There are a few things which first time visitors should know about in preparation for their initial trip to Fatima.  First, there are only two dates of the year when Fatima gets flooded with people and, depending upon the reason for heading to the area, travelers will either want to plan in advance to head there on those dates or will want to avoid travel at that time.  More information about the season for heading to Fatima is available at http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g18... .

Second, travelers heading to Fatima should be aware of the local history ( http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g18... ) and culture ( http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g18... there in order to make sure that they pay appropriate respect to the locals and other travelers in the area.  Most specifically travelers should know about such unusual customs there as bursting out in to fervent prayer and entering the city by crawling in on one’s knees.

That said, first time visitors should make it a point to bone up a bit on their information of the area and should spend their trip being observant of the unique culture of Fatima.   Travelers with religious beliefs may want to keep an eye out for sightings of the Virgin Mary and travelers without such beliefs will want to visit the major religious sites associated with those sightings in order to experience the history of the area.