Fly to Asturias or Santander airport to get to Leon?

[Jessiek9]

I want to start Camino from Leon, any advice on which would be the best airport for transfer to fly into either Asturias or Santander airports?

 

[Tincatinker]

I would fly into Madrid and get the train to Leon. Neither Asturias nor Santander offer easy public transport routes to Leon

 

[Bradypus]

Asturias airport is closer to Leon and there are quite a few buses from Oviedo to Leon. That would be my first choice.

 

[henrythedog]

Madrid; without doubt.

 

[Tincatinker]

There you go, expert opinions. Now all you need is some good advice

 

[Glenshiro]

There are many more flights to Madrid than either Asturias (almost an hour on the bus from the airport to Oviedo) or Santander and there are lots of high-speed trains from Madrid Chamartin, a 15 minute train ride from terminal 4 at Madrid airport, to Leon. So I would say that Madrid wins hands down.

 

[DonnaM]

I want to start Camino from Leon, any advice on which would be the best airport for transfer to fly into either Asturias or Santander airports?

I finished in Leon a month ago and took a bus to Oviedo and then a bus to the airport, pretty straightforward and Asturias airport small and efficient

 

[howardd5]

I would fly into Madrid and get the train to Leon. Neither Asturias nor Santander offer easy public transport routes to Leon

I seem to remember a direct bus to Santander from Leon. The train is longer going back east nearly to Bilbao before headin west

 

[Tincatinker]

Current options from Santander seem to be Bus via Oviedo, 4-5hrs or Train via Palencia, similar journey time.

From Asturias its buses via Gijon and Oviedo or the Airport bus to Oviedo and Leon from there. 2-3 hours depending on route chosen.

Train from Madrid via Chamartin is about 3 hours.

Actual journey times and particularly connection times are dependent on flight landing times and days. An hour or so on Google maps, RENFE and ALSA ought to sort it

 

[Tali]

Why not fly to Leon? I flew there via Barcelona in 2017. Easy

 

[Beth and Rodney]

I did it 2x this year. Flew to Madrid. Then took a fast train from Charmartin Station to Leon for maybe 3 hrs.

Easy, cheap, simple.

 

[rappahannock_rev]

Multiple daily 4-hour ALSA bus trips direct from MAD Terminal 4 to Leon. Cheap and very comfortable. No awkward shuttling to train stations required. Doesn't get any easier or lower-stress than that!

 

[Jessiek9]

Thanks to everybody for genuine advice much appreciated, I am taking the Madrid train option to Leon.

 

[curtc757]

I want to start Camino from Leon, any advice on which would be the best airport for transfer to fly into either Asturias or Santander airports?

I’m flying into Madrid and taking train to León. The fewer airports I see the better so I’d recommend go with the closest airport that lets you fly direct and train from there. Have fun on your Camino.