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That should be a nice time, especially if it’s later in April. Easter week (April 17 is Easter Sunday in 2022) is not the camino-disrupting mega-event in Portugal that it is in Spain but it’s still something to take into account.
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Looks like the Alpriate Albergue will re-open in March 2022! At least that’s the plan now. Highly recommended as a first night from Lisbon. Maybe too short a stage for some (21 km from the cathedral), but it’s a great stopping point IMO.
Albergue de Peregrinos de Alpriate
Albergue de Peregrinos de Alpriate. 977 likes. Albergue em Alpriate para peregrinos do Caminho de Santiago
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Thanks for this as I am considering a start at Fatima next fall. Five years ago I had an unofficial start at Lourdes, so this makes sense for my second Camino.Terri when I walked I got to this Albergue pretty early in the day and I was the 8th person. It was the end of September when I started. I would say by the time they opened the albergue an hour or so later there were 4 or 5 pilgrims turned away and sent to the church. I think they were put up on mats.
I will probably be doing the CP next October from Faro. I think this time I will do the variant to Fatima and then rejoin the CP. Heard it was really nice and peaceful.
The Camino de Fátima - a detailed guide and walking stages
The Camino de Fatima - a 2024 guide. Different routes of the Caminhos de Fatima, walking stages, route maps, cost, albergues.
21 km for a first day? Sounds perfect to me!Looks like the Alpriate Albergue will re-open in March 2022! At least that’s the plan now. Highly recommended as a first night from Lisbon. Maybe too short a stage for some (21 km from the cathedral), but it’s a great stopping point IMO.
Albergue de Peregrinos de Alpriate
Albergue de Peregrinos de Alpriate. 977 likes. Albergue em Alpriate para peregrinos do Caminho de Santiago
And 25 April is independence day
That's good to know. I was looking at booking for just after Easter until the end of May. But if I can get a better fare by leaving earlier it's good to know that Easter (and Semana Santa?) isn't as disruptive as it is in Spain.
Will that cause issues with accommodations?
Not a religious holiday, so it shouldn't affect occupancy in the albergues much. It is, however, an interesting day to take as a rest day; lots of festivities in almost every town and city!
I have a similar dilemma. I hope to walk after Easter, provided the Australian government opens up overseas travel and resolves the quarantine arrangements, etc, etc.
This is just a personal opinion, but I don't think Fátima is nearly as interesting as it fame suggests. Yes, it's a pilgrimage destination, and a very important one in Portugal. But it's only 100 years old as a pilgrimage site so it doesn't offer the same type of history, traditions and architecture of medieval pilgrimage destinations. It can also be a bit touristy/tacky in terms of the souvenirs/paraphernalia stalls.
Take a look at some of the threads describing a walking route between Fátima and Tomar. The route had been dubbed “caminho nascente,” but I think that label has been taken over by the caminho starting in the south of Portugal in Tavira and moving up the eastern side of the country till it joins with the Camino de Torres. So I am not sure what name to use for Fátima to Tomar.
Yep @dougfitz i hear you. I have been planning since late 2019 and i still haven't come up with a perfect solution. I can walk from fatima to tomar in a day but it may not leave time to look around Tomar after i arrive.
For what it's worth, Semana Santa isn't nearly as big of a deal in Portugal as it is in Spain, so it's unlikely to cause much disruption to your accommodation etc, but equally there won't be that many festivities either. April 25th is Portugal's most important holiday (commemorating the 1974 revolution) so this is something to be aware of.
Thanks for the heads up. I will consider booking a room for that night - and maybe have some canned tuna on hand.
Yes. Portuguese gained independence from the Salazar regime soon after Spain declared theirs from Franco, 1974. Called the Carnation Revolution because it was done with no bloodshed and there's a famous photo of a young woman putting a red carnation in the gun of a soldier.
Hi T!
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