Hello
@cathyg!
I am also thinking about starting in Roncevalles and decided just to fly directly to Pamplona and take the bus from there. There is a daily bus, Línea Roncesvalles, that is used by a lot of Spanish pilgrims since the traditional start for them of the Camino Francés is Roncesvalles.
Here's
a link with the most current information about the bus. I don't know if you know Spanish or not, but it says it leaves from the main station in Pamplona ((Calle (Street) Yanguas y Miranda, 2). It costs 5.45 Euros, and you just buy your ticket on the day from the driver. You cannot buy in advance, but since it's a bus used by locals and pilgrims, I would assume they have enough spaces on the day.
If you click on the button on the far right that says
HORARIOS 2024, it will also give you the schedule. From now, until the end of June it leaves Pamplona at 1:30 PM and arrives in Roncesvalles at 2:40 PM. I imagine September will be similar, but you can check back and click on the button again to see if the schedule changes. I'm sure it's also easy to pay a taxi to take you to Roncesvalles, too, but I love taking public transportation when I can and this looks very straightforward and easy.
I'm not sure where you are flying from, but, just so you know, I did some research, and it was not much more money to fly directly from the East Coast of USA to Pamplona via Madrid than it was to fly to Madrid, get to the train station, and take the train to Pamplona. Obviously, it also saves time if you're flying in from another country since you'll be at the airport anyway.
I wish you good luck and Buen Camino!