Best way to Get to Roncesvalles Without Entering France

[lizlane]

What is the best way to get to Roncesvalles NOT coming from SJPP? With the announcement of June 7th border relaxation, I finally after 8 LONG years of waiting, longing, hoping and dreaming, I have the money, the time and most importantly a dog-sitter/house-sitter lined up and ready to go. I'm happy to pay for PCR testing so I can finally make this pilgrimage. However for 8 years, my plan was to fly into Paris/Biarritz and then to SJPP. Now I have no clue. Is there a bus or a train I can take to Roncesvalles from Pamplona?

 

[Corned Beef]

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[Tincatinker]

Bus from Pamplona should not be a problem subject to services restarting. So flight to Madrid. Train to Pamplona & away you go

 

[TSchulen]

Bus from Pamplona should not be a problem subject to services restarting. So flight to Madrid. Train to Pamplona & away you go

Depending where you are starting, it may be cheaper and faster to fly to Pamplona. That was the case in 2018 - I flew from Boston to Munich to Pamplona, then Taxi to SJPdP (Long story, but had planned to take a bus). The cost of the extra flight was less than the train trip from Madrid, and much faster.

 

[trecile]

There is actually an entire subforum here about getting to/from the Camino.

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/forums/%F0%9F%A7%B3-traveling-transport-to-from-along-the-camino.19/

 

[lizlane]

There is actually an entire subforum here about getting to/from the Camino.

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/forums/%F0%9F%A7%B3-traveling-transport-to-from-along-the-camino.19/

Thanks trecile! I actually did search before I posted but it's been a couple of years since Ive been on the forum. It just got too painful but now there is hope!

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

A cut and paste from data I collected in 2018

@Kathar1na supplies more recent information in the next post. I'm striking out things in this post that no longer apply.

Pamplona to Roncevalles with Artieda coaches

The Pamplona to Roncevalles bus route is run by the Navarra regional carrier Autocares Artieda. Autocares Artieda (autocares means coaches) has local service to Roncevalles (local meaning that it makes many stops along the way, see appendix.) There is no service on Sundays or on holidays; otherwise the service is provided all year on Mondays through Saturdays. For the two months of July and August there is twice daily service to Roncevalles Monday through Saturday. Use these pages for official information on the Pamplona to Roncevalles route:

Webpage description of services (in Spanish): http://www.autocaresartieda.com/?scc=roncesvalles

Four page PDF with schedule (in Spanish): http://www.autocaresartieda.com/Pamplona_Roncesvalles_Pamplona.pdf

A portion of Artieda's 2018 Pamplona to Roncesvalles schedule is listed here (note: pay close attention to the Friday and Saturday times below; they are different from the other times):

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
January through June: 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 18:00 16:00
July through August (mornings): 10:00 10:00 10:00 10:00 10:00 10:00
July through August (evenings): 18:00 18:00 18:00 18:00 18:00 16:00
September through December: 15:00 15:00 15:00 15:00 18:00 16:00

Oddly, service from Roncesvalles to Pamplona is listed as only on Mondays and Saturdays. See the schedule provided by the webpages above if you are interested in that trip.

From their webpage (not everything there is translated here):

Autocares Artieda does not take reservations.

A ticket can only be gotten from the ticket office at the bus station.

The trip will take about one hour and 10 minutes.

The fare is slightly less than 5 euros.

There is an additional 6 euros fare for bicycles.

Artieda may limit the number of bicycles they take.

Ticket early.

The ticket booth will be open from 7:00 to 20:00 except for a break from about 15:00 to 15:30.

 

[Kathar1na]

Four page PDF with schedule (in Spanish): http://www.autocaresartieda.com/Pamplona_Roncesvalles_Pamplona.pdf

The link is dead. Here is the link to the timetable for the line Pamplona to Roncesvalles until 30 June 2021: https://www.autocaresartieda.com/pdf/roncesvalles.pdf

General information about price, ticket purchase and duration: https://www.autocaresartieda.com . Paste the text into Google Translate if you need a translation into English. The website says that you cannot book by internet or phone and that you buy the ticket from the bus driver on the day of travel and just before the departure.

@lizlane, I remember your posts from earlier and I am pleased to read that you are now so close to realising them. Things are changing rapidly, and for the better, in terms of availability and ease of travel. At the moment, there is only this one bus connection from Pamplona to Roncesvalles once a day and none on Sundays and public holidays. There may be more connections per day as of July, and the international ALSA bus connection from Pamplona to SJPP may be reinstated by then, too.

If you plan your trip until Pamplona (plane, bus, or train from Madrid airport - travelling on Spanish long-distance busses is quite comfortable), perhaps with a first night in Pamplona, you will still be flexible on the day to decide whether to start in Roncesvalles or SJPP if you want to; SJPP to Roncesvalles and vice versa is well served by taxis, it's a 30-minutes, 18-miles trip. If you have the time, start your walk to Santiago leisurely, don't hurry or stress to reach the starting point. Bon voyage and Buen Camino!

PS: There are currently only two ALSA buses from Madrid airport to Pamplona on 8 June for example, but again, the frequency could increase by the time you arrive in Spain.

 

[mspath]

Have you considered hitching? No joke.

From Pamplona either walk along the camino path which follows the Arga river into Zubiri or walk on the right side verges of the N135. . Or you might follow the paved bicycle/walking route from the Puente de La Magdalena near the cathedral to where it meets the N135 highway near Zabaldica At any junction with the highway N135 try hitching


Many logging trucks and suppliers vans take this route. At Zubiri follow the N145 which goes up to/through Roncesvalles and Valcarlos.

Good luck and Buen camino!

 

[Marbe2]

Not sure about your budget, but, I used this service from Pamplona Train Station in 2018. It was a taxi service recommended by Expressbourricot, a good transport to SJPdP from Biarritz, but doesn’t operate in Pamplona.

Here is the information. It was a flat 100 Euros for 1-2 people then. The driver was waiting at the train station and took us directly to our lodgings in SJPdP.
I do not know if they are in operation now, but if you are interested in quick , efficient, no hassle service (about 1 hr.) try contacting

Iván Ojugas Solsona
Paseo Santa Lucía 12
31012 Pamplona Spain
Phone:+3460683352

Mail: transporte.peregrinos@gmail.com
http://linkedin.com/in/iván-ojugas-93267a87

Normally, I would also recommend flying into Pamplona from USA, changing in MUC but given how Covid restrictions may change, flying directly to Spain might be less complicated!

We flew directly to MAD around 10am, taxi to Train, train to Pamplona, taxi to SJPdP by 4pm.
Good luck!

 

[Walking Lover]

What is the best way to get to Roncesvalles NOT coming from SJPP? With the announcement of June 7th border relaxation, I finally after 8 LONG years of waiting, longing, hoping and dreaming, I have the money, the time and most importantly a dog-sitter/house-sitter lined up and ready to go. I'm happy to pay for PCR testing so I can finally make this pilgrimage. However for 8 years, my plan was to fly into Paris/Biarritz and then to SJPP. Now I have no clue. Is there a bus or a train I can take to Roncesvalles from Pamplona?

Flight to Madrid, train to Pamplona, cab to Roncesvalles

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

If you are going to take a cab then why not take it to the French border at Arneguy (but still remaining in Spain) and walk to Roncesvalles from there? The camino does go through France until Valcarlos but you could walk the road instead until you get to Valcarlos and then pick up the yellow arrows from there. Then you can say you walked from France.

 

[mspath]

As Rick noted above,

Take a taxi to the
Arneguy Shopping Center

In the parking lot see this marker
Turn left
Follow path thru wood to road N 135 and walk up road to ValCarlos.