Camino de Fatima

[martinab]

Hi all,
We are a couple from Ireland interested in walking the Camino de Fatima in May. I am finding it difficult to find info on this part of Camino. Has anyone walked it recently? I am wondering is there a lot of walking on roads with traffic, if it is well signposted etc. Any info would be appreciated.

 

[dougfitz]

I walked the Caminho do Tejo in Apr/May 2022. It is the route from Lisbon to Fatima, one of the many routes that you might be thinking of. There are many internet resources available, but a useful place to start might be here:https://caminhosdefatima.org/en/.

Remember that the Camino Portuguese follows two of the Fatima routes, from Lisbon to Santarem, and then further north from around Ansiao through to Valenca. So depending on where you are thinking of starting, there is a wealth of information about the CP that will help you.

Once you know which route you wish to take, it will be easier to know what advice might be most appropriate.

 

[martinab]

Thank you for your response. We thought we would start in Lisbon and finish in Fatima. We are wondering how well it is signposted or would yellow arrows send us on the wrong route, as there is the cross over of routes, as you say. We prefer to stay off busy roads, so we would choose a different stage if there was a lot of road walking.

 

[jungleboy]

We thought we would start in Lisbon and finish in Fatima.

I believe you have two main options with a third alternative option.

Firstly, you can walk from Lisbon to Santarém which is the way to both Santiago and Fátima and as such is double signed. From Santarém the paths diverge and you can follow blue arrows to Fátima.

Or from Lisbon you can walk west to Estoril and pick up the so-called Caminho do Mar (so-called because while it starts at the ocean, the rest of it is inland) which leads to Fátima through places like Sintra, Óbidos and Alcobaça. I am hoping to walk this route this year and I assume that it’s well signed.

A third option would be to start out on the Caminho do Mar but to DIY it a bit to stay on the coast. @Holmes4130 is currently doing something like this (thread here).

Bom caminho!

 

[dougfitz]

Also be aware of what might be a confusing overlap of names and routes. The Caminho do Tejo seems to be the same as the Targus Route, the latter being the English translation rather than a completely different name. The term 'Central Route' appears to be used in several places for different routes, although that probably won't worry you if you intend walking from Lisbon.

As to your question about waymarking, etc, there is road walking, but the route appears to try and avoid busy roads where it can, so I didn't find traffic much of a problem. The waymarking was both clear and consistent. Although there is always the risk that you will miss a waymark, particularly on the way out of Lisbon, it is more difficult to lose the general line of the route. Once out of Lisbon, things became a lot easier for me.

 

[igailfh]

I walked from Lisbon to Fatima in 2017. It was an easy route to follow having both blue arrows to Fatima & yellow arrows to Santarem. Definitely some road walking but it was easy enough. The split at Santarem was clear & only blue arrows from then on to Fatima. One hill, I think the day before the last day to Fatima, was really challenging. I climbed up & was pleased I did, but then I walked down the road the other side. It seemed safer.
Bom Caminho!

 

[martinab]

I walked from Lisbon to Fatima in 2017. It was an easy route to follow having both blue arrows to Fatima & yellow arrows to Santarem. Definitely some road walking but it was easy enough. The split at Santarem was clear & only blue arrows from then on to Fatima. One hill, I think the day before the last day to Fatima, was really challenging. I climbed up & was pleased I did, but then I walked down the road the other side. It seemed safer.
Bom Caminho!

That answers my questions. Must appreciate all the replies.
Bom Camino all

 

[hughb]

Hi all,
We are a couple from Ireland interested in walking the Camino de Fatima in May. I am finding it difficult to find info on this part of Camino. Has anyone walked it recently? I am wondering is there a lot of walking on roads with traffic, if it is well signposted etc. Any info would be appreciated.

I live near Fatima and walk there regularly. There are a number of routes that lead there.

If you are walking as part of the route to or from Santiago, it is a beautiful deviation from the Caminho Portuguese. From Lisbon, follow the main route to Santerem, then follow the blue arrows to Fatima. It is possibly the most scenic part of the entire route to Santiago through the rolling hills of central Portugal.

At Fatima, attached to the basilica is a great donativo albergue. Whenever I use it, I always love the welcome pack. A bag with starched white cotton sheets and pillowcases plus a big fluffy bath towel.

After Fatima it is well signed back onto the Caminho Portuguese either at Tomar or Ansiao. The latter is my favourite. Most of the entire route is on dirt tracks rather than tarmac.

The other alternative is to start at Santiago and follow the blue arrows to Fatima. Or for a shorter walk, try starting at Porto or Coimbra.

Bom Caminho

 

[Joeninho]

Hi. I did the CP from Lisbon via Fatima and I must say the route to Fatima was probably my favourite part. After Santerem the blue arrows take you all the way there. There is a beautiful spot where I stayed called Ohlos de Agua with a river beach and an education centre with dorms for 10 euro a night. A fellow pilgrim friend and his partner even took an extra rest day here. Other pilgrims stayed in an albergue in a small village just before that which also looked lovely. After that, over the mountain (well, very big hill) down into Minde and up over to Fatima. And yes, as another pilgrim said, the donativo in Fatima is excellent, and they let you stay up to 3 nights. So all in all, 2 days 1 night from Santerem.

Bom Caminho

 

[JabbaPapa]

It's a fairly complex network of routes leading to Fátima, and the majority of them are not at all waymarked, and therefore involve a lot of DIY-imposed tarmac. And rough sleeping / camping / hotels etc.

And almost no parts of the Fátima routes from Spain are waymarked in the slightest, the only proper exceptions I know of being the Huelva > Faro and the Mérida > Badajos (and IIRC > Elvas) routes, the latter actually being a portion of the Fátima Way from Madrid or via Ciudad Real from anywhere between Cartagena and Valencia. Plus some unrelated hiking/cycling routes that are de facto parts of a Fátima Way.

And there are four or five routes just within Portugal that are officially recognised, but waymarked not at all, except for some road signs on tarmac for walkers, cyclists, and drivers alike pointing to the Sanctuary.

The Portuguese Tourism Ministry has however started a programme of some more systematic waymarking of the more "important" routes to Fátima, so that things are improving.

And yes, as another pilgrim said, the donativo in Fatima is excellent, and they let you stay up to 3 nights.

That is actually rather variable. When I was there in August last year, letting me stay just a second night was very much by exception. They can get quite full with large groups in high pilgrim season, I believe.

 

[Joeninho]

It's a fairly complex network of routes leading to Fátima, and the majority of them are not at all waymarked, and therefore involve a lot of DIY-imposed tarmac. And rough sleeping / camping / hotels etc.

And almost no parts of the Fátima routes from Spain are waymarked in the slightest, the only proper exceptions I know of being the Huelva > Faro and the Mérida > Badajos (and IIRC > Elvas) routes, the latter actually being a portion of the Fátima Way from Madrid or via Ciudad Real from anywhere between Cartagena and Valencia. Plus some unrelated hiking/cycling routes that are de facto parts of a Fátima Way.

And there are four or five routes just within Portugal that are officially recognised, but waymarked not at all, except for some road signs on tarmac for walkers, cyclists, and drivers alike pointing to the Sanctuary.

The Portuguese Tourism Ministry has however started a programme of some more systematic waymarking of the more "important" routes to Fátima, so that things are improving.

That is actually rather variable. When I was there in August last year, letting me stay just a second night was very much by exception. They can get quite full with large groups in high pilgrim season, I believe.

In regards to the 3 nights, I arrived on Sunday 5th September, the hospitalero asked how long I wanted to stay, and said I could up to 3 nights(I only stayed 1), but there were only about 10 other pilgrims in total, so maybe that's why. I imagine you're right in regards to high pilgrim season.