Flying into SJPP

[ilovelife]

Hi everyone.
It's not official yet but it looks like I am probably going to get the time off work in order to do the camino. It has been a dream of mine since watching the movie "The Way".

I am looking into where to start from. It sounds like most people start in SJPP. But I can't find any flights going into SJPP. Where am I suppsed to fly into if I want to start at the beginning which I believe is St. Jean?

Thank you.
Antonio.

 

[ivar]

I would try to do search at the top of each page for something like "getting to sjpp". Here is one conversation about this topic (as an example, there are many):
http://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/how-do-people-get-to-sjpp-to-start.10974/

Buen Camino!
Ivar

 

[PANO]

There are low-cost flights from Barcelona (Vueling.com) to Pamplona, this side of Spain. On the French side, local airports like Biarritz are connected with Paris. I am a an advocate for a Camino-start in Pamplona (read http://www.caminodesantiago.me/comm...a-is-a-great-starting-point-for-the-cf.22654/) as so far no one was able to give me a compelling (historic) reason to start in SJPP.

 

[whariwharangi]

Here is some useful orientation information regarding SJPdP
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port

 

[jstorybook]

You can't fly into St. Jean, but you can take the train from Bayonne,--I took the train from Charles de Gaul airport, to Bordeaux to Bayonne, to St. Jean and did it all in one day--then started walking the next day.

 

[yogaflowjo]

Hi Antonio.. We flew to Barcelona (or Madrid on another occasion), train to Pamplona then taxi to SJPP .. There is also a bus from Pamplona (there were 4 of us so taxi option was perfect). If you want the taxi drivers details I can provide them. It's a "palaver" getting to SJPP but worth every minute and every penny ... It is the perfect place to start ... Stay at L'Espirit du Chemin to round off the most wonderful experience. Buen Camino

 

[MickMac]

You can fly from Dublin to Biarritz with Ryan Air then 1 euro bus ride to Bayonne station then to SJPP Good Luck !!

 

[Al the optimist]

Where do you live Antonio? Once they know people can better give you advice on how to get there. However, just to add to the above. Ryanair fly London Stanstead to Biarritz arriving mid afternoon. Choices from Biarritz are: bus from airport to train station in Bayonne and train (I think buses every 20 mins and take 40, last train 16:20? and takes 1.30) or share a taxi (about 1.30) - see Express Buricott. They will try to get you into a taxi that someone has booked to share costs. If the taxi is full it will be about 12 euros, which is comparable to bus/train costs.

 

[ilovelife]

I apologize. I thought I had mentioned where I'm from in the message.

I would be flying out of Toronto. From what I can find for flights from Toronto it looks like I will have to fly to Paris and then find a way to get to SJPP from there.

Anyone from Toronto / Ontario or Canada that can confirm this?

Much thanks.
Antonio

 

[lynnejohn]

We also fly out of Toronto. When we walked the Frances we flew to London and then Ryanair to Biarritz. Right now the costs for that itinerary (in May) are (CAD):

Toronto-London: $543.
London-Biarritz: $160.

Flying to Paris is:
Toronto-Paris: $767.
Paris-Biarritz: $148.

Note: Flying from Toronto to either London or Paris - you land at the international airport and your next flight is from a smaller, nearby airport so need to pay transportation for that, and time your flights carefully to ensure you don't miss your second flight.

Here is the Madrid option - no airport change is needed.

Flying to Madrid is:
Toronto-Madrid: $866.
Madrid-Pamplona: $107.

There are many threads discussing getting from Biarritz to SJPdP. Just google that in the search area on the top right of the page. Here's one:

http://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/taxi-share-thread-biarritz-sjpp.17935/

Buen camino!

 

[whariwharangi]

The closest airport to SJPdP is Biarritz. There are flights from Paris and London.

From Biarritz airport take local bus to Gare Bayonne.

The San Sebastian airport is located at Irun and has daily flights from Madrid.

From Irun take SNCF train to Gare Bayonne.

There are many bus and train options to Bayonne from Madrid (via San Sebastian or Irun) and Paris that may work out better at least from cost point of view.

From Gare Bayonne take SNCF TER train to SJPdP. I've not found any other scheduled transport from Bayonne to SJPdP.

There are several threads with useful links and discussion for travel here:
http://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/forums/traveling-to-from-the-camino.19/

In my view Anywhere Canada to London then discount airline from London to Biarritz is the most direct route. Added benefit is there are flights with discount airlines to London from many places in Spain including Santiago. They speak english which is an asset when you are jet lagged. Its outside the Schengen area which allows options for staying a bit longer. Downside is customs and security in London is an ordeal. London is expensive for accomodation and travel between airports. Paris or Madrid may work out better from cost and logistics depending on your travel plans.

You might want to work out going by way of Reykjavik. Easy Jet now connects from there to London.

 

[Former member 19626]

I just booked Toronto to Dublin with a stop in St.John's with WestJet. Then Dublin to Biarritz on Ryan Air
My goal was to avoid long layovers and big airports. The fares were reasonable too!