bus to O Cebreiro

[papajohn]

Hola,
My wife and I are flying into SdC and will begin our camino in O Cebreiro.
First question. Can we catch the ALSA bus which goes from Santiago to Piedrafita at the airport, or will we need to go to the autobus station in Santiago?
Second question. Is the way from Pedrafita to O Cebriero walkable or is cab transportation available?
Thanks Ivar for a wonderful site and all that you do for all the pilgrims.
John

 

[ivar]

Can we catch the ALSA bus which goes from Santiago to Piedrafita at the airport

I think you have to go into Santiago and the busstation. I know that some busses to Lugo passes by the airport and some to La Coruna, but most likely yo would need to go the busstation in town.

Buen camino,
Ivar

 

[wulf]

There are only three useful buses running daily from Santiago to Piedrafita - 8am, 9am and 10am from the bus station (there are later ones but they don't reach the destination until midnight - probably not practical!). Check http://www.alsa.es/ for details of times and prices.

Piedrafita - O'Cebreiro is a relatively straightforward walk. If you're going to walk the camino then it shouldn't be a problem (and, presuming you're stopping at O'Cebreiro and picking things up the next morning) is a good warm up.

When I did the camino last year, we walked up following the road - I was wondering if there is somewhere to pick up the camino proper at the bottom of the hill and follow that up instead? My brother and I are arriving in Santiago on Friday and catching the bus to Piedrafita on the Saturday morning. We're meeting friends at O'Cebreiro but I'd love to be able to take a more scenic route up!

Wulf

 

[Peter Robins]

I was wondering if there is somewhere to pick up the camino proper at the bottom of the hill and follow that up instead?

of course. Just get off the bus further along where the Camino leaves the main road: Vega, Ruitelan, San Julian . . .

 

[wulf]

Does it drop off at more than one point in Piedrafita? Last year, I was worried about missing the stop altogether, so as soon as it turned up we jumped off the bus. Is there somewhere online that has a reasonably detailed map of the area?

Wulf

 

[Ann Davidson]

There is a taxi service from Piedrafita up to O Cebreiro if you don't want to walk 5KM uphill to start the camino.

 

[Peter Robins]

Does it drop off at more than one point in Piedrafita?

AFAIK, it'll stop whereever you like

Is there somewhere online that has a reasonably detailed map of the area?

'no' is probably the simple answer to that. Michelin is the best I'm aware of, or see http://www.pueblos-espana.org/galicia/lugo/o+cebreiro/