How to get from Oviedo to San Esteban on the Camino del Nort

[Peregrina 2013]

Hi fellow Pilgrims,

One of my friends will be flying into Oviedo to meet me and do the rest of the Camino del Norte with me; the problem is that I won't be there yet and she will have to find her way to San Esteban de Leces (according to my calculations that's where we can hook up). My concern is that she does not speak Spanish, although she is very comfortable traveling in Europe on her own. Do any of you have information on how to go from Oviedo to San Esteban de Leces? Are there buses or trains? How far would the station be from the airport? Any links to look up schedules would also be very helpful.

Many thanks!!

Mary

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Mary,
Alsa is the name of the company that provides bus service all over ASturias, and it is, in my experience, quite good. They have four buses a day from Oviedo to San Esteban, 7:30 am, 11:30 am, 15:30, 17:30. Takes about two hours.

I don't remember this town, though I must have walked through when I walked the Norte. According to mundicamino, it's very small (about 150 people) and there doesn't seem to be much there. Ribadesella, a few kms back, is a much bigger town and would be a better town for waiting for a friend to arrive if there was a mixup. But that of course isn't what you asked, so put those comments in the category of unsolicited advice.

Buen camino, Laurie

 

[Peregrina 2013]

Hi Laurie,

I love all your great advice and insight. Ribadesella makes much more sense, of course. I hadn't paid attention to the size of the town at all. My friend will feel relieved once she gets this information you gave me. Thank you so much!
Camino de Levante sounds like another route to consider for the future. The Camino Francés, though it does go through some beautiful cities, is the one that I will never consider doing. Solitude and reflection is what I am searching for, rather than spending much of my time concerned to whether there will be a bed open or not.

¡Buen Camino!

Mary

 

[jnoval]

Here is what she can do. Once she flies into Asturias she will have to get from the airport, which is in Ranon, to Oviedo or Gijon. The misconception is that the airport is in Oviedo. it isn't. That's about 47km to Oviedo or 40km to Gijon. It will be easy to do that since there is regular bus service leaving to the major cities in Asturias, Oviedo, Gijon, Aviles. I believe it is still run by ALSA buses. She can ask at the different information booths in the airport (it is a small airport so it is easy to get around) and buy her ticket there.

Once in either Gijon or Oviedo she can take the ALSA bus. ALSA is the major bus company and it will take her to San Esteban for about 7.5 euros, one way. It looks like it is about 1hr 55 minutes one way from Oviedo.

Here are the different websites:
bus-www.alsa.es the site is in Spanish but on the left side of the webpage she can fill out the 'Origen' and 'Destino' with the appropriate dates. It will then take you to the different scheduled time of departure. The site says that you cannot buy the ticket online so she will have to go to the bus station in either Oviedo or Gijon to purchase it.
ALSA Oviedo-http://www.estaciondeautobusesdeoviedo.com/index.asp?MP=5&MS=0&MN=1&r=1366*768
ALSA Gijon-Calle Ribadesella, 5, 33207 Gijón, Asturias, Spain
+34 902 42 22 42
Lastly, she can just stay in Oviedo, relax, and wait for you to arrive. That would be the easy option. Buena suerte y buen camino. Juan

 

[Peregrina 2013]

Hola Juan,

Gracias por toda la información que me has proporcionado. Oh, sorry! Do you speak Spanish? Thank you for all the details about the airport and the links. This will make y friend feel more in control of her transfer to Ribadesella when she arrives to the airport.

I noticed that you are planning on doing the Camino del Norte next year, although I notice your T-shirt from Gijón. Have you gone on the CDN before?

¡Buen Camino!

Mary

 

[Peregrina 2013]

Help! When I go into ALSA's web and try to type destination, I am unable to do it. The only thing I can do is type in origin and the dates, but nothing else. Any idea why this is happening?

Thanks,

Mary

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Mary,
Is this the site you're using? http://www.alsa.es/en/

I am not very good at anything tech-connected, but I'm able to pull up the schedule (I use "consulta sin fecha" to bring up all the buses, with indication of days of the week that each one runs).

I can send you specific dates and times if you still can't make it work. Laurie

 

[Tia Valeria]

From our CSJ guide the Ribadasella albergue is 5km further on at Leces which is tiny and remote, not on the bus route or the train line. A better idea might be to meet in Ribadasella itself where both ALSA and FEVE stop. There is plenty of accomodation there and a good tourist office. near the river bridge. You could then walk on to the albergue the same day, or maybe further. If staying at Leces you have to buy your food in Ribadasella, unless things have changed this year.

 

[peregrina2000]

I remember that there is an "albergue juvenil" in Ribadesella in a lovely ocean-front building, but in high season it can be hard to get into those youth hostels because of youth groups.

But as Tia Valeria says, you might want to have reservations in a pension or hotel so that you both have a fixed destination to meet up. As a very touristy place, there is no shortage of hotels and pensiones in Ribadesella. But things fill up quickly in high season, or at least they used to in the pre-crisis years.

 

[Tia Valeria]

We have a hotel address in Ribadasella and also some rooms over a cafe. We would have to look them up. PM us if you want the address

 

[Peregrina 2013]

Dear Laurie and Valerie,

Your help is invaluable. Thank you! I have gone on to that website Laurie, and even tried the "without dates" search but still am unable to fill in the destination blank. I kept looking and looking figuring there had to be a way, and finally found this site http://www.independentrip.com/39-espana ... a-autobus/ and here I could see the bus schedule & fares.
Valerie, yes, Ribadesella is a perfect meeting place. I also proposed Villaviciosa to my friend, where we (another friend and I) would stop in the morning, pick her up and move on to Vega de Sariego that night. It would be her choice to decide if she would like to rest one or 2 days prior to our arrival there. It is in Oviedo where I have a hotel reservation for 2 nights. My sister-in-law will be arriving and will also need to recuperate from the long trip. And then, there were four!
Oviedo is such a beautiful city and though 2 days go by quickly we can at least visit the Cathedral!

¡Buen Camino!

Mary

 

[jnoval]

Hola Mary. Se me habia olvidado revisar las respuestas del foro y hasta hoy que voy leyendo tu respuesta. Pues bién, todavía no he caminado el CDN pero viví por muchos años en Gijón y tengo una ganas de salir al camino que me muero. Todavia tengo familia y amigos en Asturias. Espero el próximo año, en verano, hacerlo pero como va el dicho "El hombre propone y Dios dispone". En pocas palabras todo es cuestion de dinero y tiempo. El dilema de todos. La camiseta es del Sporting de Gijón, el equipo de fútbol de la misma ciudad y como soy hincha del fútbol pues no podía faltar ponerme el uniforme para la foto. Bien, para resumir estoy en plena compra de todo el equipo; zapatos, pantalones, mochila, calcetines, etc. y mientras me estoy dando mis paseos para entrenar lo mejor posible. Si no logro hacerme el CDN en este próximo viaje estoy casi seguro que voy a partir de Santander y continuar hasta SDC ó si voy corto de tiempo salgo desde Oviedo y sigo por el Primitivo hasta SDC. De todas formas estoy ansioso de partir cuanto antes. Buen Camino. :grin:

 

[angulero]

Hola Mary. Se me habia olvidado revisar las respuestas del foro y hasta hoy que voy leyendo tu respuesta. Pues bién, todavía no he caminado el CDN pero viví por muchos años en Gijón y tengo una ganas de salir al camino que me muero. Todavia tengo familia y amigos en Asturias. Espero el próximo año, en verano, hacerlo pero como va el dicho "El hombre propone y Dios dispone". En pocas palabras todo es cuestion de dinero y tiempo. El dilema de todos. La camiseta es del Sporting de Gijón, el equipo de fútbol de la misma ciudad y como soy hincha del fútbol pues no podía faltar ponerme el uniforme para la foto. Bien, para resumir estoy en plena compra de todo el equipo; zapatos, pantalones, mochila, calcetines, etc. y mientras me estoy dando mis paseos para entrenar lo mejor posible. Si no logro hacerme el CDN en este próximo viaje estoy casi seguro que voy a partir de Santander y continuar hasta SDC ó si voy corto de tiempo salgo desde Oviedo y sigo por el Primitivo hasta SDC. De todas formas estoy ansioso de partir cuanto antes. Buen Camino. :grin:

No lleves esa camiseta a Oviedo, je, je....

Saludos de un oviedista.

 

[Peregrina 2013]

... todavia tengo familia y amigos en Asturias. Espero el próximo año, en verano, hacerlo pero como va el dicho "El hombre propone y Dios dispone". En pocas palabras todo es cuestion de dinero y tiempo. El dilema de todos. La camiseta es del Sporting de Gijón, el equipo de fútbol de la misma ciudad y como soy hincha del fútbol pues no podía faltar ponerme el uniforme para la foto. Bien, para resumir estoy en plena compra de todo el equipo; zapatos, pantalones, mochila,

Hola Juan, No pasa nada. Pues qué dicha haber vivido por años en Gijón. Es un sitio precioso; estuve allí en el 2001 y no he vuelto a la costa del norte, bueno, sí, he visitado San Sebastián varias veces desde entonces, pero es todo.

Espero que la ilusión que tienes de hacer el CDN, o al menos parte del Camino, se convierta pronto en realidad para ti. Teniendo familia en Asturias es otra razón por la que deberías ir, a menos que como dices es cuestión de finanzas. ¿Adónde te has mudado? ¿Qué tan lejos estás de España? Porque, claro, si es al otro lado del Atlántico, entonces sí, es cosa de buscar billetes de avión constantemente hasta encontrar un precio más reducido, ¡Qué a veces aparecen cuando menos lo esperas!

¡Pues, suerte Juan, continúa con tu entrenamiento y tu entusiasmo por el equipo de fútbol de Gijón y ve a verles el próximo verano!

¡Buen Camino!

Mary

 

[jnoval]

Buenos días Mary, I am doing this in English because it is quite the pain to try to write in Spanish from my phone. It auto-corrects on every word making it difficult and tedious. Anyway, I have lived in the US for more years than I care to remember. I've jumped around living in different states and cities but it looks like I've put down roots in San Antonio, Texas. I go back to Asturias as often as I can with my wife and son but this particular camino has been a personal goal (desire) for a long time. I kick myself for not doing it earlier (college years) when work and family responsibilities were not as pressing but "más vale tarde que nunca". We are looking at next year or in 2015 when our boy will finish high school. I've had to start buying all the gear now piece by piece and saving for the trip since it is quite pricey to outfit all three of us. With a little luck we'll be ready to go in the very near future. I've waited this long so what's another year or so? By the way, when are you planning on going? JN

 

[jnoval]

Tienes razón. Con la camiseta del Sporting me sacan a palos de Uviéu. Pero como soy de Xixón hay que tirar por los de casa. :grin: Puxa Asturies.