good plan for a day would be to eat dinner around here and then pre-drink before coming here to sing some songs. However, it is better to go in a big group of people because it tends to be relatively empty (especially between one and two o'clock in the morning).

It's open from nine o'clock at night until four o'clock in the morning.

Lastly, they have opened other places such as Look, to which I have never been to but it is a new club that looks very good.

You can find photos from the night before on Facebook or Instragram from many of the places that I have just told you about.

Now, I am going to clarify some things that will help everyone or will be useful for almost every place you go to. In the places where they give you a card, you should keep watch over it all night and show it every time you order something. If you lose it, you have to pay 50 euros, in the case of NB, and 100 euros in the case of NL. This is also something that happens in some restaurants.

Here there is a party every night and whenever you want to go out you will always find the right atmosphere to do so, but the days that people (particularly Erasmus people) most go out on are Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Even so, on the othere days you can go out during the afternoon or at night to play Beer Pong at O Reitor, or go out for a drink. As I have already said, there isn't much else to do.

Trying the sangria with absinthe or the cider is one of the necessary things to do if you come to party in Coimbra, and coming to Coimbra and not going out to party could be considered a crime. The atmosphere here is incredible, and I am sure that nobody will regret coming here, and that they will like all the places that this city has to offer for a night of partying. I hope this has helped you!

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