From Ottawa to SJPDP

[Kam Wong]

Hi
My wife and I will be leaving from Ottawa, Canada on Sep 20 arriving Paris at 5.50 am on the 21st.
We will then fly to Biarritz at 8.45 am arriving at 10.05 am by Air France.

How do we get to SJPDP from Biarritz? We are a bit confused about going to the Bayonne train station?
--- by bus? How?
--- by taxi?

We hope to get to SJPDP on the dame date of 21st?
Suggestions? Thanks a lot

Kam and Anjulia

 

[mspath]

Welcome to the forum!

Take airport bus 14 to Bayonne Gare/railroad station. From Bayonne Gare take local TER line 62 train to SJPdP.
Current train times are
07:45, 11:10, 14:55, 18:06
See https://www.ter.sncf.com/aquitaine
for more info

Total cost per person for bus + train transport should be 12 € or so.
The Bayonne station is small and the staff are helpful and used to tourists as well as pilgrims. Multiple video screens throughout the station display arrivals/departures as does a large board in lobby.

The adjacent station cafe boasts many handy plugs for recharging your computer or smartphone; if you have time to spare relax and have a drink or simple meal.

Bon voyage and Buen camino to both of you!

 

[Kam Wong]

Thanks for the prompt response. That helps. We hope then we can catch the 12.01 pm train allowing us enough time at SJPDP for the rest of the day. We plan to stay one more night before walking on 23rd to Orisson where we would like to say overnight easing up our first day try.
Do we need to reserve at the Orisson auberge?

Since this is our first try, we budget about 45 days to complete the Camino. Is it reasonable?
We know that weather is hard to forecast, what's the general weather at that time including the whole month of October?

 

[mspath]

You should make a reservation for Orisson. 45 days will allow plenty of time to walk slowly and comfortably to Santiago.
For more re walking in October see this earlier forum thread.
https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/anyone-doing-the-camino-in-october-november.33632/

 

[Ghislaine]

I wish you an excellent Camino. I am from Ottawa also and did that one in 2006. I too, stay 2 nights in SJPDP before starting the walk. It's worth it, as it's such a great medieval town and I also stopped in Orisson, which is a wise thing to do.
Enjoy every moment and take time to smell the flowers and all the little things the Camino will bring to both of you!

 

[C clearly]

Hello and welcome to the forum. October is an excellent time to walk the Camino. The weather will likely be good most of the time, but you must go prepared for everything! By November in Galicia, you can expect rain, but you will be experienced pilgrims by then!

You should make the Orisson reservation as soon as possible, since they do book up well in advance. I would offer the warning that starting from SJPP or Roncesvalles on a weekend might mean you are in a crowd of weekend starters. That would be a good reason to reserve both Orisson and Roncesvalles. If you find you are in a crowd, you can simply slow down, stay in an intermediate village, and take an extra day to walk to Pamplona, since you do have 45 days to complete the trip. I walked later in October and never encountered a problem, but I understand that the typical stages to Pamplona can get crowded as the weekend starters haven't yet spread out. Maybe this won't be the case by late September.

I must also say that the starting "crowds" from SJPP can be one of the most fun aspects of the Camino, so don't be anxious about it. Just make the appropriate reservations!

 

[Kam Wong]

Thanks all for the help.