Portugal's tourism board lists the signposted Caminhos de Fátima. The Tagus Way starts at Parque das Nações in Lisbon and runs through Santarém, about 141 km in five days of 20 to 30 km on mostly rural roads. The Northern Way covers about 260 km inside Portugal from the Spanish border at Valença through Porto and Coimbra, sharing its markers with the Camino de Santiago. The Carmelite Route is 111 km from Coimbra in six stages, and there are also a Nazaré Way and a Coastal Way.
The Shrine's instructions for pilgrims on foot are practical. Train beforehand and wear shoes that are already broken in, with seamless cotton socks. Carry water, a hat, sunscreen, a flashlight, rain cover and your medications, and little cash. Never walk alone at night, and do not use headphones or a phone while walking. Rest an hour in the morning and two hours after lunch, eat lightly and often, and sleep at least six hours. The Shrine asks pilgrims not to bring children on the walk and not to drink alcohol before or during it.
Organized help is concentrated on the anniversary pilgrimages of the 12th and 13th from May to October. Assistance posts along the roads fly a pilgrims-on-foot flag; wash your feet and change socks when you reach one. At the Shrine, walkers arriving for those anniversary pilgrimages are lodged free in the Retreat House of Our Lady of Sorrows, in rooms or tents on floor mattresses, with soup at lunch and dinner and coffee with milk at breakfast. There are no reservations; places go in order of arrival. Outside those dates the Shrine tries to house walkers in dormitories, and groups must reserve.
Good to know: the First Emergency Aid Unit in the same house has a nurse every day and a doctor on the 12th and 13th from May to October. Outside the anniversary days do not count on roadside support; plan your rests and overnight stops town by town before you set out, as the Shrine advises.