How best to get to Oloron-Sainte-Marie or??

[trecile]

I'd really like to walk the Aragonés from Oloron-Sainte-Marie, but I'm confused about how best to get there.

Throwing a monkey wrench into my planning is the fact that I like to do a bit of before/after Camino travel and usually bring a suitcase with my "tourist" clothes that I'll need to mail to Santiago. That's very easy when starting on the CF from SJPdP - I just use Express Bourricot.

What airports do most people fly to to get to their starting point for the Aragonés? I like using my air miles to travel to my Caminos, but I kind of broke the (air miles) bank last year. I do have enough to get to Paris or Barcelona. It looks like a long train and/or bus journey from either place, but at least I could use Correos to mail my luggage from Barcelona.

I'd like to go in mid May

I'm open to creative suggestions!

 

[trecile]

Well, no surprise, but I disagree with previous advice! Start from France if you can (Marie St Oloron is easy to reach and the start of a beautiful section of the Arres).

I found this quote on @MARSKA's thread - how easy is it to reach?

 

[JabbaPapa]

One new possibility is the Night Train from Paris to Pau, then from there in the morning to Oloron.

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/return-of-the-night-train.72164/post-1204212

 

[J Willhaus]

Ok, couple of years ago when I worked at Canfranc Pueblo there was a bus from Canfranc Estacion to St M-O. Maybe it only runs in the summer. I have no idea what kind of tourist plan you have, but there a ton of awesome things to see and do in Zaragoza. I can also recommend that you stop in Jaca to take the day trip up to the Monasteries before starting your Camino. Also awesome are the castle at Javier, the Monastery at Leyre, and The walled city of Sos del Rey Catholico all in this region.

Maybe take a train to Zaragoza for a few days, then bus or train to Jaca and homebase to see these other great places. Return your car, mail your suitcase, then make your way to St M-O via bus from C. Estación.

Ps. It would be awesome to stay at the new station hotel one night, too.

Pss.Using awesome too much, but really everything is awesome that I mentioned.

 

[andycohn]

Realistically, it would be very tedious to try and get to OSM from any of the major Spanish cities, unless you want to be a tourist in Spain for a few days and take in some of the places J. Wilhaus suggests (although all but Zaragosa are on the Aragones already, and you'll see them en route). Way too many connections from Barcelona or Madrid to OSM. Otherwise, only realistic possibility is fly to Paris or Toulouse (semi-major French airport) and then take the train to OSM. Trainline or SNCF website (https://www.sncf-connect.com/app/en-en/home/search) will give you schedules. It's about 3+ hours from Toulouse by train, 4-5 hours from Paris Montparnasse. Which one you choose will probably depend most on availability / cost of flights from Portland, and what you want to do pre-Camino. Also, if you want to start your journey from either San Francisco or Seattle, you'll obviously have more options in getting to France.

As to the bag issue, I once used a company called sendmybag.com to ship a bag from California to Europe. They were very reliable, and pretty affordable, if you keep the weight down. If you google around, you'll get a bunch of companies that will send your bag from France to Spain, if you want to have some nice clothes with you pre-Camino. Parcel Monkey was one that came up immediately. 20 euros for a 5kg bag from France to Spain.

 

[dick bird]

the suitcase is definitely a complication. Have you thought about shipping it straight from home to Santiago? Literally shipping i.e. non air mail. If they still do that it is slow but cheap. Oloron Saints Marie is a biggish town (with a very nice albergue) so good transport connections. Toulouse is not so far away and on the Chemin d’Arles. There is an airport or train from Paris. The walk from Oloron through the Val d’Aspe is pretty with good albergues. A minor detour on the Aragonés is through Lumbier gorge, you will regret it if you miss that. And from Jaca there’s the workers’ shuttle bus to San Juan de la Peña.
We are starting the Catalan beginning of May to hook up with the Aragonés, so may run into you. As you may have noticed, everyone who has done it raves about it. Hope you’re not disappointed.

 

[trecile]

the suitcase is definitely a complication. Have you thought about shipping it straight from home to Santiago? Literally shipping i.e. non air mail. If they still do that it is slow but cheap

I'll want the things in the suitcase both before I start the Camino and after. Also, @ivar has said many times not to ship from outside Europe, as there can be a mess with Customs.

 

[ivar]

I'll want the things in the suitcase both before I start the Camino and after. Also, @ivar has said many times not to ship from outside Europe, as there can be a mess with Customs.

Yes, since spanish customs considers this import of goods.. they would like to know what is inside (they will contact the receiver by regular mail sometimes) asking for the value of what they have “bought”. If you say it is your own stuff, they might believe you or not believe you… it is a long process. A mess.

 

[peregrino_tom]

I'm open to creative suggestions!

I don't have input on the suitcase issue but in terms of the travel:
last time I took the plane to Bordeaux then a fast train to Pau (definitely worth a few hours dawdling if you can arrange it..) then a local train to Oloron

 

[Vacajoe]

Pau would be the biggest nearest French city with train, bus, and air connections. Toulouse would be next. My travel was in reverse, so I flew Pau to Paris to SF. It was fairly easy and priced fairly.

Spanish connections could work, but that would certainly add a number of nights in hotels and additional travel costs for various buses and trains. As J Wilhaus suggests, you can catch a bus from Canfranc Estacion, but it doesn’t seem to come up on search sites so try to contact the tourist information site in Estacion. Plus that requires catching a bus to Estacion from Jaca (limited service) as well as getting to Jaca itself (Madrid to Zaragoza to Jaca, train or bus) - in short, a long journey which is very interesting, but maybe not what you want.

 

[Vacajoe]

Another suggestion? Start from Lourdes! It’s spectacularly interesting and worth a visit. The pilgrim accommodation there is quite friendly and the shared dinner really a nice way to spend the evening. They even allow two nights if you are visiting the religious sites. From there to Oloron is a very pleasant 4-5 day walk on the Piemonte, well-marked and supported with basic pilgrim accommodations and gitês

 

[naplesdon]

Pau is a logical choice and it easily accessible from Bordeaux or Toulouse. However, the suitcase issue suggests going to Barcelona and taking the train to Canfranc, the tracks should be repaired by then, and there are buses running daily from there to the French side of the mountain.

 

[rappahannock_rev]

Another suggestion? Start from Lourdes! It’s spectacularly interesting and worth a visit.

Did exactly that in May 2018, and consider it one of my best adventures!

Flew from the States to Toulouse via Lisbon on TAP. Gave myself a day to explore Toulouse and enjoyed every minute of it. Especially enjoyed the Convent des Jacobins -- both a beautiful cloister and the tomb of St. Thomas Aquinas! Got my first stamp at the great Basilique St.-Sernin. ... Then bussed next day to Lourdes (bussed 'cause the trains were on strike). Pleasant trip, not expensive. Took about three hours. Lourdes is an important place for me for personal reasons - a strange and wonderful place! This was my 3rd visit. Gave myself one day there, then set off walking to Oloron.

The walk to Oloron - via Betharram and Arudy - took 3 days. Easy walking through some of the loveliest, greenest, most Shire-like country I've ever seen. Stayed in hostals, not albergues. The locals were far more friendly and helpful than I had expected, and the wine-and-cheese were world-class! Finally went south from Oloron towards the Somport Pass.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

For pre-camino touring you could fly to Barcelona and visit Vic, Girona, Figueres, Perpignan, Narbonne, Carcassonne, Toulouse. Check out flylevel.com for San Francisco to Barcelona flights though checked baggage may bump fares into the range of other airlines.

 

[Anthony Rocco]

I'd really like to walk the Aragonés from Oloron-Sainte-Marie, but I'm confused about how best to get there.

Throwing a monkey wrench into my planning is the fact that I like to do a bit of before/after Camino travel and usually bring a suitcase with my "tourist" clothes that I'll need to mail to Santiago. That's very easy when starting on the CF from SJPdP - I just use Express Bourricot.

What airports do most people fly to to get to their starting point for the Aragonés? I like using my air miles to travel to my Caminos, but I kind of broke the (air miles) bank last year. I do have enough to get to Paris or Barcelona. It looks like a long train and/or bus journey from either place, but at least I could use Correos to mail my luggage from Barcelona.

I'd like to go in mid May

I'm open to creative suggestions!

Your best option is to start in France, and I would strongly recommend that you fly to Toulouse, a marvelous city where we started back in 2016. A few months ago, we ended up there after starting in Le Puy. The cuisine, the medieval quarter, the cathedral, the waterfront...there's so much in Toulouse. And we took a bus trip to Carcassonne, which had been on our bucket list for decades.

You can train from there to Oloron, or take the short train ride to Lourdes, as another person suggested. Whether your're religious or not, the nightly candlelight procession is one of those experiences not to be missed, especially for a camino walker.

We walked from Lourdes, one of the most enjoyable rural walks anywhere. Very few other pellerin and the villages are teeny. Oloron seemed like a massive city when we arrived there. After Oloron, be sure to stop and spend the night at the monastery in Sarrance. One of our favorites. When you cross the Pyrenees, unlike from SJPDP, you are walking beneath the high peaks. There's a surplus of awe on this camino.

The Aragones is, in our view, "the ideal camino" for those who don't want crowds but plenty of fellowship, superb cuisine, glorious landscapes and medieval sights that will inspire you. Last May, we went back just to do some touring we missed.

As for your luggage, ship it from Oloron. Once again, it's a big town that has all services.

 

[Flog]

Another option, if the connection times suit you, might be to fly into Lourdes Airport (from Paris?) From there you can get a bus/train to Pau and/or Oloron. I'm thinking to do the same in April, from Dublin.

 

[Albertagirl]

When I walked the Aragones, I flew from home to Paris to Pau, took a bus into town from the airport in Pau, then a local train from Pau to Oloron Ste Marie, where I had a reservation for my first night. This journey, from landing in Paris in the morning to arriving in Oloron Ste Marie, was accomplished in the same day. I had to change airports by bus in Paris to get a flight to Pau. There was a tourist office in Oloron Ste Marie which could give information about accommodation, but I was lucky enough to have a book from the Confraternity of Saint James in England (ii. Toulouse to Puente la Reina) which served as my guidebook onward from Oloron Ste Marie. I think that it is out of print at present.
I found San Juan de la Pena the most fascinating location (ancient monastery) in all my travels in Spain. I might return to the Aragones some day with that monastery at the head of my list of places to visit. It was amazing to see the cloister on the roof of the monastery (under a cliff) and the sculptures so close to the eye because of that location. Whatever else you are going to see, give enough time to the Camino Aragones. It has a reputation as the oldest of the Roman routes into Spain (see Gitlitz and Davidson, The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago, p. 4).

 

[trecile]

Despite all the recommendations to fly to France I'm leaning towards Barcelona for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it's been 9 years since I've been there, and I'd love to see the progress of La Familia Sagrada. Second is the luggage issue. And @J Willhaus has convinced me that a couple of days in Zaragoza sounds lovely.

 

[Anthony Rocco]

Despite all the recommendations to fly to France I'm leaning towards Barcelona for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it's been 9 years since I've been there, and I'd love to see the progress of La Familia Sagrada. Second is the luggage issue. And @J Willhaus has convinced me that a couple of days in Zaragoza sounds lovely.

You can't go wrong with this plan. No need to say why Barcelona is so special or why Zaragosa is a gem not to be missed.

This thread has inspired my wife and I to go back to southern France and northern Navarra next May, In this case, we will be walking from Bayonne to Pamplona, the Camino Baztan, a rarely walked ancient camino that has drawn increasing attention for its beauty, crossing the Pyrenees (our third crossing in a different location) and the villages and their people.

I also like to recall that there are more people of Baztan heritage living in the western U.S. than in Baztan today. They went there to continue their lives as shepherds, thriving in the New World. When we visited the delightful village of Elisondo last June, the mayor hosted us, noting that every current resident has relatives in America.

And the people of Baztan can trace their heritage back 15,000 years!

The people of the Baztan Valley; their Basque culture and genetic origins

A genetic study of people of the Baztan valley showing their Palaeolithic origins and early migrations across Europe at the end of the last ice age.

www.pyreneanexperience.com

 

[Karl G]

I'd really like to walk the Aragonés from Oloron-Sainte-Marie, but I'm confused about how best to get there.

Throwing a monkey wrench into my planning is the fact that I like to do a bit of before/after Camino travel and usually bring a suitcase with my "tourist" clothes that I'll need to mail to Santiago. That's very easy when starting on the CF from SJPdP - I just use Express Bourricot.

What airports do most people fly to to get to their starting point for the Aragonés? I like using my air miles to travel to my Caminos, but I kind of broke the (air miles) bank last year. I do have enough to get to Paris or Barcelona. It looks like a long train and/or bus journey from either place, but at least I could use Correos to mail my luggage from Barcelona.

I'd like to go in mid May

I'm open to creative suggestions!

In 2019 I flew into Madrid and then took a short flight to Bordeaux where I spent the night. The next day I took a train to Pau with a connection to Oleron Ste. Marie. Perhaps if you have a long enough layover in Madrid you can forward your tourist luggage from there?

The walk from Oleron Ste. Marie to Bedous is spectacular.

Good luck!

 

[SongKhonGair]

Despite all the recommendations to fly to France I'm leaning towards Barcelona for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it's been 9 years since I've been there, and I'd love to see the progress of La Familia Sagrada. Second is the luggage issue. And @J Willhaus has convinced me that a couple of days in Zaragoza sounds lovely.

You can take regional trains from Barcelona to Toulouse, changing trains at Latour-de-Carol just over the French border. The route from there goes thru Foix - I don't see any other lines, so you'd need to go to Toulouse before making your way to Oloron. Or join the Chemin du Piémont at Pamiers.

I am planning to use Send my bag to get our suitcase from Toulouse to SdC. Someone please tell me now if this is a bad idea. I had considered using an international courier such as DHL, just their prices are quite high.

 

[trecile]

I am planning to use Send my bag to get our suitcase from Toulouse to SdC. Someone please tell me now if this is a bad idea. I had considered using an international courier such as DHL, just their prices are quite high

@ivar would be the one to ask, since he has experience receiving (or not receiving!) parcels sent via the different carriers.

 

[SongKhonGair]

@ivar would be the one to ask, since he has experience receiving (or not receiving!) parcels sent via the different carriers.

Ah, good idea. Thank you.

 

[Molly Cassidy]

If it doesn't work out with Correos, you can always use a standard courier service (DHL etc.) to ship your luggage from anywhere in France or Spain.

 

[Juspassinthru]

I'd really like to walk the Aragonés from Oloron-Sainte-Marie, but I'm confused about how best to get there.

Throwing a monkey wrench into my planning is the fact that I like to do a bit of before/after Camino travel and usually bring a suitcase with my "tourist" clothes that I'll need to mail to Santiago. That's very easy when starting on the CF from SJPdP - I just use Express Bourricot.

What airports do most people fly to to get to their starting point for the Aragonés? I like using my air miles to travel to my Caminos, but I kind of broke the (air miles) bank last year. I do have enough to get to Paris or Barcelona. It looks like a long train and/or bus journey from either place, but at least I could use Correos to mail my luggage from Barcelona.

I'd like to go in mid May

I'm open to creative suggestions!

I don’t know if you got this sorted or not, because we’re both starting in OSM, this is what I did. Arriving at CDG, overnight in Paris. TGV from Paris to Pau. Interconnect with a local train to OSM. You can also fly to Pau fro CDG. If this is old news,I apologize. Leaving for Paris today.

 

[trecile]

I don’t know if you got this sorted or not, because we’re both starting in OSM, this is what I did. Arriving at CDG, overnight in Paris. TGV from Paris to Pau. Interconnect with a local train to OSM. You can also fly to Pau fro CDG. If this is old news,I apologize. Leaving for Paris today.

It definitely makes more sense to travel via Paris, but my husband and I will be going to Barcelona. He will fly home and I will take the train to Zaragoza where I will stay two nights, then train to Canfranc, bus to Bedous, and train to OSM. At least that's the current plan!

 

[Juspassinthru]

It definitely makes more sense to travel via Paris, but my husband and I will be going to Barcelona. He will fly home and I will take the train to Zaragoza where I will stay two nights, then train to Canfranc, bus to Bedous, and train to OSM. At least that's the current plan!

The things we do to walk the Camino