Ideas/costs on shipping unnecessary items to the USA from Spain. (Madrid or Pamplona)

[Kaiso]

Hello,
I travel to Spain on April 25th. I visit several cities before I start my Camino. (probably from Pamplona) I was hoping to take along some travel items (Tablet, clothes, etc) that I'd use on the tourist leg of the trip, but not to carry on the Camino. Anyone have ideas on shipping costs from Spain to the US. I'm just trying to figure out if it's worth it. I expect to begin my walk May 11th or 12th.

 

[naplesdon]

I live in France part of the year and I can tell you from experience it is not cheap. I would not trust the Postal systems of the US or Spain with items like a tablet. My suggestion would be to talk to Fedex or DHL and ask them for quotes based on your estimate of the weight and value of the items you plan ship and how easy it will be to have them cleared trough customs.

 

[t2andreo]

What most of us veterans do it ship our surplus items, even if in luggage ahead to Santiago, using the post office, or a parcel delivery service. You can usually track your items thought the Portuguese post office or a delivery service using their app.

Allow a lot of time, as this can take upwards of a week. I would check with FedEx, UPS and DHL, among others too, if shipping from Portugal into Spain.

Plan A - If you have a hotel reserved at Santiago, you really should from now through the end of September, send them an email asking if they will hold a parcel, piece of luggage for your arrival. They usually always say yes.

Plan B - Ship the items to Ivar at Santiago. He will store it until you pick it up for a nominal fee. This is how he supports his family. Go here for instructions:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/i-am-arriving-at-sjpp-with-my-suitcase-how-do-i-ship-it-to-santiago.45855/#post-733490

This is a lot cheaper than shipping items back to North America. In my experience, and as Don alludes to, the cost of shipping could exceed the value of the items you are sending home.

Hope this helps.

 

[trecile]

You are better off sending them to Santiago to be stored by Ivar

http://www.casaivar.com/luggage-storage-in-santiago-de-compostela/

The Spanish post office Correos has information here

https://www.elcaminoconcorreos.com/en/

I used Correos last year, and they will email you tracking information. My things were delivered within 3 days.

 

[gloria lowe]

Ship to Ivar. So easy and convenient.