Quinta Coimbra

We absolutely fell in love with this charming place - the terrace in particular was incredibly relaxing. Denise is so friendly and welcoming and couldn't have been more helpful with local recommendations, as well as generously sharing produce from her gorgeous garden. We loved our visit to Coimbra but the highlight was lunch and wild swimming at the praia fluviale in Gois.

Absolutely beautiful traditional Portuguese Quinta dating back some 400years. The house provided everything we needed and more. The area is stunningly beautiful. A lovely quiet little hamlet, but close enough to a wide variety of places to visit. Equally we could have gone nowhere and had a wonderful time. We visited with our two children and there was no end of things to do. Lizards to watch, lanes to wander around quietly and slowly. I don’t know where to start with how wonderfully welcoming Denise has been. If the house and area aren’t stunning enough, her genuine generosity has made this a truly memorable holiday. We have fallen in love with this spectacular part of Portugal and all it has to offer. Having stayed in a lot of UTT properties this has been the best by far.

This was a beautifully compact and comfortable place to stay and Denise an extremely helpful and accommodating host. In case you are looking this and wondering, like we were, that it seemed to lack a place indoors to sit and congregate, do not fear - the wonderful terrace was more than sufficient, and delightfully relaxing from morning breakfasts to evening meals and late drinks with board games.. Beds were very comfortable and the thick walls kept the rooms pleasantly cool without the annoying hum of an air conditioner. This charming quinta had all we needed or wanted for a few quiet days in the country; no wi-fi was not a problem for us as phones worked anyway. Shops are a few minutes drive away and this is a good base to explore the rivers and countryside east of Coimbra. We were sorry to leave and would not hesitate to stay again. Thank you, Denise, for providing such a lovely, restful place to stay.

Quinta Coimbra was a beautiful place to stay. The whole house is amazing and Denise was a kind and informative host. We found her annotated map of the area invaluable and loved the free run of the vegetable garden and the refreshing spring opposite the house. If you like river swimming and an area that isn’t touristy, this is a great destination. Would be useful to let guests know there are swimming towels available but other than that, can’t fault the place!

We had an absolutely amazing stay at Quinta Coimbra. The cottage was set in a quiet and rural location, which is exactly what we wanted. The views from the roof terrace were beautiful and the cottage was cosy and had everything that we wanted. Denise, the owner, was amazing. From day one she saw we had everything we needed. As we arrived later than expected, she met us at the local supermarket and had us follow her back to the cottage where she had already stocked the fridge with essentials as the supermarket had closed for the day. She also said that we could pick any of the fruit, salad and vegetables that she had growing from her beautiful garden. She was so friendly and nothing was too much trouble for her. She even dug out some old lego that belonged to her sons for our sons to play with! There was no shortage of things to do in the area to keep us occupied. We thoroughly enjoyed visiting the many nearby river beaches which are all free to use. Each one was special in its own way and complete with life guards, cafes, bars and sometimes there were kayaks to hire. There was also an outdoor swimming pool centre nearby, which was also free to use, which was great when we wanted a little break from the river beaches. There are also lots of local towns to visit in the area, and many of them have market days which are great to see. There was also a bowling alley and go carting centre which was great for our boys. We throughly enjoyed our stay at this beautiful cottage and would definitely love to stay here again!

We had a wonderful stay in this beautiful Quinta. Denise was absolutely amazing - she collected us when we were lost, lent us warm jumpers when the weather turned chilly, shared her beautiful garden produce, gave lots of tips on what to do, and even gave us a 'goody bag' of herbs, plants and a gift when we left. She really made us welcome and was so thoughtful! Thank you so much

I have rarely enjoyed staying somewhere so much. The cottage is beautiful and beautifully furnished while being extremely relaxed and liveable. We had very happy evenings cooking and eating as a family on the terrace. Would thoroughly recommend.

We had a lovely, peaceful holiday at Quinta Coimbra. The house was wonderful, and simply but very tastefully furnished and decorated in rustic style. The friendly owner made us feel very welcome, freely gave us help and advice about the area, and also encouraged us to pick fruit and vegetables from her beautiful garden. We all, including our 2 young daughters, loved swimming and diving at the many local river beaches.

After a straightforward drive along the new motorways we were excited to head into the stunning countryside around Coimbra and up into the hills towards the cottage, tucked away in a small rural hamlet with all of the sights, smells and sounds that you would expect from such an idyllic place. The cottage itself is a delight to behold - made over centuries from local stone and timber which makes for a cool haven during the wonderful sunny Portuguese days and pleasantly warm nights. All of this is the product of years of nurture by its friendly, caring, artistic yet unobtrusive owner. There was not a detail left unattended - fresh flowers in the perfectly presented traditionally styled rooms, fresh basic food in the fridge on our arrival, books, games (Happy Families!), fishing nets for the children, super comfortable beds with insect nets (which were not required during our stay. We have more problems with insects during a Welsh summer) , fresh salad from the garden and the smell of fragrant flowers through the windows. The newly refurbished font located just outside the cottage, provided endless fresh cold drinking water and the perfect spot for cooling off and meeting the local residents as they filled their water containers. There was nothing more that we could have needed during our stay, and if there had been, we are confident that the owner would have provided it straight away. On our first night we followed the owner by car as she very kindly showed us the way to the nearest river beach, a swimming spot for a delightful cool dip. This was one of many superb free public swimming spaces that we enjoyed in the area, each with it's own character and every one offering cafe bar / restaurants which provide local food and drink to suit parents and children alike. We recommend exploring as many of these river beaches as they are all wonderfully different - some even offering picturesque fairytale castles!! All offer such things as canoes, rope swings, diving boards, waterfalls and more. After a day exploring it was always a delight to return to the wonderful cool cottage where we could sit on the terrace and soak up the beautiful surroundings and amazing sunsets. The one and only downside of our holiday was having to leave this amazing location and it's lovely, considerate owner.