Diogo92
Veteran Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- C. Português 2013, 2014
C. de Fátima 2014
C. do Salnés 2015
Being a member from this Forum for almost two years, made me realize that, there was a lot of people who complaint about the Lisbon to Vila Franca de Xira leg. With two rest days this week, I've contacted my best friend, and we decided to make this stage on Thursday the 29th. And so it was.
We started at 07:33AM, at the Lisbon Cathedral (Sé de Lisboa), navigating with our Garmin eTrex20 GPS system (and using this track has a model: http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=4045889), the arrows and the The Confraternity of Saint James guide, which you can get here in the Forum or in Via Lusitana website.
Most of the complaints here in the Forum were about the amount of km that you have to walk in tarmac, with cars passing near you. To be very honest, and after walking it and doing the math, probably from the total km's from the stage, you will walk only 25% from it on tarmac (no more than that, 10km of tarmac), being the worst part from Alverca to Alhandra.
The stage itsel it's very beautiful, mostly because of the new markings that were made by the Associação dos Amigos do Caminho de Fátima and Via Lusitana, between July and November of last year. You walk a lot of time, following water courses (River Tagus and River Trancão, and also some creeks), being able to watch a lot of birds (mostly egrets during this time of the year, but also some sparrows, pigeons and some mallards).
I believe that the difficulties from the stage are the lenght of it (41km. We have done some detours, so we walked more than that, 45km at least) and the conditions from the fields, between Sacavém and Forte da Casa. The lenght it's an issue, mostly because with the new markings, you don't have access to a lof of infrastructures like places to eat/drink, or to sleep.
Taking pilgrims out from the tarmac it's very good, however the state of the fields can make things worse. The biggest portuguese aquifer it's located under the Tagus bay, where the Caminho Português pass. Which means that, even if it doesn't rain for some time, you might find swamp like terrain, because of the water saturation from the fields. We had a very temperated summer, which means that most of the water from the fields, didn't evaporated, creating bogs on fields and mud very similar to moving sand.
There is also a tricky pass, over a colapsed brigde, in which you must be careful.
Although all of this, we enjoyed it a lot. Even with my right foot wet from the bogs (I took my Hi Tec Figaro trail shoes, no waterproof membrane), we still had a lot of fun. In the end, with almost 5km to go, we kept pushing and pushing, ingnoring pain, and lifting each other moral. It totally compensanted all the effort from the day. 10 hours (2:30H from stops), 45km, but a smile in the face, knowing that mission was accomplished.
So, if you intend to start from Lisbon, go for it. You don't have to be affraid from the tarmac. But consider the total distance that you have to do. I advise you to split this stage in two, by sleeping in Pousada da Juventude de Moscavide, 9km from the Lisbon Cathedral, or to walk until Póvoa or Alverca, come back by train, and walk the rest on the other day. If you think that it's still too much, take a suburban train and jump some part of the section. But trust me, you will lose a great part of it.
Tracklog: http://pt.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=8770632
Pictures credits: @Kosho
Bom Caminho!
We started at 07:33AM, at the Lisbon Cathedral (Sé de Lisboa), navigating with our Garmin eTrex20 GPS system (and using this track has a model: http://www.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=4045889), the arrows and the The Confraternity of Saint James guide, which you can get here in the Forum or in Via Lusitana website.
Most of the complaints here in the Forum were about the amount of km that you have to walk in tarmac, with cars passing near you. To be very honest, and after walking it and doing the math, probably from the total km's from the stage, you will walk only 25% from it on tarmac (no more than that, 10km of tarmac), being the worst part from Alverca to Alhandra.
The stage itsel it's very beautiful, mostly because of the new markings that were made by the Associação dos Amigos do Caminho de Fátima and Via Lusitana, between July and November of last year. You walk a lot of time, following water courses (River Tagus and River Trancão, and also some creeks), being able to watch a lot of birds (mostly egrets during this time of the year, but also some sparrows, pigeons and some mallards).
I believe that the difficulties from the stage are the lenght of it (41km. We have done some detours, so we walked more than that, 45km at least) and the conditions from the fields, between Sacavém and Forte da Casa. The lenght it's an issue, mostly because with the new markings, you don't have access to a lof of infrastructures like places to eat/drink, or to sleep.
Taking pilgrims out from the tarmac it's very good, however the state of the fields can make things worse. The biggest portuguese aquifer it's located under the Tagus bay, where the Caminho Português pass. Which means that, even if it doesn't rain for some time, you might find swamp like terrain, because of the water saturation from the fields. We had a very temperated summer, which means that most of the water from the fields, didn't evaporated, creating bogs on fields and mud very similar to moving sand.
There is also a tricky pass, over a colapsed brigde, in which you must be careful.
Although all of this, we enjoyed it a lot. Even with my right foot wet from the bogs (I took my Hi Tec Figaro trail shoes, no waterproof membrane), we still had a lot of fun. In the end, with almost 5km to go, we kept pushing and pushing, ingnoring pain, and lifting each other moral. It totally compensanted all the effort from the day. 10 hours (2:30H from stops), 45km, but a smile in the face, knowing that mission was accomplished.
So, if you intend to start from Lisbon, go for it. You don't have to be affraid from the tarmac. But consider the total distance that you have to do. I advise you to split this stage in two, by sleeping in Pousada da Juventude de Moscavide, 9km from the Lisbon Cathedral, or to walk until Póvoa or Alverca, come back by train, and walk the rest on the other day. If you think that it's still too much, take a suburban train and jump some part of the section. But trust me, you will lose a great part of it.
Tracklog: http://pt.wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=8770632
Pictures credits: @Kosho
Bom Caminho!
Last edited:
