Friend from Barquinha
Veteran Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- None yet; perhaps the Portugese (2021?)
A local (central Portuguese) news source reported recently on the newly marked routes to Fatima from 1/ Serta 2/Tomar and 3/ Abrantes (east of Vila Nova da Barquinha on the Tejo/Tagus).
Here's a link to the brochure, with map and elevation details, that they produced. It is in 4 languages: Portuguese, English, Spanish and French.
For those looking for a detour to Fatima while walking the central, this could be useful. One idea could be, joining the Abrantes/Fatima trail heading west in Barquinha, just north of the railway tracks, and then back-tracking east from Fatima to Tomar, or perhaps some point north of there on the Serta route, thus rejoining the main caminho north
[edit: Also, a fair number of commentators have previously recommended heading north to Fatima from Santarém, detouring from the central route and then veering back at Tomar. The newly marked route to Tomar provides an "official" way to return to the main route north after visiting Fatima, if one wanted to do Santarém/Fátima/Tomar.
Speaking as a supportive local living south of Tomar on the main route, I feel our community would find it a pity not to see peregrinos walking through Barquinha, but the detour would be understandable. There's a bit of a slog through the flat, wide-open agricultural areas between Santarém and Barquinha, and this central portion of the Tejo surroundings can be really unpleasantly hot through midsummer.]
Here's the link:
[Note that when they say walk on the "pavements," I'm pretty sure they're using the British term, meaning "sidewalks."]
Boas caminhos--na Fatima e no Santiago!
Here's a link to the brochure, with map and elevation details, that they produced. It is in 4 languages: Portuguese, English, Spanish and French.
For those looking for a detour to Fatima while walking the central, this could be useful. One idea could be, joining the Abrantes/Fatima trail heading west in Barquinha, just north of the railway tracks, and then back-tracking east from Fatima to Tomar, or perhaps some point north of there on the Serta route, thus rejoining the main caminho north
[edit: Also, a fair number of commentators have previously recommended heading north to Fatima from Santarém, detouring from the central route and then veering back at Tomar. The newly marked route to Tomar provides an "official" way to return to the main route north after visiting Fatima, if one wanted to do Santarém/Fátima/Tomar.
Speaking as a supportive local living south of Tomar on the main route, I feel our community would find it a pity not to see peregrinos walking through Barquinha, but the detour would be understandable. There's a bit of a slog through the flat, wide-open agricultural areas between Santarém and Barquinha, and this central portion of the Tejo surroundings can be really unpleasantly hot through midsummer.]
Here's the link:
[Note that when they say walk on the "pavements," I'm pretty sure they're using the British term, meaning "sidewalks."]
Boas caminhos--na Fatima e no Santiago!
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