Guided 2025: Caminho de Fatima

Located on the Atlantic Ocean coast and on the banks of the River Tejo, the western-most capital city of Europe is a great place to relax before your trip. Visitors can visit UNESCO World Heritage sites such as the Jeronimo Monastery and Belem Tower amongst other interesting architectural buildings and squares. There are so many things to see and do in Lisbon that visitors have access to a wide array of different experiences.

From Lisbon, the Caminho de Fatima follows the Camino de Santiago, all the way to Santarem. Leaving Lisbon is relatively easy as we follow the Tejo river via Parque das Nacoes. Following a farm track through a green valley it’s hard to believe you are only few miles away from the heart of Lisbon! The short first walking day soon brings us to Alpriate, where you will be picked up and transferred to your hotel for the night in Santa Iria de Azoia.

The Camino leaving Santa Iria follows the Rio Tejo mostly along a flat and busy national road to the colorful and attractive town of Vila Franca de Xira, home of a famous bullfighting festival.

Leaving Vila Franca de Xira, you travel through a region where bullfighting and horse breeding are part of daily life for generations of locals. The Camino continues parallel to the Tejo River, offering tranquil riverside views across the whole section, before heading inland towards the pleasant town of Azambuja.

This walking day brings us to the highest point of this section, at 110 metres, in Santarem, which is also the final stop over of our first stretch of the Portuguese Way. This is a very enjoyable walk as half of the day is spent going through lush crop fields, fruit groves, and vineyards.

From today you will notice a change in the landscape, with more hills to traverse as you make your way towards the mountain of Serra de Minde. Your stop for the night is in the town of Amiais de Baixo.

An option to split the walk from Santarém to Fatima over three days with a stop over in Arneiro das Milhariças (22km) and Minde (21km leaving then just 15km walk to Fatima)

Today is your final walk to the Shrine of Fatima. Although a few tough ups and downs to start with today the second half of the day is more gentle terrain. A final stretch on a quiet road passing by eucalyptus trees takes you to Fatima where you will get your first glimpse of the Shrine from here you have about 1km left to walk to the Shrine.

After breakfast, we bid you farewell. If you would like to continue to Santiago de Compostela get in touch with our Camino Planners to discuss your options for this.