We took advantage of the Corpus Christi holiday on 06/08/2023 and went to explore the region of Fátima, in Central Portugal. We wanted to go back there with the children since Ju was born – we went in 2017 and I told you all about it in this post – so I put together an itinerary that included the Sanctuary and several other attractions around it.

Places visited

This is the map with the places we visited on this trip:

(Click on the numbers or the button to the left of the map name to find out the names.)

Where we stayed

Since the kids were coming and going with viruses, I only booked the hotel on Thursday morning when I saw that everyone was fine. I had already researched everything beforehand, and obviously packed my bags because I tend to be optimistic (hahaha), so it was a relief to see that the hotel I had as a favorite still had vacancies.

We stayed in a very nice hotel called WEDDING (rating 9.1), in the village of Constância. We took the Deluxe room which was on the top floor and had plenty of space for the 4 of us (2 adults and 2 children aged 2 and 5). We paid 380 euros for 3 nights with breakfast.

The hotel is located right in the center of the village of Constância, on a street that is so narrow that it is hard to fit a car. We only opened the hotel door when there were no cars passing by. There are a few flights of stairs to the rooms and the breakfast area, so it is not very accessible. We loved the decor. boho in every detail and we were very well attended to by the owner and the Brazilian girl who served the coffee. Breakfast was practically the same every day, with some variety, but everything was delicious. We would definitely go back there!

Some photos of the hotel:

Summary itinerary

• Day 1 – Thursday (06/08/23) – We left Cascais, visited the Mira de Aire Caves and slept in our hotel in Constância.
• Day 2 – Friday (06/09/23) – We left the hotel, went to Fátima, the Castelo do Bode Dam, the Aldeia do Mato River Beach, Torres Novas and then returned to the hotel.
• Day 3 – Saturday (10/06/23) – We left Constância, took the boat in Tancos to visit Almourol Castle, walked around Vila Nova de Barquinha and then enjoyed the medieval festival in Constância.
• Day 4 – Sunday (11/06/23) – We enjoyed the Constância River Beach, had lunch at the wonderful Quinta de Santa Barbára restaurant, went to the famous Constância Butterfly House and then returned to Cascais.

Detailed itinerary

Day 1 – Thursday (06/08/23)

We had an early lunch at home and left soon after so the kids could take a nap in the car. We drove from Cascais to our hotel in Constância, checked in at our hotel, left Ju's antibiotics in the fridge and went for a walk.

We took a stroll around the village to stretch our legs and loved the little white and yellow houses, the narrow streets with flower pots, the river beach and the lovely little square. I felt welcomed in some way, I can't explain it. Later we had a lovely surprise when we discovered that there would be a party all throughout the Corpus Christi holiday in the village. Spoiler: We enjoyed it!

Mira de Aire Caves

After our walking tour, we drove to the largest and most important caves in Portugal, the Mira de Aire Caves, which were elected one of the 7 natural wonders of the country. They were discovered in 1947 and are over 11,500 meters high, of which only 600 meters are open to visitors. If you want to know more information, visit official website or this one here with some curiosities.

We parked the car in the parking lot next to the entrance, bought tickets for the four of us (8:30 pm for 2 adults and 1 child under 5, Ju with 2 went for free) and went to the queue right next to the ticket office. In less than 10 minutes we got in and started watching a very interesting explanatory video.

After watching the video, we started going down the stairs with our group and our guide and were amazed by the view. I thought everything was beautiful, well organized, well explained and very easy to go with children. I had already researched that we had to go down almost 700 steps, but that the way up was by elevator, so I thought it was worth it for those who don't mind the descent. The place is truly incredible, we were all impressed.

NOTE: This place left such an impression on me that I made a post just for it. Take a look if you want:

Dining in Constância

We returned to Constância because it was time to have dinner with the little ones and we went to the restaurant Leopoldina Taverns. We loved everything about it: the atmosphere, the service and, most importantly, the food. It is ranked #2 in the city on TripAdvisor, but it was our favorite restaurant (and we went to #1 after that). We ordered duck croquettes, couvert with delicious sauces, breaded tiger shrimp for me, flank steak for the kids and the wild bull chop for Celo. We were very satisfied with everything.

We returned to the hotel and slept really well in our spacious and beautiful room.

Day 2 – Friday (06/09/23)

We had a nice breakfast alone at the hotel and then went for a leisurely walk around the village. We played throwing stones in the river – Paddy loves it! –, we saw some tourist attractions and when it started to rain, we went to the car.

Fatima

We drove for half an hour until Fatima and we went straight to the Sanctuary to say our prayers. Celo and I had already been to Fátima when we didn’t even have children yet – I said in this other post – , so now it was more than time to go back, right? It was great!

We took the big stroller so that both of us could sit at the same time and we were able to do everything on foot without any stress. We then walked to a restaurant that was reviewed nearby, Bia, and since we arrived early, we found an empty place and didn't even have to wait long for our dishes. Soon after, huge excursions arrived and filled the place. Lucky us!

We went back to the car and the kids, as always, took a nap after lunch…lol

Castelo do Bode Dam

We went to see the Castelo do Bode Dam on the Zêzere River, which is one of the most important in the country. Its construction began in 1945 and was only completed in 1951. There is a place on the road where you can stop your car and take some photos, and that's exactly what we did without having to wake the children.

River Beach of Aldeia do Mato

We then went on to visit a famous river beach in the region recommended by the owner of our hotel, River Beach of Aldeia do Mato. We first went to the village's viewpoint and then went down to the river beach to see it up close. Since it was raining, we didn't even bother waking the kids up and continued exploring the area.

Torres Novas

We drove to Torres Novas to see the castle and that's where the little ones woke up. We parked the car very close to it and went in to see it without having to pay anything. It's located at the top of the city and has a really nice view, I really enjoyed it. Inside, there's a large garden and you can walk along the walls, but you have to be careful with children because there's no side protection to the inside.

After playing a lot, we got back in the car and drove to Constância.

Dining in Constância

We returned to the hotel, took a shower and went out to eat at the city's #1 restaurant, Dom Jose Pinhão, which was right next to our hotel.

I didn't really like the decor at the entrance, but after we went up to the dining room on the first floor, I thought it was more pleasant. We were well served, but my sirloin steak was very tender and less cooked than I had asked for, and when I complained, they just grilled it a little longer and sent it back. Obviously, I didn't finish it, because it was impossible to chew, and I ended up eating the leftovers from the children's beef steak, which was delicious.

Camões Festival in the village

We returned to the hotel and after the children went to bed, Celo went for a walk around the city to see the festival and was impressed by the people dressed up proclaiming Camões walking through the streets and squares. His cell phone was out of battery so there are no photos, but it is a very popular and interesting annual festival, according to him.

Day 3 – Saturday (10/06/23)

We had a leisurely breakfast and went to catch the boat in Tanks to visit the famous Almourol Castle. This tour had been on my radar for a while, so on Thursday when we were on the road I called the phone from this site to book in advance.

Almourol Castle

We drove less than 15 minutes to the pier where the boat left from and five minutes before departure time, we got on a very nice little electric boat with 5 other people, plus the sailor. We learned a lot from his explanations and were able to sail peacefully on the Tagus, enjoying a beautiful sunny day.

After almost half an hour of sightseeing, we docked at the Castelo islet and went to explore it. It was rebuilt in the 19th century, but it is believed that it already existed when the Christians arrived in 1129. The view from the top is beautiful and worth the climb!

We had 45 minutes to enjoy the castle and then we returned to the boat, which took us to the same departure pier.

Having lunch in Vila Nova de Barquinha

We were already hungry and went looking for an open restaurant in the village, but as they were organizing the town festival, the schedules were very confusing.

We found the Barquinha Corner open and with a free table, and there we went! What a strange, peculiar decoration…lol. I admit that I didn't like the vibe As soon as I entered, I found the service to be bad and after I went to the bathroom, I found the place to be quite dirty, but we were very surprised by the delicious food.

We ordered Indian Prawn Curry, Goan Prawn Curry and the picanha with rice, beans and farofa for the kids. We ate EVERYTHING!

We left satisfied and thought about killing time in the village waiting for the party that would start at 4 pm, but it was so hot that we couldn't even enjoy the playgrounds cool ones that were in the park. We had ice cream and went back to the car, and of course the kids slept…lol.

Medieval Festival in Constância

We returned to Constância and rested in the car until they woke up. When they woke up, we went to the medieval festival in our village and loved seeing people in costume, listening to music and eating traditional food and then throwing stones into the Zêzere River. They even managed to play on a playground that wasn't too hot until they had no energy left for anything.

We returned to the hotel and went to bed early.

Day 4 – Sunday (11/06/23)

Constância River Beach

We had our last breakfast very early and took advantage of the sun to enjoy the Constância River Beach. The bathing season hadn't started yet, but since it was a lovely day, off we went. We took our first dips in a Portuguese river and had a great time! The water was very cold and Paddy managed to get in up to his waist and Jubs only put his foot in, but Celo and I cooled off and were very proud.

We threw more rocks into the river with the slingshot we bought at the fair, played with the kids at building rock castles, called the grandparents and even made a reservation at a nice restaurant nearby. When we got tired, we went back to the hotel, took our showers and did the checkout super quiet.

Having lunch on a farm

We drove to the restaurant 16th Century Refectory, which was less than 10 minutes from the hotel, and we loved the choice! Although TripAdvisor said it was an expensive restaurant, we didn't think it was that much more expensive than the other two in Constância, but the atmosphere certainly seemed more refined.

We ordered soup for Ju, fish from the garden (delicious!!!), veal steaks, confit cod and chicken steak. Everything was very, very good!

We stretched our legs a bit in the farm's gardens and then drove to our last attraction of the trip, the famous Tropical Butterfly Garden of Constância. I called to schedule our visit on Thursday, but everything was almost fully booked, so we only managed to get in on Sunday afternoon. We would have liked to have gone to the Constância Living Science Center, but there were no more schedules for the holiday. Here's a tip!

Tropical Butterfly Garden of Constância

We parked the car outside the park where the butterfly house is located and shortly before the scheduled time, we woke the children up to go on the visit. tour It lasts up to 1 hour and the butterfly house is a kind of greenhouse with tropical plants and species. A guide always accompanies visitors and explains everything about the species and then we stay inside just enjoying the butterflies flying around us and seeing the caterpillars, cocoons, etc. The experience is really cool, but our case would have been much more pleasant if our firstborn hadn't been asking to leave so he could sleep more. It's impossible to always get it right with kids, right? lol

We left after about 40 minutes, stopped at the hotel to pick up the rest of Juju's antibiotics and drove with the kids awake to Cascais. We were nervous about this 1h30 drive with them awake, but it went by so quickly and we went so well that I'm starting to think that car trips to Spain and France are just around the corner...hahaha. Crazy? Nooo... I prefer optimism!