Closest Airport to Logrono

[Colleen]

Many thanks for the response to my sleeping bag question. My daughter Kate will be joining me approximately 7 days into the walk for two weeks. If all goes well I hope to be in Najera or Logrono. Kate will be flying out of London and is not sure which is the closest airport and from there how to reach either Logrono or Najera. Can anyboy please assist with this info.
Thank you
Colleen

 

[Kerryman]

Colleen:
The nearest airport for Logrono or Najera is Bilbao.

If you arrive there, you can take a public bus(I think it´s called 'Airbus') into Bilbao town centre, just a few steps from there to the bus station, or you can take a taxi straight to the bus central station -Termibus- if you are pressed for time.
There is a long distance bus from Bilbao Termibus to Logrono at least three times a day, takes about 1.5 hrs max. I am sorry I forgot which bus line company that is, you will find it no problem through googling.
Once in Logrono (central bus station there as well), you can hop on the next regional bus westwards towards direction Burgos, there is one leaving Logrono at least every two hours. It`s about 0.5 hours to Najera from Logrono by bus.
By the way, that latter regional bus line follows the camino very closely, so you or your daughter could also use it to meet in another place than Najera, or you can use it if you should run into a health problem and cannot walk on.

Buen Camino!

Claus

 

[Colleen]

Many thanks Claus
Regards
Colleen

 

[Colleen]

Claus I meant to also ask which airline flies into Bilbao. Thanks
Colleen

 

[Peter Robins]

The nearest airport for Logrono or Najera is Bilbao

not true, Claus. The closest is Vitoria/Gasteiz; Ryanair flies there from Stansted. Bus or train to Logrono. Another alternative if connections aren't convenient is Zaragoza.

There's a map of the main bus services in Spain at http://www.movelia.es/ES/mapa.htm (not the most user-friendly map I've come across)

 

[Kerryman]

Peter:
You are right. Vitoria, I never even knew it had an international airport, mea culpa I suppose.
And Ryanair flying in from Stanstead, at least on some days.
Good man.

Colleen, so you even have several choices to get to Logrono quite conveniently. Both airports would work for you, though not on every single day of the week.
Bilbao is serviced by Easyjet and several others.

Good luck.

Claus

P.S.
Current web-info on Vitoria:
"
Vitoria Gasteiz is a small, provincial airport that only recieved 85,000 passengers during 2005. This is set to change in 2006 as Ryanair have announced that they are to start a dialy flight between London Stansted and Vitoria from February 27th.

The City of Vitoria is about 10 kms away and the airport is just 64 kms south of Bilbao. This makes it a good alternative way of spending a weekend break either in Bilbao or exploring this beautiful and unspoilt part of Spain. For more information on the area visit http://www.vitoria-gasteiz.org which is in English.

Although the passenger numbers at the airport are low it actually handles a huge amount of cargo flights. Only Barcelona and Madrid Airports handle more cargo.

At the time of writing this there are not any buses at Vitoria Airport. This is bound to change once Ryanair have established a base here. In Airports such as Jerez, Murcia, Reus and Girona bus routes started fairly soon after Ryanair moved in.

Taxis can be found outside of the terminal building and we have read that the local taxi companies have an obligation to provide taxis for all flights. Expect to pay €15-17 to get into the City Center and allow €70-80 if you are heading up to Bilbao.

The arrivals hall at Vitoria is small on the same level as the departures hall. In the departures hall you will find 7 check in desks and a cafe serving snacks and drinks each day. At the moment there are not any shops at the airport.

Flights to Vitoria Airport

Iberia offer flights between Vitoria and Barcelona and Madrid and as mentioned above, Ryanair start to offer a daily service between London Stansted and Vitoria from the end of February 2006. "

 

[Peter Robins]

Vitoria, I never even knew it had an international airport, mea culpa I suppose.

viewtopic.php?t=520 ;-)

for more (uptodate) info on airport bus, see the airport site at
http://www.aena.es/csee/Satellite?cid=1 ... lang=EN_GB

 

[Colleen]

Sandles or Thongs

My pack weight excluding water is now 6.865kgs (I weigh 53kgs) and I can reduce this further by replacing the Tevla sandles with rubber thongs (flip flops) Would thes be sufficient as I understand these are only for use at the end of each day's alking. Also I have reduced my warm clothing to one super fine thermal (Ice Braker) and a mid weight (200) Polarec fleece. Is this sufficient for leaving SJPDP this week. Should I include a light weight beanie and gloves. This forum has been a marvellous help, thank you. Colleen

 

[sillydoll]

Back pack etc

Well done Col! You have really got your pack down to minimum.

My opinion on the sandals vs slops is that if you get blisters you can walk a few days in sandals and socks if necessary. Some of the route is on long, flat, gravel paths and I often used my sandals on these stretches.
You can also use them when sightseeing in a village where you have already checked into a refuge. As for warmth, we took 'throw away' clothes such as old beanie, old gloves and a marathon jacket (given out before races for runners to discard along the way). We left our discarded clothing in a lost property box in a refuge where they distribute clothing to the homeless.
We walked in May where it was chilly in the high places but blisteringly hot in the low places. Just wear everything in layers on cold mornings and moult as you go along!

Have a great pilgrimage.