Flying into Madrid

[tpatnode]

Hello,

My name is Tony Patnode, and my girlfriend is Margherita Scott. This will be our first Camino walk. We’re flying from Munich into Madrid in late April. We want to start a town or two before Sarria. Any suggestions that would be an easy train / bus ride from Madrid?

 

[Marbe2]

Welcome! Hi, Tony. Personally I hope you don’t mind my saying that I would not use my real last name on-line?

Unfortunately, it is not a difficult connection but a bit slow going to get to Sarria. A lot depends upon when you arrive in Madrid. if you haven’t booked your flghts yet consider a connecting flight to Sarria, ideally from Germany. But there are inexpensive flights from MAD to Sarria. If you puchase a separate ticket you need to make sure you have sufficient time as the flights might not be connecting flights.

There are buses and trains that will get you to Sarria. Check out Rome2rio.com
It will provide you with schedules.

Check out starting in 0’Cebreiro. You can get a bus from Sarria. Again see Rome2Rio for connections. Walking from o’Cebreiro to SdC offers two scenic walks.
Buen Camino

 

[Anniesantiago]

Hello,

My name is Tony Patnode, and my girlfriend is Margherita Scott. This will be our first Camino walk. We’re flying from Munich into Madrid in late April. We want to start a town or two before Sarria. Any suggestions that would be an easy train / bus ride from Madrid?

A better option, if you're walking from Sarria, is to simply fly in and out of Santiago or Vigo.
From Santiago, it's easy to get to Sarria - as well as from Vigo, which some folks say is less expensive.

 

[J Willhaus]

You can get there in as little as 3 1/2 hours by train from the Madrid Charmartin station. There is Renfe Station in the lowest floor of the T4 terminal and you can take a Cercanias train directly to Charmartin. You make a change in Ourense to get to Sarria. Just another consideration...

 

[naplesdon]

Astorga is six stages before Sarria, it has good rail service and frequent buses from Madrid. It would allow you to see Astorga, visit the Cruz de Ferro and climb to the highest point on the Camino. It is beautiful section of the Camino before entering into Galicia.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

A better option, if you're walking from Sarria, is to simply fly in and out of Santiago or Vigo.

If you bus to Sarria from Santiago you have to make a connection in Lugo. You can also qualify for a compostela walking from there and you will avoid crowding on the Francés for a couple of days before your walk joins it for the stretch into SdC.

This doesn't help you with the two days before part but you could walk to Finisterre from SdC afterwards. I guess most people take three days for this. You can also continue to Muxia from there or walk to Muxia instead of Finisterre but transportation from Finisterre is more plentiful and I'm guessing you only have limited time to walk.

Buen camino (whatever your route).

 

[tpatnode]

You can get there in as little as 3 1/2 hours by train from the Madrid Charmartin station. There is Renfe Station in the lowest floor of the T4 terminal and you can take a Cercanias train directly to Charmartin. You make a change in Ourense to get to Sarria. Just another consideration...

It now appears that we are flying into Madrid, train to Ponferrada, walk to Santiago, then train back to Madrid. Does that seem doable in 14 days?

 

[trecile]

It now appears that we are flying into Madrid, train to Ponferrada, walk to Santiago, then train back to Madrid. Does that seem doable in 14 days?

If you follow the stages on Gronze.com, just barely with no time to spare. And no extra days in Santiago, which might be necessary to have if you want to receive a Compostela. If you start from Ponferrada, Villafranca del Bierzo or O Cebreiro you should have enough time to walk without rushing.

 

[J Willhaus]

You can also take the bus to Ponferrada.

 

[tpatnode]

You can also take the bus to Ponferrada.

Haven’t purchased tickets from Munich to Madrid yet, or train tickets from Madrid to Ponferrada. We are leaning toward April 25th, if we can’t make connections work, we may need to spend the night in Madrid, then train to Ponferrada the morning of the 26th.

We will only have our backpacks with us as a carry on. I haven’t flown much since 2017, so I’m not current with TSA regulations. Will I be able to carry my pocket rocket isobutane stove, (stove only, no fuel canisters), and plastic utensils as a carry on? We have a Bialetti espresso pot and would like to make an espresso along the way.

Any other things that aren’t allowed as carry on? Hiking poles? Corkscrew?

Thank you for any feedback on this topic.

 

[J Willhaus]

I would not risk hiking poles in a carry on. I don't think they would take your stove or coffee pot. We check poles and our pocket knife corkscrew or just buy new ones when we arrive and donate them at the end. Shouldn't be a problem on the bus or train in Spain. I don't know Germany's rules, but Spain flight security is strict on hiking poles. You will read in this forum of people who did and didn't get them confiscated, but if they are expensive or meaningful to you, You may not want to risk having them confiscated.