From San Sebastian to St Jean Pied de Port

[jchl]

Hi, I'm from Vancouver, BC, Canada and will be hiking the Camino Frances in late May. I've booked a flight from Vancouver to Barcelona (arrive May 22 and stay for couple of days) and a flight from Barcelona to San Sebastian on May 24 early morning. From there, I'm wondering what are my options for going from San Sebastian to St Jean Pied de Port. And how long would it take to go from San Sebastian to St Jean Pied de Port? Ideally I like to be able to get to St Jean early enough so that shops are still open and I can buy some food for the walk the next day and check out the conditions of the trail. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

John

 

[mspath]

Hi John,

Welcome to the Forum!

For some transport options/times/prices for San Sebastian to SJPdP check out
www.Rome2Rio.com.

Happy research and Buen camino!

 

[whariwharangi]

San Sebastian Airport EAS is located 3 km from Irun Renfe Station and 6 km from SNCF Gare d'Hendaye.
http://www.aena.es/csee/Satellite/Aeropuerto-San-Sebastian/en/

Take Ekialdebus E25 E27 or E28 from Airport to Irun Colon 43 bus stop.
http://ekialdebus.eus/es/

Cross the street to Metro Donostialdea (euskotren) station Colon and take Metro train to Hendaia. Hendaia is co-located with Gare d'Hendaye.
http://www.euskotren.eus/

Take SNCF train from Hendaye to Bayonne; or
http://www.sncf.com/en/passengers

Take Transports64 'Euskadi Express' 816 from Gare d'Hendaye to Place de Basques.
http://www.transports64.fr/transports-64?lang=fr

Then walk 1 km or take Chronoplus bus across bridge to Gare de Bayonne.
http://www.chronoplus.eu/

Finally, take SNCF TER train from Bayonne to SJPdP.

 

[mspath]

At the San Sebastien airport you can see the Bidasoa river which is the old frontier between Spain and France. Directly across that river is the Hendaye, France, rr station. You could easily walk there within an hour. Use Google maps to plot a walking route.

At the Hendaye rr catch a train to Bayonne; there are many throughout the day. At Bayonne take the local TER line 62 to SJPdP.

 

[jchl]

This is perfect information. Thanks.

John

 

[Lachance]

I'm in San Seb right now, leaving tomorrow on the Conda bus to St Jean via Pamplona. Bus leaves San Seb 12:30, arrives St Jean 16:15 with 55 mins between buses in Pamplona. NB, that is Sun timetable.

 

[whariwharangi]

I'm in San Seb right now, leaving tomorrow on the Conda bus to St Jean via Pamplona. Bus leaves San Seb 12:30, arrives St Jean 16:15 with 55 mins between buses in Pamplona. NB, that is Sun timetable.

San Sebastian is located about 25 km from San Sebastian Airport.

There are CONDA (ALSA) buses from San Sebastian Plaza Pio XII to Pamplona almost hourly.

Some (two or three daily) of the CONDA buses continue from Pamplona to SJPdP. Last summer (2015) there was a bus from San Sebastian to SJPdP via Biarritz Airport. Unfortunately ALSA usually only updates new bus schedules approx 30 days in advance.

The routing from EAS airport via Bayonne is more convenient and has greater frequency of service.

 

[Chacharm]

I just took a cab to Hendaya and trained in from there.

 

[ParistoCapeCod]

Hi, I'm from Vancouver, BC, Canada and will be hiking the Camino Frances in late May. I've booked a flight from Vancouver to Barcelona (arrive May 22 and stay for couple of days) and a flight from Barcelona to San Sebastian on May 24 early morning. From there, I'm wondering what are my options for going from San Sebastian to St Jean Pied de Port. And how long would it take to go from San Sebastian to St Jean Pied de Port? Ideally I like to be able to get to St Jean early enough so that shops are still open and I can buy some food for the walk the next day and check out the conditions of the trail. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

John

The Euskotren is really easy and cheap from San Sebastian (aka Donastia) to Hendaye. It's a little electric train like a monorail. http://www.euskotren.eus/
Hendaye (plage) to Biarritz is about 2 euros. There's a sandwich shop in the train station, or a bakery across the street in Hendaye.
Biarritz to SJPP call the porter service. San Sebastian is NOT the easiest airport to SJPP. Barcelona to Biarritz is easier.
There is a car rental at San Sebastian Airport as well as at Hendaye station, too.

Buen camino!

 

[jchl]

Thanks everyone for the helpful information.

John

 

[Marj76]

I am thinking about how to get to St Jean Pied de Port. I could have a flight to San Sebastian -
arriving at 5 PM. What then?

 

[jchl]

What I did last year was to take a very eary morning flight to San Sebastian airport (arriving early afternoon, forgot what time I arrived). Then I took the advice and take a taxi to the train station across the border - I got less than an hour left). Then it's just couple of train rides to St Jean Pied de Port.

 

[Marj76]

Thank you, John!
I am afraid that is (after 5 PM) too late to get from San Sebastian to SJPP?

 

[jchl]

You'll need to check the train schedule if you arrive at 5pm. I personally want to arrive St Jean Pied de Port early enough so that I still have the afternoon to visit the shops for last minute supplies and visit the pilgram office before they are close. Also, I rather not arrive late at night looking for accommodation.

 

[Marj76]

That's exactly what I'm thinking and would like to do, but I'm trying to find a cheap flight ...

 

[whariwharangi]

I am thinking about how to get to St Jean Pied de Port. I could have a flight to San Sebastian -
arriving at 5 PM. What then?

San Sebastian Airport to Gare d'Hendaye. Walk, Ekialdebus to Colon station and Metro to Hendaia, or taxi.

SNCF train from Gare d'Hendaye to Gare Bayonne.

SNCF train from Gare Bayonne to SJPdP. (service is currently provided by bus)

Alternatively, take Transports64 bus or PESA bus from Gare d'Hendaye to Place de Basques in Bayonne. Place de Basques is a km from Gare Bayonne.

It depends on your day of travel. Most days the last train leaves Gare Bayonne 1806. No chance if your arrival time at EAS is 1700. Fridays and Sundays it leaves 2110.

The first train leaves Gare Bayonne at 0745 arr SJPdP at 0845 ... enough time to walk to Roncesvalles.

There are trains leaving Hendaye early enough to catch 0745 at Bayonne.

Your best option is to stay the night in Irun or Bayonne and continue travel in the morning.

Other option is Express Bourricot, a private hire taxi based in SJPdP that caters to pilgrims. You might need to get to Biarritz or Bayonne to make this option work.

 

[Marj76]

Thank you, whariwharangi.
I'm thinking through these options. I need to figure out which one is the cheapest, since I'm on the budget.

 

[whariwharangi]

Thank you, whariwharangi.
I'm thinking through these options. I need to figure out which one is the cheapest, since I'm on the budget.

Cheapest option is to start walking Camino Pais Vasco. It joins Camino Frances at Santo Domingo.

 

[Marj76]

This one is new for me. I have to check it out. Thank you.

 

[peregrina2000]

This one is new for me. I have to check it out. Thank you.

Here are some websites describing the Camino Vasco Interior. Even if you don´t speak Spanish, you will get the idea.

http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/los-caminos-de-santiago/vasco/
https://www.gronze.com/camino-vasco

Buen camino, Marj, Laurie

 

[Marj76]

Thanks, Laurie.

 

[Marie_pri]

It may not be cheapest but we are thinking of splitting the fair on a taxi from San sabastian to SJP do you think that is possible?

 

[victw]

This is still great info. I thought Rome2Rio had misled me after suggestion I buy a plane ticket to San Sebastian. Whariwharangi's post is an excellent walk through.