From the Chapel of the Apparitions to Valinhos, the shepherd children's story in daylight.
In 1917, Lúcia, Francisco and Jacinta grazed their families' sheep in the fields around Aljustrel, the village where they lived. One of those fields was the Cova da Iria, where the Sanctuary stands today. Plenty of visitors to Fátima only ever see that one field: the great square, a lit candle and back to the coach. This day covers the whole story, in daylight. We begin at the Chapel of the Apparitions and the two basilicas, one of them holding the tombs of the three shepherd children. Then we drive to Aljustrel and the houses where they were born, and from there we walk through the fields to Valinhos, the Loca do Anjo and the Hungarian Calvary. The car is your group's alone and leaves from Lisbon or Cascais, morning or afternoon. Along the way, your driver-guide tells you what happened at each place.
Times are approximate and we adapt to you.
We collect you at your Lisbon hotel around 08:30, or around 08:00 in Cascais and Estoril, in a private air-conditioned car. If you prefer the afternoon, we leave after lunch and follow the same route.
We start at the heart of the Sanctuary. The statue of Our Lady stands on the exact spot of the small holm oak over which she appeared. Masses and the Rosary are held at the chapel throughout the day; if you would like to attend one, we time the visit around it.
At the top of the square, the basilica with the tower holds the tombs of Saints Francisco and Jacinta Marto, canonized in 2017, and of Sister Lúcia, who died in 2005 at the age of 97.
Across the square stands the newest basilica, opened in 2007, with more than 8,500 seats. It is a round, modern building, nothing like the basilica with the tower.
Five minutes by car and we reach the village where the three children were born. The houses of Lúcia and of the Marto siblings are open to visitors and free to enter, but they close over lunch, so we plan the visit around their hours. In the yard behind Lúcia's house is the Arneiro well, where the Angel appeared in the summer of 1916.
From Aljustrel we walk to Valinhos, about 500 metres away. Our Lady appeared here on 19 August 1917, the fourth apparition. On the 13th of that month the local administrator had taken the three children to Vila Nova de Ourém, where he kept them until the 15th, so they were not at the Cova da Iria. The monument stands between the eighth and ninth stations of the Way of the Cross.
We carry on along the Way of the Cross, past small chapels donated mostly by Hungarian refugees, to the Loca do Anjo, also called the Loca do Cabeço, the rocky hollow where the children saw the Angel in the spring and autumn of 1916. A sculpture marks the spot. The Way of the Cross ends just beyond, at the Hungarian Calvary and its Chapel of Saint Stephen.
Back to the car and onto the highway. If you would like lunch in Fátima first, we suggest a good place; it adds about an hour to the day.
We drop you where the day began: in Lisbon around 2 pm, a little later in Cascais and Estoril, with the afternoon still free.
Ideal for anyone who wants to see all of Fátima, not just the square: pilgrims who want to pray at each place where the story happened, families who want to tell it to their children inside the shepherd children's houses, and travelers short on time, who leave in the morning and are back by early afternoon. The Sanctuary grounds are mostly flat, and the walk through the fields is optional and goes at the pace of whoever walks slowest.
To compare every way of seeing Fátima, see the Fátima page. To add Batalha and Nazaré, there is Path of Faith; to stay for the Candlelight Procession, there is Fátima by Night.
About five and a half hours from Lisbon and a little over six from Cascais, door to door. The drive is around two and a half hours there and back from Lisbon; the rest of the time we spend at the Sanctuary, in Aljustrel and at Valinhos.
Yes, at the same price. We collect you at your hotel in Cascais or Estoril around 08:00, half an hour before the Lisbon departure, and drop you back at the same place at the end. If you are staying in Cascais and would like to add the Batalha Monastery, see Cascais to Fátima and Batalha.
Either, any day of the year. In the morning we leave around 08:30 and are back in the early afternoon. In the afternoon we leave after lunch and are back in the evening. From November to January it gets dark before 6 pm: on those afternoons we start with Aljustrel and Valinhos, so the walk is done in daylight, and finish at the Sanctuary.
Yes, and that day already exists: Path of Faith combines Fátima, the Batalha Monastery and Nazaré in a full day of nine to ten hours. The difference is the time in Fátima: on Path of Faith the visit focuses on the Sanctuary, while Fátima by Day also covers Aljustrel, Valinhos, the Way of the Cross and the Loca do Anjo.
This route runs in daylight and does not stay for the evening. To see the Sanctuary by candlelight, there is Fátima by Night, which leaves Lisbon in the afternoon and stays for the Rosary and the Candlelight Procession.
On the apparition days, from May to October, the Sanctuary changes pace: there are special celebrations and far more people, above all on the 12th and 13th. For those days there is Fátima with Family, with each month's pilgrimage and, in August, the Shepherd Children's Route on the 19th. On those dates cars, guides and rooms across the region book up early, so it pays to reserve ahead.
Yes. The Sanctuary grounds are mostly flat, and the car drops you as close as access allows. The walk through the fields, from Aljustrel to Valinhos and the Hungarian Calvary, follows a stone path with some climbs, and it is optional: if anyone in the group prefers not to walk, we do the route by car and stop as close as possible to each place. The pace is always set by whoever walks slowest.
Yes. The day is short, we stop whenever needed, and we bring a child seat if you ask in advance. In Aljustrel, inside the houses where three other children lived, the story is easier to tell to younger ones. The Sanctuary grounds are fine for a stroller; on the stone path through the fields, a baby carrier is more practical.
The private car for your group alone, your driver-guide, fuel, tolls, water on board and door-to-door transport from your hotel in Lisbon, Cascais or Estoril. Meals, tickets to any museum you would like to add and gratuities are not included. The Sanctuary, the Aljustrel houses and Valinhos are free to enter. The tour is private: we never put strangers together.
Tell us your dates and group size. We reply quickly on WhatsApp with a clear, all-in price.
| 1 to 2 guests | €450 |
| 3 to 4 guests | €550 |
| 5 to 6 guests | €670 |
| 7 guests, in a 7-seat van | €730 |
Prices per group, with vehicle, guide and tolls included. Larger group or a tailor-made route? Tell us on WhatsApp.
Book 'N