TIME magazine has just released the list of the most extraordinary places in the world to visit in 2021 and Coimbra – candidate city for European Capital of Culture in 2027 and Arouca – are among the 100 places chosen by the prestigious publication.
The list drawn up for the third time by the North American magazine, chose in this edition two Portuguese locations.
Arouca, which at the moment has the longest suspended pedestrian bridge in the world, is for the magazine an idyllic place, it is also in the opinion of Tamara Hardingham-Gill, a destination where the Paiva Walkways, the Roman and medieval ruins of the region, and the Monastery of Santa Maria de Arouca, “one of the largest granite buildings in the country”.
Coimbra, Located midway between Lisbon and Porto, Portugal’s 13th century former capital has long been known for the University of Coimbra, the oldest in the country, founded in 1290. Now the riverfront city is welcoming a host of new attractions. Among them: Swedish bedmaker Hastens’ first-ever hotel, the 15-room Hastens Sleep Spa, a micro-hotel that aims to provide superior slumber by offering super supportive beds with three-spring mattress systems. Meanwhile, the Center for Contemporary Art in Coimbra will display works by renowned artists such as Mário Cesariny, Peter Zimmermann and Helena Almeida. Coimbra is also investing millions toward improving and preserving national monuments, with restoration work already under way on the ruins of the Monastery of Santa Clara-a-Velha, built on the bank of the Mondego River”, she adds.
