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Not sure whether there's a more recent thread on the Pamplona-St Jean bus route, but I got an alert due to my previous involvement on this thread, so I was curious to check it out for myself! As you say, an Alsa search comes up blank. It could be that it's just not feasible to run this route at...
I think it very much depends on the regional operators/bus companies. If you look at the reviews, passengers seem to have better experiences in certain parts of Europe as opposed to others. I think the problem with Flixbus in Europe is the sheer number of operators and countries involved...
In case anyone is interested: Flixbus are actually a tech platform rather than a bus company. It was started by some IT guys in Germany. A bit like platforms like Uber, they don't categorise their drivers as "employees". What happens is that they approach small local/regional operators, and...
Just be careful with Flixbus, especially for long-distance journeys (I think they're better for shorter trips). They have a reputation for lateness and poor customer service. I've travelled with them a few times, and two of those journeys were appalling (the first time, travelling from France to...
It is very weird indeed. 🤔 By the way, out of curiosity I checked out the 'multi-city' option: it actually isn't as expensive as I thought, to fly Jhb-Biarritz, and then return Madrid-Jhb, comes to about R12,000 (although, annoyingly, this is only coming up on the AirFrance site, not KLM...)
Seems we were looking at the same option - Air France and KLM have merged! However I find the KLM website much easier to navigate, and the KLM customer service team seem easier to communicate with in general (based on my own personal experience).
Hi Jill, KLM are doing return flights Jhb-Madrid (via Paris) in June/July for as little R7,895. I know you usually like arriving/departing at airports closer to your start and end points, you can play around with multi-destination booking on the website (or contact a travel agent in SA?). In any...
Either:
Train to Pamplona (9 hours) + bus to SJPP (1h45)
Or:
Plane to Bilbao (1 hour direct with Iberia) + bus to Pamplona (2 hours) + bus to SJPP (1h45)
[Or, to complicate things further, you could go Bilbao-Bayonne-SJPP].
FYI: bus departure times might not always coincide very conveniently...
"If you hold a British Citizen passport, you don’t need a visa to enter Spain." (https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/spain/entry-requirements)
Your husband should be fine just showing his passport+ visa to the border authorities on arrival in Spain. However it is recommended that he bring...
Alsa bus does the journey from Pamplona to Saint Jean Pied de Port daily (during the summer) at 10:00, 12:00, 14:30, and 17:30. You should book a ticket in advance, as August will be really busy.
Your best option from Madrid to Pamplona is the bus that leaves from outside the airport Terminal 4...
Ooo, how exciting! :D
I've never had a problem using an "old" credential on a new camino - and I doubt you'll need to show it to anyone before SJPP (except possibly the communal gite in Helette). This camino path is a bit off the beaten track, and I imagine there are very few pilgrims outside...
Ustaritz is only 14km away, so it seems many continue to Cambo on the first day (although Walden might consider walking to Ustaritz right after landing - looking at the map, the path isn't too far from the airport!)
Seems there's a couple of "trail angels" in Ustaritz who would pick you up from...
There are trains from Biarritz to Irun/Hendaye every hour; only take around 25 minutes. From Irun you'll find a lot of transport options to Pamplona - even if you get in the next day, the trip only takes 1h20 from Irun, so you can start walking early!
Sorry, should have asked - is your friend arriving at San Sebastian Airport??
In this case, he/she should just catch the bus from the airport directly to Hendaye - the San Sebastian airport is not actually IN San Sebastian, it's in Irun very close to the French border! (see screenshot)
If your friend wants to get to Biarritz asap, best option would be the Euskotren to Hendaye/Hendaia. Trains leave every half hour (timetable here - San Sebastian is "Donostia" in Basque). From Hendaye you catch an SNCF train to Biarritz, trains every hour. For both trains, just buy the ticket at...
Asturias airport is a tiny airport that only has direct flights to/from a handful of Spanish destinations.
You could try the following options:
Ryanair, London Stansted - Santander (the bus to Oviedo takes 2-3 hours)
Easyjet, Bristol - Bilbao (the bus to Oviedo takes 3-4 hours)
Good luck!
Oh, sorry I thought you meant length of the journey in total! As for my "research"... this forum is really bad (or good?) at enabling a chronic camino planning addiction ;)
Hmm. I'm not sure about the bus being quicker - I checked with Alsa and PLM and the journey to Pamplona comes up as 6 hours, as opposed to 3 hours on the train. Also, there weren't any buses arriving in Pamplona in time for the final connection to SJPdP at 14:30pm. (Maybe I missed something?) In...
No problem! Just to add, I'd also recommend booking the Pamplona-SJPdP bus with Alsa in advance: when I was checking times, it told me that "x number of people are also looking at this ticket right now" - which I know is probably just a sales technique, but I suspect lots of people will be...
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