Advice on transit: Lourdes to SJPP

[kaitchison]

Greetings! I'm going to be starting my the first installment of my camino journey this April, 2024. I'm planning to fly into Lourdes and spend 1 day there before making my way to SJPP. Would love to hear about anyone's experience doing this. Should I rent a car (which rental agency)? Easy train/bus access to Biaritzz? I'm only going to be on the Camino for 5-6 days, so I'd prefer to be as efficient as possible with my time.

Day 1: Arrive on red eye in Lourdes. Spend day site seeing, etc.
Day 2: Travel to SJPP. Begin Camino and stay in ______ ? (maybe 10 km)

or

Day 3: Begin Camino

A lot depends on that Lourdes - SJPP connection.

Appreciate any insights!!

 

[Tincatinker]

Start again with your planning.

Day in Lourdes? So two nights accommodation in Lourdes? Transit to St Jean? Not easy but possible depending on time of year and day of the week. Or pay for a taxi. Start walking from St Jean on day 3 or 4 and you only want to walk 10km? That won’t get you to Valcarlos or Orisson/Borda but a little more effort will. The next day will get you to Roncesvalles: and then? Where’s your exit airport? How are you going to get there?

 

[Tincatinker]

As a ps to my above: the train trip from Lourdes to Bayonne and thence St Jean is viable but will soak up a day. Five and a half hours of transit time on a good day.
You’ll likely arrive, depending on the time of year, with enough daylight to make Valcarlos or one of the Route Napoleon Albergue so Roncesvalles and beyond are within your timeframe but your exit strategy will need some careful thought. The obvious exit is Pamplona- Madrid but you’re not allowing enough time to walk to Pamplona

 

[Vacajoe]

Definitely rethink your plan. As it is, you’ll spend more time juggling travel plans and moving around than you would walking. Lourdes is truly moving, but not when you are just stopping by, jet lagged, and worried about car rentals and driving in a foreign country.

If you want to visit Lourdes, do that as your Camino - walk from Oloron or similar and end up in Lourdes. If you want to walk the CF, then walk that without the added stress of Lourdes, as it’s not easily reached and getting to SJPdP is even more difficult (a one way car rental with drop off in SJPdP sound pricey and difficult, if not impossible.

 

[Emma4679]

The train from Lourdes to SJPdP via Bayonne can take less than 3 hours, if you get the right connection and you can get a lot out of a single day in Lourdes if you plan ahead. It really just depends what you want from your experience. The train is pretty inexpensive and the station in Lourdes is an easy walk from the sanctuary. Others on here have significantly more Camino experience than I do but if you have questions about Lourdes, I've made at least one week-long pilgrimage every year since 2000 (with the exception of 2020...), so would be happy to help!

 

[kaitchison]

As a ps to my above: the train trip from Lourdes to Bayonne and thence St Jean is viable but will soak up a day. Five and a half hours of transit time on a good day.
You’ll likely arrive, depending on the time of year, with enough daylight to make Valcarlos or one of the Route Napoleon Albergue so Roncesvalles and beyond are within your timeframe but your exit strategy will need some careful thought. The obvious exit is Pamplona- Madrid but you’re not allowing enough time to walk to Pamplona

Yes! I'm planning to get to at least Pamplona (maybe a bit beyond), and then Pamplona->Madrid to fly home (I have a nephew studying in Madrid this semester). Appreciate the insights!

 

[kaitchison]

Definitely rethink your plan. As it is, you’ll spend more time juggling travel plans and moving around than you would walking. Lourdes is truly moving, but not when you are just stopping by, jet lagged, and worried about car rentals and driving in a foreign country.

If you want to visit Lourdes, do that as your Camino - walk from Oloron or similar and end up in Lourdes. If you want to walk the CF, then walk that without the added stress of Lourdes, as it’s not easily reached and getting to SJPdP is even more difficult (a one way car rental with drop off in SJPdP sound pricey and difficult, if not impossible.

Thank you! That has been my worry - that adding this will cause a bigger headache than it's worth. I considered the Aragones route - but I'm going to be by myself and speak zero French. I think I'll save that Camino for another time (although it sounds GORGEOUS!).

 

[kaitchison]

The train from Lourdes to SJPdP via Bayonne can take less than 3 hours, if you get the right connection and you can get a lot out of a single day in Lourdes if you plan ahead. It really just depends what you want from your experience. The train is pretty inexpensive and the station in Lourdes is an easy walk from the sanctuary. Others on here have significantly more Camino experience than I do but if you have questions about Lourdes, I've made at least one week-long pilgrimage every year since 2000 (with the exception of 2020...), so would be happy to help!

Thank you Emma! I really wanted to kick off my spiritual pilgrimage with a punch - so Lourdes seemed like it might be feasible. Maybe I'll save it for a future trip, and add some of the Aragones route to my time in France.

With your trips to Lourdes, which airport did you fly into?

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

This may not be too much help but for your exit strategy if you do make it to Roncevalles you can take the 9:20 AM bus to Pamplona for further connections. Alternatively from Roncevalles you could take the Alsa/Conda bus back to SJPdP (2024 schedule isn't posted yet but probably leaves around 13:00). Or taxi.

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Edit: Maybe add this recent thread to your watch list. It may give you some alternative Loudes walks.

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/trying-to-include-lourdes.84553/

 

[Emma4679]

Thank you Emma! I really wanted to kick off my spiritual pilgrimage with a punch - so Lourdes seemed like it might be feasible. Maybe I'll save it for a future trip, and add some of the Aragones route to my time in France.

With your trips to Lourdes, which airport did you fly into?

I usually fly to either Toulouse or Bordeaux and get the train or hire a car. I've flown straight into Lourdes a couple of times, too.

Toulouse or Bordeaux to Lourdes is really straightforward. Both airports have shuttle buses to the main train stations from where you can get direct trains to Lourdes. Both take somewhere in the region of 2 hours. Alternatively, you can hire a car but if it's a one-way hire, you will usually pay around 50 Euros in fees alone.

 

[Tincatinker]

Yes! I'm planning to get to at least Pamplona (maybe a bit beyond), and then Pamplona->Madrid to fly home (I have a nephew studying in Madrid this semester). Appreciate the insights!

St Jean to Pamplona is about 65km. Most walk it in 3 or 4 days depending on their own level of fitness and, of course, weather conditions.

I'm not clear on whether you have 5-6 days for walking or 5-6 days for your entire adventure. My itinerary (if I had such a thing) would be St Jean to Valcarlos: Valcarlos to Burguette (Hemmingway fetish); Burguette to Zubiri: Zubiri to Pamplona. At least a day in Pamplona provided I'm not coinciding with San Fermin

 

[kaitchison]

St Jean to Pamplona is about 65km. Most walk it in 3 or 4 days depending on their own level of fitness and, of course, weather conditions.

I'm not clear on whether you have 5-6 days for walking or 5-6 days for your entire adventure. My itinerary (if I had such a thing) would be St Jean to Valcarlos: Valcarlos to Burguette (Hemmingway fetish); Burguette to Zubiri: Zubiri to Pamplona. At least a day in Pamplona provided I'm not coinciding with San Fermin

I should've been more clear in my original post. whoops! About 10-11 days total for the entire adventure.

I think I've ruled out Lourdes. Now looking at flying into Bilbao or Biarritz, and starting at SJPP. I'll have 6-7 days of walking before heading to Madrid.