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Will it be difficult to visit Lisbon while the Pope is in Fatima?

We are planning to spend the month of May in Portugal starting in Algarve and traveling up to the Douro valley with stops in Lisbon and Evora and a few other places. We expected to be in Lisbon at the same time that the Pope is in Fatima and we are concerned that we will encounter too much traffic, tourists, and inflated costs. Has anyone had any experience with this type of thing?

Posted by
16133 posts

Fatima and Lisbon are almost 150km from each other. There will be tourists in Lisbon but not because of the Pope.

Posted by
8178 posts

No. There is a good distance between the two cities. Inflated costs? Either way I would book lodging now.

Posted by
1824 posts

There may be an increase in tourists around that time - if nothing else, people traveling through Lisbon on their way to Fatima. But, Lisbon is large enough that you should have no problem. Just don't decide to travel anywhere close to Fatima during that time...

Posted by
34 posts

Thank you all. I've been booking places without too much trouble, so I guess we'll be fine. We'll probably just wing it in Douro Valley, since we don't know much about it and where we'd want to stay. That usually works out fine for us.