How to get from Madrid to SJPP in May

[ralston8]

Hi All, My friend Pierre and I (Ralston) will be starting the Camino at SJPP on May 3. We land in Madrid on the 2nd from Canada, our plan is to take the train to Pamplona that evening and Alsa bus to SJPP on 3rd. If we can secure beds at refuge Orisson then we'll try and walk 14 kms to there that afternoon.

Any suggestions on our travel plans to get to SJPP will be much appreciated. Due to flight delays we're not booking anything in advance.

Buen Camino to everyone making the journey.

 

[Former member 92300]

Hi All, My friend Pierre and I (Ralston) will be starting the Camino at SJPP on May 3. We land in Madrid on the 2nd from Canada, our plan is to take the train to Pamplona that evening and Alsa bus to SJPP on 3rd. If we can secure beds at refuge Orisson then we'll try and walk 14 kms to there that afternoon.

Any suggestions on our travel plans to get to SJPP will be much appreciated. Due to flight delays we're not booking anything in advance.

Buen Camino to everyone making the journey.

Well... about to put kink in your plans already - if planning to stay in Orisson or at Borda (just past Orisson) - you MUST have a reservation MOST of the time. They fill up quickly as they are the only options past Honto (and Kayola which is owned by Orisson). BTW - it is only 8km to Orisson and 17 from Orisson to Roncesvalles.

What time do you land in Madrid? If you can - I recommend taking the train to Pamplona and spending the first night in Pamplona. There are usually a couple trains/day from Madrid to Pamplona - I took the last one. From Pamplona - there is an early afternoon bus to SJPDP. From there - you would have to walk straight to Orisson to be sure you arrive at Orisson by 6:30pm which is when dinner begins (they want you checked in before dinner). It can be done - but that means skipping SJPDP which is a beautiful town to wander around. Your other option is to taxi from Pamplona to SJDPD which could get you there earlier in the day - but can be quite expensive. But spending that first night in Pamplona and taking the afternoon bus to SJDPD allows for you to catch up on some sleep. Just pick a hotel with a noon checkout time!.

The website rome2rio is great for giving transportation options and schedules! I always use it for travel now. Even links you to where you need to go to buy tickets.

 

[ralston8]

Well... about to put kink in your plans already - if planning to stay in Orisson or at Borda (just past Orisson) - you MUST have a reservation MOST of the time. They fill up quickly as they are the only options past Honto (and Kayola which is owned by Orisson). BTW - it is only 8km to Orisson and 17 from Orisson to Roncesvalles.

What time do you land in Madrid? If you can - I recommend taking the train to Pamplona and spending the first night in Pamplona. There are usually a couple trains/day from Madrid to Pamplona - I took the last one. From Pamplona - there is an early afternoon bus to SJPDP. From there - you would have to walk straight to Orisson to be sure you arrive at Orisson by 6:30pm which is when dinner begins (they want you checked in before dinner). It can be done - but that means skipping SJPDP which is a beautiful town to wander around. Your other option is to taxi from Pamplona to SJDPD which could get you there earlier in the day - but can be quite expensive. But spending that first night in Pamplona and taking the afternoon bus to SJDPD allows for you to catch up on some sleep. Just pick a hotel with a noon checkout time!.

The website rome2rio is great for giving transportation options and schedules! I always use it for travel now. Even links you to where you need to go to buy tickets.

Thank you Jeanine for some great suggestions. I was going to book online however our flight schedule changed by 3hrs to land after 5pm so it might be a rush to get to the train station (Atocha) to board the 1835 train to Pamplona. So we have to keep the plan open to either start from SJPP on 3rd or 4th. Yes, if we start on 3rd, we hoped to leave by 230pm after a quick lunch, be there before 6pm.
Thankfully we visited SJPP last October on a separate trip in France, love the town and visited the pilgrims office in anticipation of our Camino.
Thanks for the reminder on Rome2Rio. I have used it in the past however didn't think about it. I'll be sure to double check all the options to get to Pamplona on the 3rd so we're rested before the trip to SJPP.
Regards

 

[Former member 92300]

Thank you Jeanine for some great suggestions. I was going to book online however our flight schedule changed by 3hrs to land after 5pm so it might be a rush to get to the train station (Atocha) to board the 1835 train to Pamplona.

Yes - that late - better off spending the night in Madrid and catching the first train to Pamplona. Who knows - you may luck out and be able to take a morning train to Pamplona and quickly catch the bus to SJPDP and arrive in SDPDP in time to walk to Orisson. The train and bus schedules are much more reliable than plan schedules in Europe (my experience anyway). In the US though - would never rely on a longer distance train haha. Metros, yes. Amtrak? No way!

 

[ralston8]

Yes - that late - better off spending the night in Madrid and catching the first train to Pamplona. Who knows - you may luck out and be able to take a morning train to Pamplona and quickly catch the bus to SJPDP and arrive in SDPDP in time to walk to Orisson. The train and bus schedules are much more reliable than plan schedules in Europe (my experience anyway). In the US though - would never rely on a longer distance train haha. Metros, yes. Amtrak? No way!

That's true and Via rail in Canada is similar to Amtrak then.
There isn't a train reaching Pamplona before noon however theres a late bus from Madrid to Pamplona that takes longer but will reach at midnight. Thanks to you, I found it on Rome2Rio.

 

[donalomahony]

Thank you Jeanine for some great suggestions. I was going to book online however our flight schedule changed by 3hrs to land after 5pm so it might be a rush to get to the train station (Atocha) to board the 1835 train to Pamplona. So we have to keep the plan open to either start from SJPP on 3rd or 4th. Yes, if we start on 3rd, we hoped to leave by 230pm after a quick lunch, be there before 6pm.
Thankfully we visited SJPP last October on a separate trip in France, love the town and visited the pilgrims office in anticipation of our Camino.
Thanks for the reminder on Rome2Rio. I have used it in the past however didn't think about it. I'll be sure to double check all the options to get to Pamplona on the 3rd so we're rested before the trip to SJPP.
Regards

On the off-chance, have you checked for an evening ALSA Bus, from the Airport, T4, to Pamplona?.

 

[ralston8]

On the off-chance, have you checked for an evening ALSA Bus, from the Airport, T4, to Pamplona?.

Thanks, I looked into it however nothing after 6pm or early enough to get us there before noon the next day. So we are hopeful of sticking to our plan and make the last train and if we miss that then we'll take the next days train and cab it out from Pamplona to SJPP as we would've missed the bus. We'll see if we have anyone else wants to share the cab as well. Either way, pleased to keep our planned start date of the 3rd from SJPP.