Arrival/Departure Airport?

joe williams said:

I'm hitting the Camino trail in late May/early June as soon as HS track season is over. Any advice on what airport to fly into/out of would be most appreciated. Thinking of flying into Paris and departing out of Madrid--and taking the train to/from those airports. Another option is returning via Lisbon as I've always wanted to see Portugal. Any veteran Camino experiences would be greatly appreciated. Coming from the States—prefer departing USA from DFW. Gracias!

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Hi, Joe,
Welcome to the forum. Flying into Paris and out of Madrid is a good plan, IMO. I always fly in and out of Madrid, but understand that many people like to get to SJPP from Paris rather than from Spain. If your thought about flying into Paris is just based on convenience, I think that getting to SJPP is about the same whether you come at from the Paris and the north or Madrid and the south. Madrid - Pamplona -SJPP is just not that complicated (especially if you are walking during the months that ALSA has its bus from Pamplona to SJPP), but some people don't like the idea of taking a bus and seeing essentially the same route that they are going to be walking on over the next few days.

And I would also throw out the suggestion that you investigate the cost of adding on a Madrid-Pamplona or Paris-Bayonne (??) (on the way into Spain/France) and a Santiago-Madrid segment on the way out. This kind of ticket (open jaw) can be priced out online using the "multi-city" option on many websites. Unless you affirmatively want to stay in Madrid for some visiting, it is so much easier to get on the plane at 9:15, arrive in Madrid an hour or so later, and get on a US-bound aircraft that same day. Otherwise you have to take a train or bus the day before, spend a night in Madrid, and get out to the airport the next morning. If you book it through on one ticket (Santiago-DFW) you don't have to worry about missed connections, because it will be their problem, not yours. That is not the case for people who for instance get a Ryan Air flight into Madrid in the morning of their US flight. If their Ryan Air flight is late and they miss the connection, tough luck. I met a woman this year in Barajas, not a pilgrim, but someone who had done just this -- she got a separate ticket to Madrid, missed her return trip to the US and had to purchase a new one way ticket home. It set her back more than $1500. She was not happy.

Since you'll be going from DFW, you can easily get American or Iberia into Spain, so that adding on the internal flights would keep your ticket within the same One World alliance system.

Buen camino, Laurie