SIM cards and trains

[MCFearnley]

Good day all,
I am leaving from Montreal, Canada on 11th September to Madrid to start my Camino in Ponferrada. I will need a SIM card for my phone. Where can I get one? Are there places in Madrid airport where they sell them?

Trains to Ponferrada... Do I need to reserve my train ahead of time or can I simply purchase my ticket when I get to the station?

Return home... For my return home I will be flying out of Paris. Is it better that I go back to Madrid to catch a train to Paris or is it easily managed from Santiago?

Any other tips and tricks you may have would also be welcome.

I am looking forward to my pilgrimage, it will be my first.

MCF

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Getting back to Paris by train is a bit of a nightmare; look into flights, if not from Santiago from Vigo.

I would book my seat on the plane to get to Ponferada. Or bus. It will be a lot cheaper.

Past posts on the Forum indicate there is at least one shop that sells sim cards at the aiport, Crystal Media I think, bit will it be in the terminal you land at? Worth googling.

If not the Corte Ingles in Ponferrada will sell them.

You may want to consider simply adding a European plan with your current supplier. It's what I did last time after having all my minutes vanish with little use on a Sim card bought in Spain.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Last year I reserved seats on Renfe using their website. They did not accept credit cards but they did accept PayPal. It may have been just a U.S. thing. If you do not already have PayPal save yourself the hassle and buy your ticket in Spain.

 

[whariwharangi]

Renfe operates trains from Santiago to Irun/Hendaye. SNCF operates trains from Hendaye to Paris.

Renfe operates trains from Santiago to Barcelona. SNCF operates a very fast train from Barcelona to Paris.

Time of travel is about the same for both options. No real benefit to going to Madrid except if the schedule works out better. Note there are frequent and very fast trains from Madrid to Barcelona ... so its worth having a look at it.

There sometimes are flights to Paris from Santiago. There are flights from Santiago to London, Madrid, and Barcelona either of which from whence you can catch another to Paris.

 

[kayagee66]

I think you need to register your bank card and possibly yourself on the Renfe website. If you have an Apple device you can search Renfe on the App store and download the relevant Apps. buy your ticket and have it on your phone iPad. That's what I did when I travelled back. I seem to remember it taking me a while to get my head around it. I think their website has an English option.

 

[kayagee66]

The first picture is a screen shot from the Renfe app. Where it says blocked train, the train was not available due to a strike. The second picture is of a download ticket. When you buy a ticket online you get a reference number. You can type that number into a machine at the train station. Or get it from a person behind the ticket counter, that may only be possible on the day of travel.
View attachment 28722

 

[Bajaracer]

Crystal Media has stores in each terminal at Madrid airport and sells Vodafone and Orange SIM cards, I would choose the Vodafone tourist SIM card for €15, included 3GB of data and 60min of calls back to Canada.
https://movil.vodafone.es/static/microsites/touristspain/index.html