From Rochester NY to Irun - suggestions on transportation?

[rjhazard]

Hello! The time is coming soon for me to purchase airline tickets to get myself to Irun for a late May 2016 walk! Like many, I am looking for something less expensive but not too grueling. Any suggestions on routing would be appreciated! Or perhaps there is an existing thread that I have missed?

Gracias!

 

[Castilian]

Hi rjhazard! Welcome to the Forum! I wish you a pleasant and fruitful stay on the forum.

Look for flights to either Paris or Madrid depending on what's cheaper on your travel dates. Don't overlook flights out of Toronto.

To reach Irún from Madrid, you can either take a direct bus from the Airport of Madrid to Irún with Alsa (www.alsa.es/en) or go to downtown Madrid (e.g.: by Cercanías -shuttle- train) to take a direct train from Madrid to Irún (see: www.renfe.com for trains).

To reach Irún from Paris, you can take a direct train from the downtown. If the schedule of the few direct trains doesn't suit you, look for trains to Hendaye (on the French side of the border) and either take a local Euskotren train (www.euskotren.eus) from Hendaye to Irún (on the Spanish side of the border) or walk it or take a taxi... Euskotren trains in Hendaye depart from a train stop on the parking of the main train station. If you arrive to CDG airport in Paris and prefer to avoidchanging stations in downtown Paris, you can take a train from CDG airport to Bordeaux and another one from Bordeaux to Irún or to Hendaye. Take a look at the www.sncf.com for info about French trains.

 

[whariwharangi]

Hello! The time is coming soon for me to purchase airline tickets to get myself to Irun for a late May 2016 walk! Like many, I am looking for something less expensive but not too grueling. Any suggestions on routing would be appreciated! Or perhaps there is an existing thread that I have missed?

Gracias!

In addition to Castilian's options ...

There is airport at San Sebastian EAS ... 3km from Irun Renfe Station ... connected to Barcelona and Madrid.

There is airport at Biarritz BIQ ... connected to many major centers in Europe by several discount airlines. Transports64 offers hourly bus service to Irun/Hendaye from the airport.

There is airport at Bilbao BIO ... well connected to various places. Airport connects by PESA bus to San Sebastian/Donostia. There are frequent rail and bus connections from San Sebastian to Irun by several service providers including Renfe Cercanias, Euskotren, and ALSA.

If you are looking for cheap options consider Lisboa or Porto. CP offers overnight train from both to Irun/Hendaye. These options make it easy to go home from Santiago.

AENA operates airports in Spain. Their websites provide information about destinations and service providers.
http://www.aena.es/csee/Satellite/aeropuertos/en/Page/1237548207921/Airport-Network.html

ANA operates airports in Portugal. Their website also provides information about destinations and service providers.
http://www.ana.pt/en-US/Pages/Homepage.aspx

Biarritz BIQ
http://en.biarritz.aeroport.fr/

 

[EMILE M]

Hello! The time is coming soon for me to purchase airline tickets to get myself to Irun for a late May 2016 walk! Like many, I am looking for something less expensive but not too grueling. Any suggestions on routing would be appreciated! Or perhaps there is an existing thread that I have missed?

Gracias!

I flew to Paris, then bought airfare one-way from Paris to Biarritz through Easyjet ($67). From Biarritz to Irun you can hop on a train to Irun. Check www.sncf.com for train schedules. Last October there was a train to Irun from Biarritz around noon and another around 6:30 pm, fare was 6€ or 7€. Book airfare from Paris to Biarritz before you go on www.easyjet.com

 

[t2andreo]

Coming from Rochester, the difficult and expensive bit is to get yourself from ROC to an airport nearby to Irun. I recommend you use one of the major search engines to locate flights from ROC to either BIQ (Biarritz, France), or BIO (Bilbao, Spain). You can take a bus from either airport to get to Irun.

One route I can recommend is flying to Brussels (BRU) on UA (ROC > EWR or JFK > BRU) then transfer to Brussels Airlines (SN) a codeshare for UA, from Brussels (BRU) to Bilbao (BIO). Take a bus from Bilbao to Irun.

Another route that works well is any airline from ROC to CDG (Paris, de Gaulle), then transfer to the TGV high-speed train at the airport to ride to Bayonne, via Bordeaux. From Bayonne, you can get a bus to Irun.

For reference, Irun is just on the Spanish - French border, south of Bayonne and Biarritz.

If it is much cheaper for you to fly to Madrid (MAD) you will approach Irun from the south. From Madrid (MAD) Iberia has the most flights on Iberia Express. You can also use them to return to MAD direct from Santiago.

So a likely routing coming out of MAD would be: (ROC > EWR or JFK > MAD > EAS). EAS is San Sebastian, Spain. It is very close to Irun, has bus service, and is a very nice, large Spanish seaside town. IMHO, it is worth a couple of days if you can spare it.

Flying what is called an "open jaw" return in the airline industry, you would reverse the journey, except starting from Santiago de Compostela (SCQ): (SCQ > MAD > JFK or EWR > ROC). Open jaw returns usually cost no more than a conventional round-trip in most cases.

Also and FYI, Iberia is part of the One World alliance with American Airlines. So, if it matters to you, you can go all the way via MAD on AA and codeshares.

If you desire to use UA and codeshares, then the routing from the north, via (ROC > EWR or JFK > BRU > BIO) is the most direct way, IMHO. You would have to go "off-brand" to get from SCQ to MAD, but you could fly an "open jaw" return route from Madrid (MAD), or take an ALSA bus from SCQ to MAD, then get to the airport. The return routing (UA) would be: (SCQ (bus or air) > MAD > EWR > ROC).

I hope this helps.

 

[Castilian]

If you are looking for cheap options consider Lisboa or Porto. CP offers overnight train from both to Irun/Hendaye.

Out of Porto, the train isn't direct. You have to change somewhere along the route; Coimbra-B if memory serves me right.

EAS is San Sebastian, Spain. It is very close to Irun, has bus service, and is a very nice, large Spanish seaside town.

EAS is the airport code of San Sebastián Airport in Spain. San Sebastián airport (although it's the closest one to San Sebastián city) isn't located in San Sebastián but in Hondarribia; a town next to Irún.

If you desire to use UA and codeshares, then the routing from the north, via (ROC > EWR or JFK > BRU > BIO) is the most direct way, IMHO. You would have to go "off-brand" to get from SCQ to MAD

Swiss Airlines is part of Star Alliance as well as United Airlines and has seasonal flights to Santiago de Compostela. Sometimes (just sometimes; not always), schedules from Santiago de Compostela to Zürich allow for same day connections from Zürich to the USA. United doesn't codeshare with Swiss Airlines the route from Zürich to Santiago de Compostela and Swiss doesn't codeshare with United routes to Rochester so you would need to get in touch with a (good) travel agent to book that route if you were interested but you could get miles with the Swiss' operated leg(s) if you are a member of United's Mileage Plus FF program.

 

[mspath]

..
From Biarritz to Irun you can hop on a train to Irun. Check www.sncf.com for train schedules. Last October there was a train to Irun from Biarritz around noon and another around 6:30 pm, fare was 6€ or 7€. ..
...

Or you could take any TER local train from Biarritz to Hendaye; there are many throughout the day. At Hendaye either walk across the international bridge to Irun or take the Euskotren.

 

[ramble-on]

There are lots of ways to get to Irun, but in planning for my trip there later this year, I'm trying to avoid too many changes and stops. I don't want to arrive so exhausted that I have to take days off to recuperate from the travel. Also, the first day on the camino del norte is reputed to be fairly tough - about 25 km and some good climbs and descents.

I'm thinking of flying (probably on American Air) from Toronto to JFK to CDG. As in the past, I would like to take the fast train from Charles de Gaulle to near my starting point - Hendaye (I'll walk across to Irun). There are several each day and the trip is about 7 or 8 hours depending on the connection time in Bordeaux. Unfortunately, it can only be booked online using the SNCF site (http://www.voyages-sncf.com/billet-train/horaires) 90 days (I think) in advance of your travel. An alternative (possibly cheaper) is an Easyjet (or Ryanair) flight to Biarritz - but I'm going to avoid that as they charge a lot for checked baggage (my backpack will likely be too large for carry-on and I'll have hiking poles which I think have to be checked anyway). Also, the TGV is a lot more comfortable, IMO.

On previous caminos, for the return I've taken the overnight train from SdC to Madrid and flown MAD to JFK to Toronto. If I have time, I stay a day or two in Madrid (one of my favourite cities in the world) to start to recompress.

Good luck with your planning.

Dick

 

[whariwharangi]

Another route that works well is any airline from ROC to CDG (Paris, de Gaulle), then transfer to the TGV high-speed train at the airport to ride to Bayonne, via Bordeaux. From Bayonne, you can get a bus to Irun.

Just to clarify TGV and Intercites trains run from Paris and terminate in Irun on the Spanish side of the border. Some trains from Paris involve transfer to a TER trains in Bordeaux. The TER train terminates in Hendaye on the French side of the border. All trains make a stop in Bayonne on their way.

 

[t2andreo]

The above poster is correct. In my experience, I never traveled farther on the TGV than Bayonne.

The LAST stop for the TGV is usually in Irun / Hendaye. These towns (Spanish / French) straddle the border.

In any event, DO check the possible schedules and routings. I must remember this for when I eventually do the el Norte or Ingles...

Thanks for the assist. It is sincerely appreciated.

 

[TMcA]

From either Toronto or Montreal you can fly nonstop to either Paris, Bordeaux, or Toulouse on Air Transat. Then you can return from Madrid or Barcelona, again on Air Transat. The airfare will be, I believe, cheaper and maybe much cheaper than flying from any U.S. airport. The train ticket will again be less from Bordeaux or Toulouse. The cost of parking in Montreal is about Cdn $150 for two weeks. Obviously, if you are hiking for a longer period, the parking cost will rise and perhaps eliminate the savings of travelling via Canada. The option of taking a bus to one of these airports may not be feasible from Rochester, but there is Greyhound service directly to Pierre Trudeau Airport (the Montreal gateway for most international flights and all of Air Transat's) from Burlington, VT which I have taken without delays.

The other posters have covered rail connections in France. My advice would be to use the Capitaine Train website. It's easy to use and any questions, even in English, will be promptly answered by its staff. I have been totally pleased with my transactions through them (two to date).

PM me if I can be of further assistance.

 

[rjhazard]

Thank you all! It looks like I have a lot of options to consider and a lot of homework to do researching flights, etc! Exciting!!