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It is done. We got our tickets and we will be flying to Lisboa on may 4th. We want to visit Fatima in our way to Santiago. We have plenty of time.
The question for all of you familiar with Portugal. What is the best way to accomplish this?
Is there a well marked camino from Lisboa to Fatima or should we follow the Camino Portugues to Santarem or Tomar and walk from there? or are there buses from Santarem or Tomar to Fatima?
I will appreciate recommendations and or comments; what is the best way?
Thanks
There is another route from Estoril via Sintra and Torres Vedras which was way marked in 2013, this is about 205 km and roughly goes through the places that the other historical route of Lisbon to Santiago went, it is called the Camino do Mar, the big difference for present day route is it turns of to Fatima instead of continuing to Coimbra.
Walk to Santarèm , take the bus, come back to Santarèm and walk on I should say.Thanks to everyone, our trip to Fatima will be of a religious nature, we are Catholics and our motivation is to visit the shrine of Our Lady. We want to walk as much as possible but we are slow, no more than 20 km a day. The years weight more than the backpack by the time you get to the seventh floor. It looks like there are lots of options from what you say. I'll have a talk with wonder woman. I can see 3 options now:
1) Go to Fatima on a bus from Lisboa and then return to Lisboa and walk el Camino to Santiago from there
2) Go to Santarem and take a bus from there, visit Fatima and return in a bus to Santarem to continue the Camino
3) Walk all the way following one of the paths that mikevasey indicates in his posts.
Comments anyone?
More...
Last year on el Camino Frances, I started to walk right after we arrived, no rest, no recovery from jet lag, the result is that I passed out on the trail just before Larrasoaña and wonder woman had to take me in a taxi to an ER in Pamplona. The diagnosis was exhaustion. I had to rest a couple of days in Pamplona before we could get going. This time we plan to give ourselves a few days in Lisboa before we start walking. Thus, a day trip by bus to Fatima may be appropriate as well as a day trip to Sintra (thanks for the suggestion Anniesantiago). An of course a day or two of exploring Lisboa. But we are still planning and thinkingand the main objective still is el Camino Portugues to the tomb of the apostle.
Hi Diego, you are right the Caminho do Fatima is not an historical route but they have used the historical and modern day routes of the Caminho de Santiago where they can, it makes sense when it comes to waymarking and the provision of other facilities. When it comes to the other routes which have no historical background that go to Fatima, why not? Its a place of pilgrimage for religious people,as long as the motivation is for creating a route that benefits pilgrims. The two feeder routes that were created before Azambuja have that motivation, they walk to Fatima with joy through their devotion on tranquil paths. I do not have this motivation but I am not above jumping on tranquil paths and using albergues even if there no precedence for it being a pilgrim path of old.
After I posted on this thread earlier I had a look around to see what was happening with the Fatima routes and came across a Facebook page for the Caminho Do Mar, they refer to the Caminho de Santiago as a motivation in way marking this route and where possible use those paths. Just add that it looks like they might be creating an Albergue de Peregrinos in Cascais, which is the start for that caminho, but its not until Sinatra the route matches the old way out of Lisbon.
Bom Caminho
Thanks to everyone, our trip to Fatima will be of a religious nature, we are Catholics and our motivation is to visit the shrine of Our Lady. We want to walk as much as possible but we are slow, no more than 20 km a day. The years weight more than the backpack by the time you get to the seventh floor. It looks like there are lots of options from what you say. I'll have a talk with wonder woman. I can see 3 options now:
1) Go to Fatima on a bus from Lisboa and then return to Lisboa and walk el Camino to Santiago from there
2) Go to Santarem and take a bus from there, visit Fatima and return in a bus to Santarem to continue the Camino
3) Walk all the way following one of the paths that mikevasey indicates in his posts.
Comments anyone?
No problem Diego, good luck with the Camino ao Salnes this year.
Bom Caminho
Mike
We had the same experience. An old Portugese woman was very disappointed when she asked where we went to ,that we were walking to Santiago instead of Fátima.A day trip to Fatima from Tomar works well. Four of us walked from Lisbon to Santiago with a rest day (2 nights) in Tomar (there is an excellent new albergue in Tomar). Whilst two relaxed (i.e. walked a lot sightseeing in Tomar) the other two took a day trip by bus to Fatima. Incidentally, we found that most Portuguese people we spoke to couldn't understand why we were walking to Santiago and not Fatima, and I understood exactly what they meant. It's an overwhelming story and well worth reading up on it. We were walking to Santiago at the same time as the annual pilgrimage to Fatima, so once we were north of Fatima, the pilgrims we kept passing going in the opposite direction (i.e. south to Fatima), kept telling us we were going the wrong way, and were very concerned for us. Jill
"Habit" is that pilgrims to Fatima walk the shortest way ,that means that frequently they walk alongside busy roads on hardshoulders.Just had a look at the Caminho de Fatima amigos Facebook, in the last week they have way marked a route between Fatima and Tomar( 29.3 km), its called the Caminho Nascente, it is way marked both ways, blue arrows to Fatima and yellow to Tomar. It looks a mixture of road, which is inevitable in the areas near the towns and then in the more remoter stretches off road trails.
Just had a look at the Caminho de Fatima amigos Facebook, in the last week they have way marked a route between Fatima and Tomar( 29.3 km), its called the Caminho Nascente, it is way marked both ways, blue arrows to Fatima and yellow to Tomar. It looks a mixture of road, which is inevitable in the areas near the towns and then in the more remoter stretches off road trails.
"Habit" is that pilgrims to Fatima walk the shortest way ,that means that frequently they walk alongside busy roads on hardshoulders.
They are recognizable at their yellow safety vests, light daypacks and trainers.
Often they walk in groups.
The association for the amigos of Fatima have a Facebook page, you can get a taste of the various ways to Fatima by the photos they have posted. Its going to get busier, have more infrastructure for various places that want a more green way to Fatima in the lead up to 2017 which is a centenary year.This has been a very interesting thread for me as I learned alot about the Caminho. I have gained an interest to do this myself someday. Thank you for everyone that contributed to this thread.
Ed
Thank you Mike. I will search for the site.The association for the amigos of Fatima have a Facebook page, you can get a taste of the various ways to Fatima by the photos they have posted. Its going to get busier, have more infrastructure for various places that want a more green way to Fatima in the lead up to 2017 which is a centenary year.
Thank you Mike. I will search for the site.
Ed
Thank you again Mike!!!!Hi Ed if you check Amisoes post from the 23 Feb in this thread it has a link to the website of the Fatima amigos, I just checked it but I'm not sure if their Facebook link is working but it could give you pointers for where to look.
Mike
I have a quick question about getting to Fatima from Tomar. I checked the bus schedule and it seems there is only one bus early in the morning at 07:00hrs via REDE - Express, returning 16:55hrs from Fatima to Tomar. Santarem has one bus in the morning at 10:45hrs with a return at 17:45hrs also via REDE Express. I will be traveling in early September. The REDE calendar only goes out to one month.
Has anyone taken another bus company, taxi, or hitchhiked? Thanks
Thanks, Whariwharangi. Isn't Lamarosa NW of Coimbra? I am thinking of making either Tomar or Santarem my base for a side trip to Fatima. Let me play around with bus and train schedules and see what works. Appreciate the help I am receiving. John
but we are slow, no more than 20 km a day
There is no train station in Fatima, the places listed as train stations for Fatima are all over 20 km distance away. Caxarias which is one of the places listed as a Fatima train station is over 23 km away, the buses linking the two places are infrequent.I don't know much about geography in Portugal. All I know is the CP schedule shows frequent train service between Fatima and Tomar. The train service shows a transfer is required at Lamarosa. Since duration of trip is about an hour ... I don't see how the route matters.
There is no train station in Fatima, the places listed as train stations for Fatima are all over 20 km distance away. Caxarias which is one of the places listed as a Fatima train station is over 23 km away, the buses linking the two places are infrequent.
jsalt...thanks for the detail here. My wife and I will be walking the CP next year and will be visiting Fatima. We'll be looking for a bus/taxi out of Tomar. From Rome2Rio...I'm only seeing buses on the weekends (which seems a bit odd), and only an afternoon service out of Fatima back to Tomar. I'm 'reading' that your friends didn't have any problems with the bus service (and a same day return leg). Was this the case? Thank you!A day trip to Fatima from Tomar works well. Four of us walked from Lisbon to Santiago with a rest day (2 nights) in Tomar (there is an excellent new albergue in Tomar). Whilst two relaxed (i.e. walked a lot sightseeing in Tomar) the other two took a day trip by bus to Fatima. Incidentally, we found that most Portuguese people we spoke to couldn't understand why we were walking to Santiago and not Fatima, and I understood exactly what they meant. It's an overwhelming story and well worth reading up on it. We were walking to Santiago at the same time as the annual pilgrimage to Fatima, so once we were north of Fatima, the pilgrims we kept passing going in the opposite direction (i.e. south to Fatima), kept telling us we were going the wrong way, and were very concerned for us. Jill
Hi, I posted in 2015, so hopefully someone will chip in with the current bus timesjsalt...thanks for the detail here. My wife and I will be walking the CP next year and will be visiting Fatima. We'll be looking for a bus/taxi out of Tomar. From Rome2Rio...I'm only seeing buses on the weekends (which seems a bit odd), and only an afternoon service out of Fatima back to Tomar. I'm 'reading' that your friends didn't have any problems with the bus service (and a same day return leg). Was this the case? Thank you!
Yes I noted the thread was established some time ago, but thought I'd try here first before starting something new. Really appreciate you getting back to me though. Thank you!Hi, I posted in 2015, so hopefully someone will chip in with the current bus times
A quick look on Google:Hi, I posted in 2015, so hopefully someone will chip in with the current bus times
jsalt thank you! Rome2Rio was sort of close (out by 30 min on dep time). As our schedule sits we'll leave Tomar on a Sunday for Fatima. Intend staying the night, then I'll taxi back to Tomar on Monday morning and continue our walk. Really appreciate your help on this. Cheers.A quick look on Google:
http://www.rodotejo.pt/
Bus 07:30 (Sat, Sun, holidays) from Tomar, arrives Fatima at 08:16.
Or at 07:50 (weekdays) arrives 08:45.
Returns at 18:33 (Sat, Sun, holidays) or at 18:43 (weekdays).
When you've arrived in Tomar, just take a short walk to the bus station, and check the bus schedules for the next day. No harm in double checking, as it would be a shame to miss the bus by 5 minutes.jsalt thank you! Rome2Rio was sort of close (out by 30 min on dep time). As our schedule sits we'll leave Tomar on a Sunday for Fatima. Intend staying the night, then I'll taxi back to Tomar on Monday morning and continue our walk. Really appreciate your help on this. Cheers.
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