Bainbridge
New Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- May-June 2023
September-October 2024
Hello Pilgrims. My wife and I are doing our first Camino at age 70 with creaky knees and all. We have been mountain day hikers in the Cascades and Olympics in the state of Washington where we live.
We decided to plan the whole Camino and book lodging as we wanted to assure staying in private room vs. albergues due to our personal way of handling COVID risks (everyone has different risk tolerances). Also, we are taking 50 days with multiple rest days and short days. We are prepping ourselves physically. But, based on multiple considerations, there are still a few long days (e.g. 14 - 16 miles) with descents of concern. We figured we would be able to assess ourselves physically and could take taxis and buses if needed.
Example: we divided the first day in two and are staying at Auberge Borda. But the third day is Roncevalles to Zubiri with that steep descent. I am trying to figure out if taxis are available in towns along that part of the route way. I know there is bus service in Roncesvalles but we are departing there on a Sunday and they don't run that day!
On previous posts from others, one stated that you are never more than 1.5 miles from a road and can take taxis or buses. Another stated this is unrealistic--you can't count on how long a wait could be or if one will come by.
Caminofacil has a taxi service but it doesn't look like you can ask for a specific pick up time so that would place constraints particulary if we want to taxi for the beginning part of a day--would not want to start too late.
I have also looked online but it didn't look promising--the options appeared to be mostly boutique services for special, planned situations.
This is a spiritual journey for us along with a hunger for art, architecture, culture, etc. Given that here are some questions:
1. How available are taxis or buses in small towns along the way (e.g. in Roncesvalles or in Viskarret on the way to Zubiri)?
2. Is the following impression correct: My impression is that finding taxi or bus when needed depends on where you are and we might need to be careful if we anticipate the need and the route goes through mainly small towns or has large gaps between villages.
3. Have you any experience using taxi services with Caminofacil or other luggage transfer services?
4. Do you have any other advice?
Thanks for considering
Bainbridge
(Neil Baker)
We decided to plan the whole Camino and book lodging as we wanted to assure staying in private room vs. albergues due to our personal way of handling COVID risks (everyone has different risk tolerances). Also, we are taking 50 days with multiple rest days and short days. We are prepping ourselves physically. But, based on multiple considerations, there are still a few long days (e.g. 14 - 16 miles) with descents of concern. We figured we would be able to assess ourselves physically and could take taxis and buses if needed.
Example: we divided the first day in two and are staying at Auberge Borda. But the third day is Roncevalles to Zubiri with that steep descent. I am trying to figure out if taxis are available in towns along that part of the route way. I know there is bus service in Roncesvalles but we are departing there on a Sunday and they don't run that day!
On previous posts from others, one stated that you are never more than 1.5 miles from a road and can take taxis or buses. Another stated this is unrealistic--you can't count on how long a wait could be or if one will come by.
Caminofacil has a taxi service but it doesn't look like you can ask for a specific pick up time so that would place constraints particulary if we want to taxi for the beginning part of a day--would not want to start too late.
I have also looked online but it didn't look promising--the options appeared to be mostly boutique services for special, planned situations.
This is a spiritual journey for us along with a hunger for art, architecture, culture, etc. Given that here are some questions:
1. How available are taxis or buses in small towns along the way (e.g. in Roncesvalles or in Viskarret on the way to Zubiri)?
2. Is the following impression correct: My impression is that finding taxi or bus when needed depends on where you are and we might need to be careful if we anticipate the need and the route goes through mainly small towns or has large gaps between villages.
3. Have you any experience using taxi services with Caminofacil or other luggage transfer services?
4. Do you have any other advice?
Thanks for considering
Bainbridge
(Neil Baker)