Getting to SJPP from Barcelona

[trundle]

Trundle, here. I live in Winnipeg, Canada and am planning to go from SJPP to Santiago in the Sept. 25 - Oct.23 timeframe. My plan is to fly Zoom from Winnipeg to Gatwick and then fly British Airways to Barcelona.

What are my options to get to SJPP?

My return plan is fly Spanair or Iberia from Santiago back to Barcelona, and then complete my return tickets on BA and Zoom to Gatwick and Winnipeg.

The Internet prices I got this morning (vayama.com) are Winnipeg/Gatwick $600 CDN return, Gatwick/Barcelona $156 CDN return and Santiago/Barcelona $62 (Spanair) or $141 Iberia.

All comments are appreciated.

Trundle

 

[erinmarie]

Hey, holy hannah! Another Winnipegger? What a small... city? World as well, but we all know this is the centre of two-degree separations.

I didn't start in St Jean, but in Pamplona instead. Most of the people I spoke to about starting in St Jean went up from Spain by bus and taxi, through Roncesvalles. However, if you're starting in the north, there must be a better way to do it. Sorry I can't really help with this, I just love that you're from Winnipeg!

Erin

 

[erinmarie]

Oops, sorry, I completely ignored the part about Barcelona... ridiculous. Anyway. I know that buses in Spain are cheaper than trains, but you can use either form of transport to get to Pamplona, and from there I know people bussed to Roncesvalles and then taxied to St Jean. So! Potentially expensive, but it's one way to go.

 

[jeff001]

Is there a particular for reason for including Barcelona in your itinerary? I am sure it would be faster/earier/cheaper to, for example, fly from
Gatwick into Biarritz (1 hour train to SJPP) and return from Santiago via Madrid. Look at http://www.whichbudget.com to find the flights.

 

[sillydoll]

Barcelona to St Jean:
Train to Bayonne (10.45 hours) - then to St Jean: http://www.sncf.com (French rail).
If you need to stay over in Bayonne - walk out of the station and look left across the parking lot. There you will see the Hotel Paris Madrid which is run by Patrick and Sylvie Sorbois. Nothing fancy but clean and friendly, they speak English and it is less than 50 meters from the train station.
May 2007 prices: With shower and toilett: 34 € or No private shower or toilet 19 €

 

[stephenDevlin]

Hi,
Easyjet have a service from Gatwick to Biarritz starting on July 4, 2008. Fares start at £43.49 return. You'd probably need to book well in advance to get that.
From the airport it's a short bus journey to Beyonne railway station and then a one hour train ride to SJPP.

Stephen

I've just remembered, last year Ryanair started a service from Santiago to London Stanstead. It's an airport situated about a 40 minute train journey from Liverpool St station in central London. You'd need to get the tube from there to Victoria and from then another train to Gatwick

 

[trundle]

The reason I was travelling from Barcelona was because that was the only destination I was finding out of Santiago so I was working on a Gatwick/Barcelona return flight.

I am totally open to suggestions on how to get from London Gatwick to Roncesvalles/SJPP and back to London Gatwick from Santiago.

The best I can do with Winnipeg/Gatwick on Zoom are leaving here on Monday, Sept 23 (the earliest I can leave here) and returning on Saturday, Oct 25 (their last flight of the season).

I also want to take a day trip to Finisterre after I get to Santiago. I know this makes for a very tight itinerary so I may have to pass on starting from SJPP and start from Roncesvalles instead but I hear this is the most beautiful day on the Camino.

Is there a section of the Camino I can skip over to pick up a couple days?

 

[spursfan]

Although guidebooks suggest a little over 30 days (Brierley 33 sections) from SJPP to Santiago, I think that most people should be able to cut a few days off the guidebook schedule - walk a bit longer each day on the flatter sections - much better than not starting at SJPP or missing some km later on - but definitely would take the bus there and back in a day to Finisterre to give a more peaceful end

 

[jeff001]

You could fly Vueling, Spanair or Iberia from Santiago to Madrid and then Easyjet from Madrid to Gatwick.

 

[brendan nolan]

Hi Trundle,
Happy New Year and welcome to the Forum.
I had thought of offering advice on the flying routes but there seem to be folks with more expertise than I; so I thought I would content myself with saying that you should be able to get a cheap flight with Easyjet from either Gatwick or Stansted into south of France or north of Spain near to St. JPdeP.
Have fun in the planning and Buen Camino.
Brendan

 

[cecelia]

Hi Trundle and everyone,
I was looking at some older posts and want to comment on a November comment by sillydoll where she recommended that you go from Biarritz to SJPP by train. I did exactly that in 2003, 2006 and spring 2007 BUT I did hear that the train is no longer going to SJPP. It may have been a temporary measure but I was just browsing the website and they do keep saying that the trains don't go there. The train goes from Biarritz to Bayonne which is a fairly large centre but you MAY have to take a bus to SJPP. You may wish to check into it beforehand. In spite of that, I do recommend this route as one of the easiest from Western Canada (I'm from Vancouver).

Biarritz is a beautiful spot and has lots of inexpensive (and very expensive) hotels. It also has a couple of very good hostels, one of which is near the train station. I stayed there and even though I had to buy a year's membership, the whole cost including a good breakfast was about 15 Euros. Because I'm older they gave me and a friend a room by ourselves.
Buen camino
Cecelia

 

[ginette]

Barcelona to St Jean:
Train to Bayonne (10.45 hours) - then to St Jean: http://www.sncf.com (French rail).
If you need to stay over in Bayonne - walk out of the station and look left across the parking lot. There you will see the Hotel Paris Madrid which is run by Patrick and Sylvie Sorbois. Nothing fancy but clean and friendly, they speak English and it is less than 50 meters from the train station.
May 2007 prices: With shower and toilett: 34 € or No private shower or toilet 19 €

Hi... Do you know if they have lockers of some sort at the airport ? We would like to spend a few days in Barcelona and leave some luggage for pickup on the way back...

Ginette
Canada

 

[anniethenurse]

Hello Ginette!
You can find some information on the lockers at El Prat Airport outside Barcelona as follows:
http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/ ... elona.html
...but it´s pretty easy to take the train to the city and maybe your hostel/hotel is close to the train station in Barcelona...You could book your hotel/hostel close to the stations called Placa Catalonya or Arc de Triomf...
for hotels http://www.booking.com (you can search hotels close to stations, momuments or in a specific area in a city)
for train tickets http://www.renfe.es

annie

PS:Ivar helps you with most things, too discuss-news-from-santiago/topic5027.html#p28114

 

[ginette]

Hi everyone,

I did some research and I am unable to find a train from Barcelona to St Jean Pied de Port, leaving on August 21st... Can you help me ?

Ginette
Montreal, Canada

 

[ginette]

The plan was to leave our extra luggage at the Barcelona airport and visit Barcelona at the end of our camino but the traveling looks a bit hectic... perhaps sending my luggage to Ivar and going thru Paris would be easier...
Ginette