Also make sure to visit our Camino de Santiago Forum

Rail

• Spain: the main rail company in Spain is RENFE (timetables/prices in English); FEVE runs narrow-gauge lines in northern Spain, along the coast from El Ferrol to Bilbao, and between León and Bilbao. A high-speed network is currently being built.
• France: the French railway company is the SNCF (UK site) - many main lines are now high-speed (TGV); local trains are called TER
• Italy: the Italian rail company is the Ferrovie dello Stato (FS)

Bus

• A Europe-wide network is run by Eurolines
• Spain: long-distance bus/coach travel is very popular in Spain, often being quicker than rail; many long-distance lines are run by ALSA, part of Britain's National Express, whose website uses the Movelia booking engine and includes services from other carriers
• France: there are no long-distance buses in France other than those run by Eurolines; you are supposed to use the train

Air

There's been a huge increase in low-cost air travel in Europe in recent years. Apart from price, a major advantage is they travel to many smaller, regional airports and not just the big city ones. The UK is the largest market, and leading carriers from the UK are Ryanair and easyJet. Spain now has Clickair and Vueling. Various websites attempt to keep up-to-date lists of who flies where (not an easy task): try WhichBudget.

For those coming from outside Europe, low-cost airlines are starting to operate flights from the US, Canada, and the Far East to the UK.