Bilbao - SJPP on a Sunday night!

[Bristol_Pete]

Hi everyone,
I've really enjoyed reading all of the great advice on the forum! I think I've managed to come up with a plan to get from Bilbao to SJPP on a Sunday night but I just wanted to check if anyone has any local advice. Thanks! Our flights get into Bilbao on Sunday 10 May at 17.30. There's an ALSA bus from Bilbao to Irun 18.30 - 20.10 but this is too late to get the connecting train to Bayonne (last train from Hendaye to Bayonne is 19.44) so I was thinking of getting the bus to Irun then getting a taxi from Hendaye to Bayonne and then catching the last train from Bayonne to SJPP 21.10 - 22.28. Does anyone know how much a taxi from Hendaye to Bayonne would cost? And how to book the taxi? The other bits of the journey seem straightforward but we only have an hour from the bus arriving in Irun to the train leaving Bayonne so I want to make sure of the taxi!
Or if anyone has any better ideas on how to get there (via Pamplona maybe?) please let me know. I'm not asking for a compete travel advice service(!) I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything!
Thanks for your help
Pete

 

[Bristol_Pete]

Ps it goes without saying that if anyone else is thinking about a similar journey and would like to share then we'd love to hear from you!

 

[whariwharangi]

I would reassess your time appreciation were I you.

Assuming you arrive on time (a risky assumption), it will take at least a half hour to deplane.

The Bizkaia bus leaves airport at 1745 arr Termibus 1815 (you won't catch this one) and 1815 arr 1845 ... too late to catch the 1830 bus. Even if you got lucky and deplaned in 15 minutes and then caught a taxi to Termibus, I doubt you'd make it on time.

You could then catch 1900 bus to San Sebastian arr 2015 or if you want to go further there is 2025 bus arr 2115 at Hendaye.

You might find Renfe Cercanias from San Sebastain to Irun that late.

Last time I used RometoRio it was indicating taxi cost of 90 Euro from Biarritz Airport to Irun. Thats a rough order magnitude cost.

Si yo fuera tu ...I would find a place to stay at either San Sebastian or Irun/Hendaye.

Bilbao termibus
http://www.termibus.es/index.php?idi=es

You might try Express Bourricot, a private hire taxi.
http://www.expressbourricot.com/

 

[Bristol_Pete]

Thanks for your reply whariwharangi. Yes I realise that it's pretty tight! If we had more time I'd stay in SS for the night (and enjoy the pintxos!) but would really like to get to SJPP on the Sunday if possible and this looks like our only option. We don't have any luggage to collect so (if the flight arrives on time) we just need to jump in a taxi to Termibus. Fingers crossed! Thanks for the bus/ taxi links - that's very helpful

 

[whariwharangi]

Thanks for your reply whariwharangi. Yes I realise that it's pretty tight! If we had more time I'd stay in SS for the night (and enjoy the pintxos!) but would really like to get to SJPP on the Sunday if possible and this looks like our only option. We don't have any luggage to collect so (if the flight arrives on time) we just need to jump in a taxi to Termibus. Fingers crossed! Thanks for the bus/ taxi links - that's very helpful

I hate to be an aguafiesta, but I don't think your plan is viable. However, far be it from me to discourage you from trying. Good luck, and make sure you have a viable Plan B.

 

[Castilian]

If I'm not wrong, Alsa has a bus on Sundays departing downtown Bilbao at 19:00 and arriving at Bayonne at 21:00 (take a look at their international schedules to confirm). I don't think you could arrive to the last train in just 10 minutes (although, of course, you might try it) but you could spend the night in Bayonne and take the first train (or bus) out to SJPP next day...

 

[naplesdon]

If I'm not wrong, Alsa has a bus on Sundays departing downtown Bilbao at 19:00 and arriving at Bayonne at 21:00 (take a look at their international schedules to confirm). I don't think you could arrive to the last train in just 10 minutes (although, of course, you might try it) but you could spend the night in Bayonne and take the first train (or bus) out to SJPP next day...

A friend of mine took that same bus from Bilbao last week and it arrived early, but Castilian is correct you'd have to jog at a very quick pace to get from Place de Basque to the train station. Look northeast toward the Rive Adour and make a fast turn right and run past the Maire, then across the bridge and you will see the station is right in your view. Lots of hotels around the station.

 

[whariwharangi]

A friend of mine took that same bus from Bilbao last week and it arrived early, but Castilian is correct you'd have to jog at a very quick pace to get from Place de Basque to the train station. Look northeast toward the Rive Adour and make a fast turn right and run past the Maire, then across the bridge and you will see the station is right in your view. Lots of hotels around the station.

Where does the ALSA bus unload in Bayonne? As near as I can determine it stops at the train station.

 

[naplesdon]

I think the only buses that stop at the train station are Transport64 and some other service headed north to Cap Breton, etc. The main bus stop is at Place de Basque next to the tourist office. It is on the west side of the urban area and just a minutes walk from the main center of town. This is anecdotal because I don't take the bus there, but I do use PESA from Biarritz and have seen their buses sitting outside the tourist office across town waiting for passengers.

 

[Castilian]

Where does the ALSA bus unload in Bayonne? As near as I can determine it stops at the train station.

If you go to the Alsa web, look for the schedule of a bus trip ending in Bayonne and click on "show map" next to Bayonne (Bayona in Spanish), you'll see the name of the stop (Gare SNCF. Arrêt STAB) and a map with the location (showing it next to the Mairie) what make sense with the address provided by this local web of Bayonne for the Espace bus de la STAB:

http://www.bayonne.fr/vie-quotidien...ne-practique/32011-espace-bus-de-la-stab.html

On the other hand, Eurolines (Alsa is part of Eurolines) says, if I'm reading it rightly, that the stop is in front the Gare SNCF (i.e.: in front the train station):

http://www.eurolines.fr/fr/voyage-en-car/points-arret/points-arrets-france

So if it doesn't show up someone with personal experience, I'm afraid we won't be able to provide a definitive answer to your question.

 

[whariwharangi]

If you go to the Alsa web, look for the schedule of a bus trip ending in Bayonne and click on "show map" next to Bayonne (Bayona in Spanish), you'll see the name of the stop (Gare SNCF. Arrêt STAB) and a map with the location (showing it next to the Mairie) what make sense with the address provided by this local web of Bayonne for the Espace bus de la STAB:

http://www.bayonne.fr/vie-quotidien...ne-practique/32011-espace-bus-de-la-stab.html

On the other hand, Eurolines (Alsa is part of Eurolines) says, if I'm reading it rightly, that the stop is in front the Gare SNCF (i.e.: in front the train station):

http://www.eurolines.fr/fr/voyage-en-car/points-arret/points-arrets-france

So if it doesn't show up someone with personal experience, I'm afraid we won't be able to provide a definitive answer to your question.

It gets even more confusing if you try to research a trip from San Sebastian. The drop down list gives two destinations; Bayona and Bayona Tgv ... which apparently is located near Brooklyn Pest Control. Its one of the reasons for which I recommend any other service provider before ALSA when it comes to cross border travel.

 

[Bristol_Pete]

Thanks for all the info - especially about the 19.00 bus to Bayonne - I hadn't looked on the international section on the ALSA website but that looks like the perfect bus for us! It says on our booking that the bus stops at the SNCF station in Bayonne so if it's on time we might just make the 21.10 train but even if we don't we'll be a lot closer to SJPP that we would have otherwise! I'm guessing the only other way to get from Bayonne to SJPP on a Sunday night is by taxi?