sunshinemike
The lonely pilgrim
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Planning 1st Camino in September 2019 (may have to postpone until May 2020)
After two years of dreaming and planning I can no longer wait ......... so I've 'rolled the dice' and booked the ferry from Plymouth to Santander on 30th June 2021 for my first camino. I plan to start in Pamploma on 1st July heading to Santiago over the following 5 weeks. I think travel to Spain will be possible long before travel to France so will be missing the stages from SJPDP to Pamploma sadly. (I have a friend in Spain who thinks it is likely travel restrictions will be eased sometime during May to allow Spains hospitality industry to reopen - subject to vacinations and new mutations etc!)
One reason for making the booking somewhat prematurely is I have been following the ferry companies websites and almost all crossings are already fully booked for the whole of July. I needed to get a booking made quickly whilst I still could as it would be so frustrating for travel regulations to be relaxed only to find there was no way of getting to Spain (my thinking is I can always rearrange should travel not be permitted). Flying is an option but going through an airport is awful at the best of times - with extra covid related paperwork it will be a nightmare!
I have booked Hotel Pamploma Catedral for the first night but have a small problem. My ferry arrives in Santander at 13.15 and at the moment it is not possible to book trains/coaches anywhere in Spain. Does anyone know if, when Spain 'reopens' it would be possible to get to Pamploma from Santander before nightfall, or shoud I resort to renting a car??
Many thanks to you all for your postings over the past months. They have kept me sane during this difficult time. My planning of my trip being the one thing that has got me through lockdown. I hope to meet up with many of you during my journey. If you walk past a bar and see a middle-aged, balding Brit, looking lost, sat with a bottle of wine - come over say hello. It would be good to share it with you.
Good luck everyone - things will be back to normal very soon (I hope)
Mike
One reason for making the booking somewhat prematurely is I have been following the ferry companies websites and almost all crossings are already fully booked for the whole of July. I needed to get a booking made quickly whilst I still could as it would be so frustrating for travel regulations to be relaxed only to find there was no way of getting to Spain (my thinking is I can always rearrange should travel not be permitted). Flying is an option but going through an airport is awful at the best of times - with extra covid related paperwork it will be a nightmare!
I have booked Hotel Pamploma Catedral for the first night but have a small problem. My ferry arrives in Santander at 13.15 and at the moment it is not possible to book trains/coaches anywhere in Spain. Does anyone know if, when Spain 'reopens' it would be possible to get to Pamploma from Santander before nightfall, or shoud I resort to renting a car??
Many thanks to you all for your postings over the past months. They have kept me sane during this difficult time. My planning of my trip being the one thing that has got me through lockdown. I hope to meet up with many of you during my journey. If you walk past a bar and see a middle-aged, balding Brit, looking lost, sat with a bottle of wine - come over say hello. It would be good to share it with you.
Good luck everyone - things will be back to normal very soon (I hope)
Mike