Arriving into Ponferrada on 5am train...pilgrim passport??

[galwaygirl]

Hi again,

This time three weeks i'll be walking the Camino!! Went out on another long walk in my boots today and all's going well!

Just wondering where i can get my pilgrim passport stamped when i get into Ponferrada - i'll be getting the overnight train from Madrid an arriving in just before 5am! I'm hoping to begin walking that day - can anyone tell me around what time/where i could get my passport stamped or what time Ponferrada will be waking up/opening up for breakfast/coffee?

Thanks a million,
Aine

 

[oursonpolaire]

True experts on Ponferrada will likely be around shortly to give you solid information, but I have such positive recollections of Galway that I could not but answer a query from a Galwegian. First, not very many people in Spain are up at that hour-- but the station café will likely be open for coffee and perhaps a snack (breakfast, as it is known in Ireland, is not a Spanish practice). Otherwise, there may be a café open across from the station. Otherwise, you can make it to Camponarya (10km away) and cafés will be open by the time you get there.

In terms of getting a sello, or a stamp for your credential, at that hour, your usual suspects of the albergue, turismo or pilgrims' office will not be open, although a café or a police station will give you one at a pinch. The turismo by the Templar castle is almost certainly not open before 9, if not 10. By the satellite map, there appears to be a church on the station side of the nearby Plaza de los Portales and, if there is a morning Mass, the priest can usually be prevailed upon to give you a sello after (or even before) the service.

Walking at dawn and the early morning on the Camino is a delicious experience, and there cannot be a better way to start.

 

[sulu]

Walking at dawn and the early morning on the Camino is a delicious experience, and there cannot be a better way to start.

Unfortunately at 5am you still have a couple of hours till dawn so you will be walking in the dark. I suspect that the only thing likely to be open is the station bar.

 

[galwaygirl]

Thanks for your responses....and of course i'm delighted that Galway holds such fond memories!

I figured it'd be way too early arriving at that hour but c'est la vie! I think i'll probably have to wing it a little and see how things go, see if maybe there are other pelegrino's on the train with me and what they're doing, see if the station bar is open, curl up for a little rest and then start walking about 7ish. I'm not keen to start walking while it's still dark but i'm so looking forward to taking my very first steps on the camino at dawn that day!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

There are several early opening cafes on the Camino leaving Ponferrada on Avenida de Compostilla:

Avenida del Ferrocarril
24400 Ponferrada, Spain

1. Head northwest on Av del Ferrocarril toward Calle de la Batalla de Roncesvalles
Go through 1 roundabout
250 m
2. At the roundabout, take the 2nd exit onto Av de España
210 m
3. Slight left onto Av de Valdés
550 m
4. Turn left onto Av de Compostilla
170 m
5. Turn right onto Calle del Embalse de Bárcena
34 m
6. Turn left onto Av de Compostilla

Av de Compostilla, 50
24400 Ponferrada, Spain

 

[scruffy1]

One should never say disparaging words against the Camino however that walk out of Ponferrada is not, well, one may say, that this stretch cannot be remembered as one of the highlights. You may be better off walking out in the dark. That cafe in the station may have a sello any **+ hotel will have somebody at reception, a police station. Ponferrada has a lovely church and a small old quarter, the "Templar" Castle has been renovated far too much, and the modern part? It's just modern-nothing to write home about. The Camino through Ponferrada is well marked but for some reason the place is famous for lost souls wandering through a desert of furniture stores, car dealers, gas stations, and haberdashery shops. Keep a sharp eye out for those arrows and yes the Camino does go through the arch of a military looking building which was once a barracks.

S