getting from Madrid to SJPdP

[Barbara Applegate]

I'm arriving in Madrid on April 26.
I will take the train from Madrid to Pamplona. Where do I find the bus station in Pamplona? Can I walk there from the train station?
Once I get on the bus to Roncesvalles, where do I find the minibus taxis to SJPdP?
And, can I do all this in one day (arriving before dark so I can find lodging in SJPdP)?
Thanks for any helpful information that comes my way!
Barbara

 

[Arn]

Barbara,

You've asked a lot of questions but the last one is the most worrisome.

May I suggest that you consider taking a cab from the Pamplona Train station to the albergue in Pamplona (they know them all). This will give you a breather and an opportunity to sort yourself out, get an early start to SJPDP (takes about 2 hrs), check-in at the Pilgrims office, get a room for the evening and up you go the next morning on your Camino.

I'm sure others will answer the remainder of your questions.

Buen Camino

Arn

 

[Barbara Applegate]

Hello Arn,
Your suggestion is so wise....and I am following it! Thank you so much.
Barbara

 

[kansas098@aol.com]

I am arriving in Madrid at 7:35am on the 19th of May. Planning on taking a train to Pamplona arriving at 14h00. From there I was planning on taking Express Bourricot to Saint Jean but that price is 84 euro. Seems high to me.
Can anyone suggest any other options? Thanks for any help.

 

[Barbara Applegate]

I´ve waited 4 days for my luggage in Madrid...but am taking the train to Pamplona today...what a relief to finally get started!

 

[grayland]

:shock: "...waited 4 days for luggage"... :shock:

Most people do not have the extra 4 days to wait before starting and that would make it impossible to complete the planned Camino... :shock:

This is why many of us strongly advise carry on only of your pack and Camino items.

 

[kuannner]

we too have had traveling difficulties, but we didn't even make it to madrid. our flight out of washington dc was delayed, and then a flight attendant accidentally opened an emergency exit because one of the safety pins was missing, and the slide deployed. this delayed us even further, and half the plane ended up getting kicked off because of legal safety reasons (the exit was considered unusable in the event of an emergency) to be put on flights arriving 1-3 days later. and so my question:

our flight gets in to madrid at 2pm on friday. we still desperately want to start our camino at st. jean pied de port, but starting at pamplona is beginning to sound like the reasonable option (we also want to continue on to finisterre, and we were pressed for time as it was). BUT would it be possible for us to catch the 3:05pm train from madrid to pamplona (we have no checked baggage) and somehow get to sjpdp in time to walk the next day? we're on a very low budget and have already used up some of our allocated travel funds with ticket and hostel cancellations, and unfortunately the fastest transportation is often the most expensive.

i just want to walk across spain for a month, why won't they let us?!