Bus Transportation Between Towns on Camino Frances?

[Padraig O'Sheridan]

My wife and I will be doing our pilgrimage starting in August 2014. My wife has issues with her legs and may not be able to complete sections of the camino. We are starting in Pamplona and hope to make it to Santiago in 40 days. Is there a bus that makes regular stops along the Camino Frances? Are there bus stations in virtually all villages and towns? You guidance is much appreciated.

 

[mspath]

Scan this earlier useful post by whariwarangi which includes buses on the Camino Frances

 

[scruffy1]

See Doing the Camino by bus and taxi
sillydoll, May 31, 2014
further down this section, after an unfortunate injury is attempting public transportation to finish and for more info send her a private conversation, she loves to exchange ideas and information

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Five buses most days follow this route to get you across Navarra to Logrono. Many of the stops are on the Camino. You can see all bus transportation out of Pamplona at this website.

http://www.autobusesdenavarra.com/s...&chk_X=on&chk_J=on&chk_V=on&chk_S=on&chk_D=on




You can do similar searches for "autobus" and key cities for more bus listings than you will find just on the ALSA website. I think ALSA has less than 25% of the actual bus routes that run in Spain. It takes a bit of research!!

When actually on the Camino, you can check for bus service with the hospitalero. If you arrived on a bus, you probably can leave on a bus, but you may not be able to get to every village along the way. Your wife may have to take a bus to a town a day or two ahead of you and wait. Taxis can get you anywhere. They cost about 1E per kilometer. A bus may take you 20km for 2E!!!

 

[whariwharangi]

My wife and I will be doing our pilgrimage starting in August 2014. My wife has issues with her legs and may not be able to complete sections of the camino. We are starting in Pamplona and hope to make it to Santiago in 40 days. Is there a bus that makes regular stops along the Camino Frances? Are there bus stations in virtually all villages and towns? You guidance is much appreciated.

Generally speaking, almost every village has bus service. The caveat is that a lot of the more remote villages have bus service once per week.

Larger centers are transportation hubs. It is likely that getting to the next village involves backtracking to a transportation hub, using train or bus, then going onward to the next hub and then backtracking to the destination. It requires some knowledge of geography as some hubs, such as Lugo and Palencia, are not on the camino route.

Example is Rabanal. It requires using the 3 times weekly bus to Astorga, then travel to Ponferrada, then backtrack to Molinaseca, the logical stage of walking from Rabanal. I've found the bus company for Rabanal to Astorga along with a phone number, but no schedule other than information posted on this forum (yet).

Pamplona to Logrono has service provided by Estellesa.

Logrono to Burgos has service provided by Autobuses Jiminez.

Castilla Y Leon has the lowest population density in Spain and transportation service is correspondingly sparce. ALSA provides service to many (but not all) of the towns from Burgos to Ponferrada. Many of the villages don't have service.

Most of the villages from O' Cebreiro to Santiago have once a day service by a local bus company. The bus company usually doesn't have a website. Look to the Concello or Ayuntamiento pages for each village, usually the bus schedule is listed.

 

[Felipe]

Burgos to Leon (buses tend to go along the Autovía del Camino de Santiago, and Sarriá to Compostela, may be difficult. You may consider adjusting *your* way to villages with bus services (there is not a rule about which way you should go, really, although most pilgrims obviously prefer the signposted way).
I think it would be better to ask every day to local people or hospitaleros; some things are better solved on the spot.
On the other side, I don' t know if your wife can ride a bycicle. May be an option for both of you.

 

[OTH86]

If you need to go 10 - 20 miles, you can also find taxis in many towns. not terribly expensive, and worth it when one has "gimpy" legs, knees, feet! and it's a whole other sort of experience travelling with taxi drivers!! One of the taxi drivers I rode with spoke some French, and since I speak French but not too much Spanish, we had a grand time!
Buen Camino!!
Terry

 

[Tia Valeria]

Sillydoll has also written about her recent camino by bus and taxi on her blog which is 'Amawalker'
I think you will find it helpful as well as the posts that scruffy mentions.

 

[Jeffrey]

we took a few taxis and two busses due to some health issues. Check with where you're staying and expect, as stated earlier, that some of the smaller towns won't have service. I chose to stay with my wife when she took transit but met more than a few who had people waiting for them ahead. Just remember, if she is going ahead she will need your credentials if she is going to book you a room when she arrives and waits for you.
Buen Camino.