Anyone starting in Lisbon Sept 19th

[The World My Village]

I will arrive in Lisbon on the 15th and planning to start the Camino on the 19th or so. Was told the stretch from Lisbon to Porto there are not a lot of pilgrims. As a solo traveler wanted to reach out to see who will be there and maybe meet.

 

[Maria Man]

I just came back walking from Lisbon to Fatima and the camino is really quiet compare to Camino Frances, I think I am lucky to see a few pilgrims along the way as a German guy told me he walked last year in June he saw nobody on the camino and even the albergues until Porto ! I think maybe people do try to avoid the heat in this time of the year in Portugal as it is way hotter than Camino Frances as you kind of facing the sun already early in the morning ! In September I hope you may see more pilgrims there ~ buen camino ;D

Maria

 

[Michelle G Daoust]

Hello Maria,
I walked the Camino Portuguese, from Lisboa to Santiago this past May/June....amazing. It is much quieter than the Camino Frances, but in the evenings at the Albergues, there was always a wonderful gathering of pilgrims. We got to meet and really connect with many people from 15 nations because you end up staying at the same alburges night after night. If you can take some "tourist days" at Tomar, Coimbra, Porto.....I could go on and on. The Portuguese are so friendly. Eat many pastel da nota (yummy pastry), enjoy the scenery. There is much asphalt/cobblestone-like roads from Lisboa to Porto, so soft/fluffy" soled shoes are best. (I ended up ditching May Day hikers for Nike Air Max running shoes -much better. Last people were walking in plush running-type shoes...made sense for this walk. Awesome path from Porto to Santiago.
Have fun, safe journey,
Michelle

 

[Michelle G Daoust]

Oops, I responded to previous poster, Maria....
To "the world my village" safe journey on the Camino Portuguese.

 

[The World My Village]

I just came back walking from Lisbon to Fatima and the camino is really quiet compare to Camino Frances, I think I am lucky to see a few pilgrims along the way as a German guy told me he walked last year in June he saw nobody on the camino and even the albergues until Porto ! I think maybe people do try to avoid the heat in this time of the year in Portugal as it is way hotter than Camino Frances as you kind of facing the sun already early in the morning ! In September I hope you may see more pilgrims there ~ buen camino ;D

Maria

Maria, thanks!
Hope you don't mind me asking some additional detail questions
-how long did it take you to Fatima? ----On avg how many kilometers/hours a day did you walk?
-Can you tell me the route in detail?
-Any issues finding albergues?
- Do you feel is safe for a solo traveller?

 

[The World My Village]

Hello Maria,
I walked the Camino Portuguese, from Lisboa to Santiago this past May/June....amazing. It is much quieter than the Camino Frances, but in the evenings at the Albergues, there was always a wonderful gathering of pilgrims. We got to meet and really connect with many people from 15 nations because you end up staying at the same alburges night after night. If you can take some "tourist days" at Tomar, Coimbra, Porto.....I could go on and on. The Portuguese are so friendly. Eat many pastel da nota (yummy pastry), enjoy the scenery. There is much asphalt/cobblestone-like roads from Lisboa to Porto, so soft/fluffy" soled shoes are best. (I ended up ditching May Day hikers for Nike Air Max running shoes -much better. Last people were walking in plush running-type shoes...made sense for this walk. Awesome path from Porto to Santiago.
Have fun, safe journey,
Michelle

Hi Michelle, did you do the same route as Maria going to Fatima?
-Was the route clearly marked for directions all the way?
-how long did it take you to get to Santiago? On avg how long did you walk each day/hours?

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi Michelle, did you do the same route as Maria going to Fatima?
-Was the route clearly marked for directions all the way?
-how long did it take you to get to Santiago? On avg how long did you walk each day/hours?

Hi and welcome to the forum! There is a subforum on Fatima with 12 posts and a lot of information, you should look at these: https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/forums/walking-to-fatima.186/

I think that many Santiago pilgrims who want a "Fatima detour" go to Santarem and then walk over (or take a bus). Getting back to the Caminho, you have to decide whether to go straight back or stay on the Fatima caminho for a while longer as it moves north. Mario in @santaremhostel can help with the details, in fact you could contact him directly now from home (he has a facebook page).

 

[Maria Man]

Maria, thanks!
Hope you don't mind me asking some additional detail questions
-how long did it take you to Fatima? ----On avg how many kilometers/hours a day did you walk?
-Can you tell me the route in detail?
-Any issues finding albergues?
- Do you feel is safe for a solo traveller?

It takes me 5 days walking to Fatima, average around 30km/day as total is 150km. But if I would do it again I would do it in 6 days as I would want to walk less km to Santarem as it is such a nice place which I would want to spend more time there.

The details of the route that I walked you can find in the website www.caminho.com.pt , you can email or even call them as the person in charge speaks English.
There is another route mentioned in this forum that starts from Estoril which is called Caminho do Mar . I tried to find out about this when I was travelling in Sintra and saw the arrows signs going to Fatima which is very interesting as if I want to walk again I would like to try this route as it goes along the seaside but with lots of ups and downs I guess. The usual route goes along the river which is very flat and very pleasant to walk. You can have a look at the link below
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/caminho-do-mar.38333/

It is quite safe for solo traveller and Portuguese people are very friendly, just they don't speak English well. But of course if you start in Lisbon, you have to be careful of your belongings.

Maria

 

[Maria Man]

My stages are Lisbon - Alverca(32km) - Azambuja(29km) - Santarem(33km) - Nascente do Rio Alviela(30km) - Fatima(29km)