Do you have any advice on getting to and from Spain?
G'day mate,
re transport - I would suggest: go to House of Travel (
http://www.hot.co.nz), book EMIRATES (
http://www.emirates.com) end of this year for beginning of next - a lot cheaper that way.
Fly EMIRATES Auckland - Dubai - Zurich, that will cost you approx. NZ$ 2,200 return.
Take train Zurich / Bale (german "Basel", short ride within Switzerland), get to Bale Airport by taxi or shuttle (
http://www.euroairport.com/DE/accueil.php).
Fly Bale - Lyon - Biarritz (
http://tinyurl.com/28pr3j), costs approx. € 230 = NZ$ 450.
Take Taxi to St Jean Pied de Port, ca. 60 km, costs unkown. There is a train as well, but for that you will have to get to Bayonne downtown first (train station) - hence the taxi.
I will do it almost exactly the same way in April 2008 - except I have two daughters living in Germany just across the swiss border, between Zurich and Bale airport, so I go by train straight from Zurich airport to Freiburg/Germany (1 hr) to cure my jetlag under the loving care of my lovely daughters (and with plenty of local red wine, I suppose). From here on I will proceed - well recuperated and thus as tough as nails - as above.
The alternative: fly Auckland - Madrid (no idea which airline), then up to Pamplona by train and on to Roncevalles by taxi or bus. I personally hold the viewn that Camino francès starts in St Jean Pied de Port, though - hence the word "francès". Makes it a bit more authenical, don't you think too? And it's ony a few klicks up the road.
Sorry, no idea at all about bicycles. I walk the Camino francès on my own. I go in May, reckon that's the best weather for my purpose. Not too hot, not too crowded yet.
Ultreia!