SJPP to Pamplona

[ForrestUS]

Hello,
I will be arriving in St Jean Pied de Port on May 9th and will be staying the night. Are you then need to get to Pamplona where I and having a bike delivered to begin my Camino Quest on the 12th.
My question is I'm looking for suggestions for a mode of transportation from St Jean to Pamplona without walking the entire way as my knees will not hold up ( that is the reason I'm biking the comedo instead of walking) although a short walk would be ideal if it can be included someway.
Thanks
Forrest

 

[naplesdon]

I did something similar last year. I walked from SJPdP to Pamplona and picked up a bike to continue on the Camino to SdC. I have nerve damage in my right foot and thought riding would help me deal with the pain, much to my surprise I found cycling considerably more taxing than walking. I gave up with the bike in Burgos, took a couple of rest days to see if I could continue and finally rented a car to return the bike to SdC and then I went to Porto and walked the Coastal CP.
If you walk for a couple of days fom SJPdP to Zubiri, there are 2 buses a day to Pamplona from there.

 

[mspath]

Have you considered hitching? No joke. From SJPdP find the D933, or the route to Arneguy, where there is a large shopping center close to the old border where trucks/cars often stop for gas. Ask in the resto for a ride. Cars going to Spain usually take N145 which goes through Valcarlos and Roncesvalles, and eventually down to Zubiri. At Zubiri start to walk again straight along the flat camino path which follows the river into Pamplona.

Good luck and Buen camino!

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

There is a bus line between Roncevalles and Pamplona stopping at many places:
http://www.autocaresartieda.com/?scc=roncesvalles
http://www.autocaresartieda.com/Pamplona_Roncesvalles_Pamplona.pdf

You can get an ALSA/CONDA bus from SJ to either Roncevalles or Pamplona but nowhere in-between.
http://tinyurl.com/2018-SJPdP-tourism-info

You could walk from SJ to Valcarlos and then get a 9 AM PLMautocares bus to Pamplona but nowhere in-between. See the tinyurl link above.

 

[Anamiri]

The distances aren't that great, you could always walk so far and get a taxi, I think its about 1 Euro per km.

 

[Kurt5280]

I would consider walking some of the Camino even with bad knees...maybe take a taxi to the Croix near the mountain pass and then hike over the mountains to Roncevaux and spend a night...otherwise Express Bourricot (www.expressbourricot.com) has a daily luggage delivery to Roncevaux that you could hire for a ride...but still consider spending a night in Roncenaux at least to participate in the Pilgrim Blessing...I did not feel like a real Pilgrim until I spent a night in Roncevaux away from the tourists and vacationers...then from Roncenaux there are taxis and buses to Pamplona.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

The OP, @ForrestUS, sent me a private message because for some reason this thread got locked for awhile. Here is my public reply to his questions.

The PLM Autocares bus that you were wondering about runs two days a week only, Tuesdays and Fridays (but not if a holiday.) Probably due to licensing issues it stops at three places only: Pamplona, Valcarlos and Arnéguy, Spain (or, using the Euskara (Basque) names, Iruña, Luzaide and Pekotxeta.)

The PLM homepage and Pamplona/Arnéguy schedule are at:
https://plmautocares.com/
https://plmautocares.com/Horarios_PLM.pdf

You could also walk to Valcarlos and then take a taxi to Roncevalles and then walk downhill towards Pamplona from there but some complain about what this does to their knees so you could instead take a cheap bus from Roncevalles to Zubiri. There isn't much tough from there to Pamplona.

The schedules for the other two bus lines good for pilgrims leaving from SJPdP are easier to understand on the pdf file found through this URL: https://tinyurl.com/2018-SJPdP-tourism-info

Ask the tourist office in SJPdP for things to do until walking to Valcarlos on Mondays or Thursdays.

I recommend you read this recent thread, it has links to maps, etc that will help you out at Valcarlos:
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/valcarlos-auberge.53511/

At the map linked below you can see the Valcarlos' church and pharmacy (pharmacies in spain have green cross signs hanging outside them, often lit with green LEDs doing patterns. I'm told pharmacies are good places to find English speakers.) Across the road from the pharmacy is a marked bus stop, probably the one you need at 9:15 AM to go to Pamplona (ask the day before at the pharmacy.) Just north of the playground symbol and across the street you can see a building. The albergue is there. Take an outside stairway along the east end of the building down to the northeast corner to get to it.
https://mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?ll=43.091603,-1.301745&z=18&t=m

If you have further questions feel free to ask.

 

[ForrestUS]

Thank you greatly for the detailed response to my request. Though I have some tough decisions to make they will not be based on a lack of options thanks to the information you have all provided

 

[ForrestUS]

How far is it from Croix to Roncesvalles

 

[Former member 49149]

Have you considered hitching? No joke. From SJPdP find the D933, or the route to Arneguy, where there is a large shopping center close to the old border where trucks/cars often stop for gas. Ask in the resto for a ride. Cars going to Spain usually take N145 which goes through Valcarlos and Roncesvalles, and eventually down to Zubiri. At Zubiri start to walk again straight along the flat camino path which follows the river into Pamplona.

Good luck and Buen camino!

Mspath, you never cease to amaze me! Your replies are invariably spot on, without extraneous information. I love this one! For the OP, I could also suggest blablacar, but yours is by far the more direct.

 

[ForrestUS]

Mspath, you never cease to amaze me! Your replies are invariably spot on, without extraneous information. I love this one! For the OP, I could also suggest blablacar, but yours is by far the more direct.

Sorry but I don't understand your response

 

[wayfarer]

Sorry but I don't understand your response

Blablacar is like Uber but more popular in France and Spain, and kirkie agrees with mspath that hitch hiking would also be a good and very direct method of travel.

 

[ForrestUS]

If you walk from valcarlos to Roncevalles are you walking over the mountain pass?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

If you walk from valcarlos to Roncevalles are you walking over the mountain pass?

Over "a" pass, but not the highest point of the Napolean Route. Valcarlos is the original route, since armies were not interested in a scenic route, but a direct route! The monument to Roldan (Roland) is just off the "highway."

 

[ForrestUS]

Would you say Croix is substantially more Scenic then valcarlos?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Would you say Croix is substantially more Scenic then valcarlos?

Not substantially, but it has more trees, so you need to turn around occasionally for the views.

 

[ForrestUS]

I would consider walking some of the Camino even with bad knees...maybe take a taxi to the Croix near the mountain pass and then hike over the mountains to Roncevaux and spend a night...otherwise Express Bourricot (www.expressbourricot.com) has a daily luggage delivery to Roncevaux that you could hire for a ride...but still consider spending a night in Roncenaux at least to participate in the Pilgrim Blessing...I did not feel like a real Pilgrim until I spent a night in Roncevaux away from the tourists and vacationers...then from Roncenaux there are taxis and buses to Pamplona.

Hello earlier in this thread you mentioned to me the pilgrim blessing would you know what time that is?

 

[Kurt5280]

Hello earlier in this thread you mentioned to me the pilgrim blessing would you know what time that is?

The Pilgrim Blessing was at the Colegiata de Roncesvalles cathedral...and the time on weekdays is 8:00 PM...and 6:00 PM or 7:00 PM on Saturday and Sunday...and in my opinion this is the best Pilgrim Mass except for the Pilgrim Mass in Santiago de Compostela...but check at the Tourist Office in Roncesvalles for the correct time of the Pilgrim Blessing when you arrive...or on the front door of the cathedral if you can read basic Spanish...Buen Camino.

"Roncesvalles is well known among pilgrims for the "Blessing of the pilgrim". It takes place, throughout the year at the end of the last Mass of the day. The Mass times in the Collegiate Church are, from Monday to Friday at 20.00 pm and on Saturdays and the days before bank holidays, at 18.00 hours (July to October, at 19.00 hours). On Sundays and bank holidays they celebrate Mass at 12.00 and 18.00 hours (from July to October at 19.00)."