Few places in the world can say they are, literally, the stage of a country’s greatest romance. The Quinta das Lagrimas, in Coimbra, is exactly that: the setting of the tragic love story of Prince Pedro and Ines de Castro, in an 18th-century palace that for centuries welcomed kings and emperors, today a five-star Relais & Chateaux hotel.
It is 55 rooms across three settings — Palace, Garden, and Spa — 12 hectares of botanical gardens with rare trees and the famous Fountain of Tears, the Arcadas restaurant with one Michelin star, and a spa. All of it halfway between Lisbon and Porto, in the historic heart of Coimbra.
For couples who want a wedding of a unique romantic and historic charge, this is the spot. If you ask us, there is no setting in Portugal more steeped in love.
The Quinta das Lagrimas has 55 rooms (19 connecting, 6 suites) across three distinct settings: the Palace rooms, in the 18th-century main building, with historic charm; the Garden rooms, contemporary, with direct access to the botanical garden; and the Spa rooms, modern, overlooking the woods and the city. The Pedro & Ines suite occupies a medieval tower. There is a heated indoor pool, an outdoor pool (May-October), and the Bamboo Garden Spa. Mary Me coordinates the allocation according to the group’s profile, with overflow at Coimbra hotels when needed, and transfers handled.
The Quinta das Lagrimas — the Estate of Tears — owes its name to the legend: it was here that Prince Pedro and Ines de Castro lived their forbidden love, and tradition holds that the Fountain of Tears was born of the tears of Ines, murdered for her love. The 18th-century palace the hotel occupies today was, for centuries, a private sanctuary of kings and emperors.
The 12 hectares of gardens, conceived as a true botanical museum by Miguel Osorio Cabral de Castro, gather rare species from all over the world — sequoias, Bucaco cedars, a Moreton Bay Fig — and hold the Fountain of Tears and the Fountain of Love, tied to the legend. One of the suites occupies a medieval tower.
If you ask us, what sets the Quinta das Lagrimas apart is not having to invent romance: it is inscribed in the stone, the water, and the name. Add to that Relais & Chateaux refinement and a Michelin star, and you see why. Not bad, right?
We are in Coimbra, the city of Portugal’s oldest university, halfway between Lisbon and Porto — one of the most convenient locations in the country. The Quinta das Lagrimas sits in a green oasis by the Mondego, a few minutes from the historic centre and the university, but secluded from the bustle by its 12 hectares of garden.
The advantage is the centrality: Francisco Sa Carneiro Airport, in Porto, is about an hour and fifteen away, and Lisbon about two hours — which gives guests room to arrive via either, with transfers handled by Mary Me.
Around it is the University of Coimbra, the Roman ruins of Conimbriga, the Serra da Lousa, Bucaco, and the Mondego for a day-after. The Quinta das Lagrimas is a romantic, central, and historic base for a destination wedding in central Portugal.
The Quinta das Lagrimas’s great advantage is the setting: the 12 hectares of botanical gardens, with the Fountain of Tears and century-old trees, are one of the most beautiful wedding stages in the country. Civil and symbolic ceremonies take place outdoors, among the gardens, and Catholic ones at the Coimbra churches, a short distance away. The cocktail flows through the botanical garden, with the legend of Pedro and Ines hovering.
Dinner and the party set up in the gardens and the palace’s spaces, with the Arcadas restaurant kitchen — one Michelin star, by Chef Vitor Dias — preparing the menus from the herbs of the Chef’s Garden and the fruit of the Quinta’s own orchard. It is a wedding of absolute refinement, in a Relais & Chateaux hotel.
And there is the trump card: with the hotel’s 55 rooms — Palace, Garden, and Spa — available, the couple and the guests sleep on-site, with spa and pools, and the wedding stretches into a romantic weekend in Coimbra. We know the Centro deeply. The couple’s session winds through the botanical gardens and the Fountain of Tears. Pop the question. We handle the rest.
The value we add is to represent you, independently, and to orchestrate everything that links this Coimbra palace to the world your guests come from. We handle the transfers — taking advantage of Coimbra’s central position, with Porto an hour and fifteen and Lisbon two hours away — and the management of the room blocks across the 55 rooms, with overflow at Coimbra hotels when the list is larger, and the arrival sequencing of an international group. And there is the practical side: liaison with the Coimbra churches for the Catholic ceremony, the council permit for fireworks, the sound curfew, the civil-ceremony paperwork in Portuguese, and the university, Conimbriga, and Bucaco programme for guests who stay on. From the first call to the last dance.
The 12 hectares of botanical gardens and the palace’s spaces host good-sized weddings, with the ceremony and the cocktail outdoors and dinner in the gardens or the halls. The exact capacity is confirmed with the venue.
In Coimbra, halfway between Lisbon and Porto — one of the most convenient locations in Portugal. Porto airport is about an hour and fifteen away and Lisbon about two hours, with transfers handled by Mary Me.
As a 55-room hotel, exclusive use is arranged case by case: the norm is to book the gardens and the event spaces with a room block, and a buyout can be requested. Mary Me handles locking down the exclusivity and the room allocation.
Yes, 55 rooms across three settings — Palace, Garden, and Spa — with an indoor pool, an outdoor pool, and a spa. The couple and the guests sleep on-site; Mary Me coordinates the allocation and overflow at Coimbra hotels when needed.
The botanical gardens are at their peak between May and September, the most sought-after season, and in summer they become an open-air hall. The pools and the interior spaces guarantee comfort all year. For premium dates, we recommend 12-18 months ahead.
It is a five-star Relais & Chateaux hotel in an 18th-century palace that was the setting of the romance of Prince Pedro and Ines de Castro — with the Fountain of Tears in its 12 hectares of botanical gardens, the Arcadas restaurant with one Michelin star, and a spa. It is the most romance-steeped setting in Portugal.
Civil and symbolic ceremonies in the botanical gardens, and Catholic ones at the Coimbra churches, a short distance away. Mary Me coordinates all the variants, with transfers handled.
Yes. The Quinta das Lagrimas was the very stage of the doomed love of Prince Pedro and Ines de Castro, and the Fountain of Tears in its gardens is, by legend, born of Ines’s tears — which is why it is called the Estate of Tears. There is no more romantic backstory for a wedding in Portugal.
