Where do pilgrims who detour to Fatima rejoin the Caminho?

[trecile]

I'm just wondering when I might encounter other pilgrims on the Caminho. I'm in Azinhaga today.

 

[jungleboy]

Likely Tomar or Ansião. See this map:

 

[trecile]

Thanks. I was thinking that Tomar would be a likely place.

 

[Phil71]

I was nervous about finding the route from fatima to tomar, seemed difficult to find details now, so I took the bus! Shame on me. And there's only one a day at about 4pm so I didn't have enough time in tomar, which I really regret.

 

[Former member 22438]

Thanks. I was thinking that Tomar would be a likely place.

Correct

 

[NancyZ]

I was nervous about finding the route from fatima to tomar, seemed difficult to find details now, so I took the bus! Shame on me. And there's only one a day at about 4pm so I didn't have enough time in tomar, which I really regret.

Don’t be ashamed of taking a bus if needed. Buen Camino!

 

[lt56ny]

Thanks. I was thinking that Tomar would be a likely place.

Wonderful town Tomar. I stayed at Hostel 2300. Great owner and super clean and welcoming. I saw on Gronze that a few people said it was noisy. One said it was Saturday night. I bet the others were there on Saturday also. I have heard many people making lots of noise all over Spain and Portugal on Saturday night. That is why smart people invented ear plugs. Love to hear about Fatima. Next time I walk from Lisbon, the Fatima as well as the Spiritual Variant are on my camino pilgrimage.

 

[lt56ny]

Likely Tomar or Ansião. See this map:

View attachment 124978

I know the route to Fatima is well marked. Is the route from Fatima-Tomar also well marked? Or is it a secondary road? Also when I finally do the CP again (Maybe next year) if I arrive in Fatima early do I need a second day or is it best to make Fatima a rest day to really see this historic place?

 

[jungleboy]

I know the route to Fatima is well marked. Is the route from Fatima-Tomar also well marked? Or is it a secondary road? Also when I finally do the CP again (Maybe next year) if I arrive in Fatima early do I need a second day or is it best to make Fatima a rest day to really see this historic place?

I have been to Fátima (not walking) but can't really answer your questions unfortunately, but some of our Portuguese members should be able to.

The Fátima-Tomar route is called the Caminho Nascente (not to be confused with the unbelievably amazing camino of the same name in southeastern Portugal).

Our way-too-early idea for next year is to walk the Caminho Central from Faro to Santarém and to continue to Fátima for the big celebration on 13 May (booking accommodation well in advance for the last few days, naturally!).

 

[lt56ny]

I have been to Fátima (not walking) but can't really answer your questions unfortunately, but some of our Portuguese members should be able to.

The Fátima-Tomar route is called the Caminho Nascente (not to be confused with the unbelievably amazing camino of the same name in southeastern Portugal).

Our way-too-early idea for next year is to walk the Caminho Central from Faro to Santarém and to continue to Fátima for the big celebration on 13 May (booking accommodation well in advance for the last few days, naturally!).

Thanks and hope to hear some responses. I will be very interested and hope you chronicle your camino from Faro. I have thought about starting there for my future CP. It looks like it would be really pretty.

 

[The Yukon]

I'm just wondering when I might encounter other pilgrims on the Caminho. I'm in Azinhaga today.

I know the route to Fatima is well marked. Is the route from Fatima-Tomar also well marked? Or is it a secondary road? Also when I finally do the CP again (Maybe next year) if I arrive in Fatima early do I need a second day or is it best to make Fatima a rest day to really see this historic place?

The route from Fatima to Tomar was mostly well marked along the backroads when I walked it last December. If you download the camino.ninja app and follow the Caminho Nascente e Poente you'll be OK. The same camino on the 3-day walk the other way from Fatima to Nazare would be almost impossible without an app, but it's beautiful, lots of forest paths and great side trips to other majestic places and to the home of the world's longest surfing waves.

Fatima is worth an extra day. It's the site of the most revered holy apparition in Portugal. I shouldn't say this in the same paragraph, but it also has the rare distinction (because of the biannual 6-digit pilgrim numbers) of having pretty much the greatest number of public washrooms/capita in the world, always a great feature for pilgrims. Fatima is very special, and the friendly Hotel Aleluia, which has a superb, inexpensive Portuguese smorgasbord, put me up in a private room for 30 euros.

 

[The Yukon]

Likely Tomar or Ansião. See this map:

View attachment 124978

This is an informative map of the Fatima pilgrimages. When I walked into Fatima from the north maybe 15 years ago before cell phones, the word lost took on a new meaning upon attempting to leave the Tomar path in order to walk southwest from Ansiao. Signage is somewhat better now and GPS makes most any route possible. Moreover, the number of blue arrows from all these incoming directions has increased exponentially.

 

[Rita Flower]

I know the route to Fatima is well marked. Is the route from Fatima-Tomar also well marked? Or is it a secondary road? Also when I finally do the CP again (Maybe next year) if I arrive in Fatima early do I need a second day or is it best to make Fatima a rest day to really see this historic place?

We took a day trip by bus to Fatima from the Camino route (2018). Can’t remember which town but probably Tomar. So we spent two nights in Tomar. We tried to figure out walking but didn’t have the additional time. The day in Fatima was lovely and also gave us some rest and relaxation. I still have my colourful Portugal shoulder bag I bought there as well as the most wonderful rose petal rosary. I don’t say the rosary but I take it out from time to time to feel the beautiful energy and smell the Divine fragrance.

 

[walkinglover]

I'm just wondering when I might encounter other pilgrims on the Caminho. I'm in Azinhaga today.

We took a bus to Coimbra.

 

[The Yukon]

I have been to Fátima (not walking) but can't really answer your questions unfortunately, but some of our Portuguese members should be able to.

The Fátima-Tomar route is called the Caminho Nascente (not to be confused with the unbelievably amazing camino of the same name in southeastern Portugal).

Our way-too-early idea for next year is to walk the Caminho Central from Faro to Santarém and to continue to Fátima for the big celebration on 13 May (booking accommodation well in advance for the last few days, naturally!).

Couldn't resist answering your enticing "way-too-early idea". Now that's a truly inviting route. Given my Arctic preferences and my appreciation for only meeting 2 pilgrims in 600 km of the Portuguese from Lisbon last December, the idea of meeting well over 100,000 pilgrims in Fatima on May 13 or October 13 scares the b'jumpers out of me. Secondly, listening to to people suffering from heat on the Portuguese right now and having attempted the Portuguese in May only to experience dehydration myself, how about starting some time between November and early April. It'd be a hoot to hop scotch that route with someone having your familiarity for obscure Portuguese caminos.

 

[jungleboy]

Couldn't resist answering your enticing "way-too-early idea". Now that's a truly inviting route. Given my Arctic preferences and my appreciation for only meeting 2 pilgrims in 600 km of the Portuguese from Lisbon last December, the idea of meeting well over 100,000 pilgrims in Fatima on May 13 or October 13 scares the b'jumpers out of me. Secondly, listening to to people suffering from heat on the Portuguese right now and having attempted the Portuguese in May only to experience dehydration myself, how about starting some time between November and early April. It'd be a hoot to hop scotch that route with someone having your familiarity for obscure Portuguese caminos.

Well, the big question is whether to embrace the May 13 celebration and be part of it, or to completely avoid it. I can certainly see both sides of the coin. It's an interesting discussion, isn't it? Our initial thinking is that being there on May 13 would help us get the full experience and better understand the place Fátima has in Portuguese society. When we visited by bus once, we felt that we didn't really 'get it'. But we'd have to be prepared for enormous numbers and everything that goes with that.

Another interesting aspect of this plan would be that we would presumably meet hardly any pilgrims for most of the route and then suddenly see a huge influx. Whether that's a good thing or not, I don't know, but you would get both the solitude and the masses as part of the same pilgrimage.

As for weather, we are less heat-averse (or more rain-averse!) than you. It's true that it's been hot in Portugal the last week, but that's hotter than normal for this time of year, and it was a fair bit hotter than this when we walked the CP in Sep 2020. Last year we were walking at this time on the Nascente and had fantastic weather (sunny but not hot).

Anyway, appreciate the discussion! But way too early

 

[Shanblistered]

In 2017, a pilgrim fellow and I hitched hiked to Fatima from Tomar and back. We trusted the journey and it had provided~ But that was then.

 

[dougfitz]

I walked into Fatima from Minde, arrived mid-afternoon and then stayed the night. As @jungleboy says, how long you stay depends on your motivation. If you want to attend one of the services, spending a bit longer there will work, but I felt I was wasting my time after the first couple of hours, and I should have taken the evening bus to Tomar (at 1835 I think, but check at the bus station) rather than going to Tomar the next day.

I wouldn't recommend anyone stay more than a couple of hours there, certainly not an extra day, without understanding their motivations and what religious services they are keen to attend.

The day I left there were three bus services available to go to Tomar. These were shortly after midday, mid afternoon and in the early evening. I don't know if that varies across the week, but I got the impression that this was the regular pattern.

 

[Rita Flower]

Well, the big question is whether to embrace the May 13 celebration and be part of it, or to completely avoid it. I can certainly see both sides of the coin. It's an interesting discussion, isn't it? Our initial thinking is that being there on May 13 would help us get the full experience and better understand the place Fátima has in Portuguese society. When we visited by bus once, we felt that we didn't really 'get it'. But we'd have to be prepared for enormous numbers and everything that goes with that.

Another interesting aspect of this plan would be that we would presumably meet hardly any pilgrims for most of the route and then suddenly see a huge influx. Whether that's a good thing or not, I don't know, but you would get both the solitude and the masses as part of the same pilgrimage.

As for weather, we are less heat-averse (or more rain-averse!) than you. It's true that it's been hot in Portugal the last week, but that's hotter than normal for this time of year, and it was a fair bit hotter than this when we walked the CP in Sep 2020. Last year we were walking at this time on the Nascente and had fantastic weather (sunny but not hot).

Anyway, appreciate the discussion! But way too early

Re ‘Getting it ‘ at Fatima. I only went on the recommendation of a friend and was to some degree disappointed and didn’t ‘get it’.
What I learnt is that when I expect a spiritual something, and experience nothing, it takes time to recognise that the nothing is the something. If that makes sense.
For me Fatima is spacious emptiness, clear and still, and very subtle and easy to miss. I wouldn’t want to go there during a big celebration though.
I also don’t think one needs to go back to any spiritual place to ‘get it’ unless one is genuinely drawn to do so. You most probably got whatever you needed even if you didn’t recognise it and will always carry Fatima’s blessing.
Buen Camino.

 

[JabbaPapa]

At Fátima, really -- the Way of Saint James isn't a network of hiking trails, it's the journey that you undertake towards the Tomb of the Apostle in Compostela.

 

[jungleboy]

Yesterday a bus carrying pilgrims to Fátima crashed near Mealhada (which is on the CP), causing three deaths and more than 30 injuries. Cuidado peregrinos!

Article about the crash in English on Portugal Resident

 

[The Yukon]

Yesterday a bus carrying pilgrims to Fátima crashed near Mealhada (which is on the CP), causing three deaths and more than 30 injuries. Ciudado peregrinos!

Article about the crash in English on Portugal Resident

How painfully tragic! As someone who drove bus for years as a young man to pay my way through university, my heart goes out to these pilgrims and their driver. A freak accident (front wheel blowout) like this could happen to anybody. My friend the Cree medicine woman would say (maybe appropriate today when we've lost some of our fellow peregrinos) 'Give us strength to walk this earth'