Albergue Alpriate closed permanently

[Lleslie]

I received an email from the management of the albergue in Alpriate saying it is closed permanently. My tentative plan is to walk to Sacavem or Povoa de Santa Iria then train back to Lisbon or to Vila Franca de Xira and back the next morning to continue where we finished. The youth hostel at Parque Das Nacoes is fully booked for our dates (May 14) but plenty of other hostels in Lisbon. There are a couple of hotels near Alpriate as well. What have others done before or are planning to do for this section? Linda

 

[Lleslie]

 

[jungleboy]

The reason the albergue has closed is because the camino is being rerouted away from Alpriate (and Sacavém) in favour of a new riverside exit from Lisbon (after Parque das Nações). I don’t know if the new route will be ready by May but if it is, that should give you more options. My advice would be to stay flexible for now (ie not lock yourself into accommodation bookings) and hope that the new route is ready by the time you start your walk.

 

[Lleslie]

Thankyou Nick, we will look out for further information. Do you know if they are planning to open an albergue on the new route?

 

[jungleboy]

Not that I’m aware of but Alverca do Ribatejo, which has several accommodation options, will now be a more feasible option for the first night out of Lisbon, as the new route will cut the walk to Alverca by quite a few kilometres.

 

[JimG59]

Not that I’m aware of but Alverca do Ribatejo, which has several accommodation options, will now be a more feasible option for the first night out of Lisbon, as the new route will cut the walk to Alverca by quite a few kilometres.

I’m interested in this new route. Any source of information as to when the new route might open. We leave Lisbon on the 6th April but not arranged any 1st/ 2 nd night accommodation. I guess, it being Easter, we should think about booking accommodation sooner rather than later.

 

[dougfitz]

In Apr 23, on what appears now to be the old route, I walked to Alpriate, then caught a taxi to the station at Povoa, catching the train back to Lisbon. I returned by train the next day and walked on to Vila Franca de Xira. The other time I did this was to break up the leg from Azambuja to Santarem, where I caught a bus at Porte de Muge to the train station near Cartaxo then the train to Santarem. I took the bus to Muge the next day and walked into Santarem on a variant of the Caminho Portugues Central.

This pattern suited my daily walk targets - I no longer plan more than 20 km/day. Although there were a couple of days where I had to exceed that, it was rare to do so.

 

[dougfitz]

Not that I’m aware of but Alverca do Ribatejo, which has several accommodation options, will now be a more feasible option for the first night out of Lisbon, as the new route will cut the walk to Alverca by quite a few kilometres.

Have you estimated how much? I ask because I did a quick estimate on Google maps, and it might only make it a couple of km shorter going closer to the river shore. It would still be in the vicinity of 30 km, not enough to make it workable for me. This was measured from the Igreja de Santiago to the Igreja de Pastorinhos.

 

[Lleslie]

Thanks jungleboy and dougfitz for your insights - we are hoping to stick around 20 - 23k too and will need to do some too-ing and fro-ing such as dougfitz suggests. An old thread I found on the forum suggested the new route would cut off 7k! Certainly hope it is open by May😊 Linda

 

[camino07]

Hope its open by April. I will walk to Vasco da Gama Tower on my day off in Lisbon then train back to Lisbon from Oriente station . Next day take the train back to Oriente and start walking. If the new path is open that would make the walk to Vila Franca doable. Fingers crossed.

 

[peregrina2000]

I feel sorry for the little village, whose residents were so welcoming to pilgrims. And the owners of the bar who did a great job of feeding us with basic home cooked and reasonably priced meals.

The map in Rodrigo’s thread from a few years ago, shows the change. Video also available to show what it will look like.

According to this article in the press, construction began in July 2022 and was expected to take 6 months. 11 million euro budget. I think the odds are pretty good for summer 2023! BTW, as I understand it, this is not a caminho-specific project, but rather an amenity for the people who live there. We will certainly benefit, though.

 

[Lleslie]

Thankyou, peregrina2000 for posting the link - that is the thread I had read earlier. Yes, it is sad for the people in Alpriate, they will certainly miss the company and the income of the passing pilgrims.

 

[Fr Scott]

Thank you, I was planning on staying there April 29 this year. Guess I’ll go to Plan B.

 

[Joodle]

So that’s why I haven’t received an email back with a reservation for April 11th. Back to the drawing board.

 

[trecile]

@peregrina2000 - is there a map that shows the old and new trails?

 

[dougfitz]

There is a jpeg showing the new and old routes in post #4 of the thread @peregrina2000 linked to earlier.

 

[ChadEstes]

My wife and my two daughters walked from Lisbon last August. I was glad we didn't plan to stay in Alpriate as they only had 9 beds and were full by the time we arrived there. We stayed in Alverca do Ribatejo the first night at the Alpha 10 hostel. It was a long, hot, first day, but it was a wonderful beginning to our journey.

 

[jungleboy]

Have you estimated how much? I ask because I did a quick estimate on Google maps, and it might only make it a couple of km shorter going closer to the river shore.

I might be misremembering what the Via Lusitana folks told me but the number that is coming to mind is 8km. But I agree that that is a bigger reduction than seems possible looking at a map.

 

[dougfitz]

I might be misremembering what the Via Lusitana folks told me but the number that is coming to mind is 8km. But I agree that that is a bigger reduction than seems possible looking at a map.

I have found a figure of 7 km since I posted my query. That might make it about 25 km from Lisbon to Alverca do Ribotejo, depending on exactly where one starts and finishes the day.

 

[snuz55]

I plan on leaving out of Lisbon around April 19th. Are there any details and recommendations about routes and updates to the routes? I see the first leg is roughly 30km. I booked a place just slightly north of where they suggest staying at a fire station. I prefer places other than fire stations and auberques.

 

[Pilger Franz]

I found out that the local press reported these days on the albergue in Alpriate.
We should keep an eye on local announcements by searching "omirante.pt Vialonga albergue".

 

[trecile]

There is a jpeg showing the new and old routes in post #4 of the thread @peregrina2000 linked to earlier.

Is the new route the light blue line along the river?

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Sad for Alpriate. It was a sweet little albergue.

 

[Pilger Franz]

Is the new route the light blue line along the river?

It is called Trilho da Ribeira do Tejo and part of the Rota Europeia E7.

Trilho Panorâmico do Tejo: percurso pedestre Constância - Almourol - Barquinha - VagaMundos

Trilho Panorâmico do Tejo: percurso pedestre Constância - Castelo Almourol - Vila Nova da Barquinha, passadiços, miradouros, mapa e track GPS.

www.vagamundos.pt

 

[Walton]

Sad for Alpriate. It was a sweet little albergue.

When we stayed there in 2017 we were told the premises were rented. It was a lovely albergue. We were lucky enough to be given two beds on the ground floor.

The local shop across the road and the sports club where we had dinner will certainly miss pilgrim patronage though.

 

[dougfitz]

It is called Trilho da Ribeira do Tejo and part of the Rota Europeia E7.

Trilho Panorâmico do Tejo: percurso pedestre Constância - Almourol - Barquinha - VagaMundos

Trilho Panorâmico do Tejo: percurso pedestre Constância - Castelo Almourol - Vila Nova da Barquinha, passadiços, miradouros, mapa e track GPS.

www.vagamundos.pt

This trail is north of Santarem. It is NOT the section being discussed here.

 

[dougfitz]

Is the new route the light blue line along the river?

View attachment 140403

That is my understanding.

 

[jungleboy]

It is called Trilho da Ribeira do Tejo and part of the Rota Europeia E7.

Trilho Panorâmico do Tejo: percurso pedestre Constância - Almourol - Barquinha - VagaMundos

Trilho Panorâmico do Tejo: percurso pedestre Constância - Castelo Almourol - Vila Nova da Barquinha, passadiços, miradouros, mapa e track GPS.

www.vagamundos.pt

This trail is north of Santarem. It is NOT the section being discussed here.

Yes, Doug is correct. There is a thread about the Trilho Panorâmico do Tejo here.

 

[Pilger Franz]

Dougfitz is correct. Sorry, my error.

 

[Colette Z]

I received an email from the management of the albergue in Alpriate saying it is closed permanently. My tentative plan is to walk to Sacavem or Povoa de Santa Iria then train back to Lisbon or to Vila Franca de Xira and back the next morning to continue where we finished. The youth hostel at Parque Das Nacoes is fully booked for our dates (May 14) but plenty of other hostels in Lisbon. There are a couple of hotels near Alpriate as well. What have others done before or are planning to do for this section? Linda

In Oct 2021, I did what you suggest as your second option given VF de Xira has a very good Apartment/Albergue.

 

[Lleslie]

Yes, thinking that is a good option. Even tho the route is now shorter we will probably split it to ease ourselves into it😊

 

[roving_rufus]

I have very fond memories of staying in the Alpriate albergue - and I even managed to get a sandwich and beer in the hunting club bar opposite (other friendly bar was shut that day).
But the new route looks like it will avoid the area where there had been problems before - the section I didn't enjoy walking alone as a solo female.

 

[jungleboy]

But the new route looks like it will avoid the area where there had been problems before - the section I didn't enjoy walking alone as a solo female.

Yes it will. At the Vasco da Gama bridge the new route continues along the river while the old route turned left away from the river towards Sacavém, where the attacks occurred.

 

[Pilger Franz]

At the Vasco da Gama bridge the new route continues along the river while the old route turned left away from the river towards Sacavém

Could you describe, which way to use behind Sacavem along the river (Tejo)?

 

[dougfitz]

Could you describe, which way to use behind Sacavem along the river (Tejo)?

I am also curious about this. Short of building a pedestrian bridge to the east of where the A30 crosses the river, the route shown won't be possible. From memory, the only pedestrian crossing right now is the bridge where the EN10 crosses the Rio Trancao, a little further west.

That said, I am pretty sure this is something that would have been considered, and a solution will be implemented to get pilgrims across without them having to get their feet wet!