JFK or Bos to Paris....May 2012

[adesmar123]

Hello all,

I plan to walk the Camino in May 2012. I will be flying int Paris is May. for anyone who has done that type of trip, when do you thin k the best time is to buy your airline tickets? I don't want to wait too long, but also 8 months is probably too early.

Thanks for any help that you might offer...

Buen Camino

Alan

 

[meisterbalogna]

Hello Alan!

I am actually also planning on travelling from Boston to Paris and doing the Camino starting early May 2012. I haven't booked my tickets either so please let me know if you find any new information I may not know about. I'd also be interested in perhaps heading from Paris to St Jean together if you like!

Good luck either way and I look forward to hearing more about how a fellow Bostonian will make the journey.

Best,
Joan

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Alan and Joan, wishing you the best on this wonderful journey.

I know that you didn't ask this question, but it recently came up on another thread, so I'll offer some unsolicited advice. If you are starting in St. Jean, You might want to check out the option of flying in and out of Madrid, because Paris to St. Jean is actually several hundred kilometers further than Madrid to St. Jean. Neither trip is non-stop direct, so both involve changes, and you have to weigh that in as well. You can find lots of advice on this forum about the different travel options from either place, and then choose for yourself. And for the return trip home, Santiago to Madrid is of course much quicker and easier than back to Paris. You may also find that tickets to Madrid are cheaper than into Paris.

Of course if your idea is to spend a few days in Paris before starting out, that's a different story, but Madrid is quite a great place to spend some time as well. Buen camino, Laurie

 

[adesmar123]

Joan and Laurie,

My plan is to arrive in Paris (CDG) on 5/11/12. Working backwards from SJPdP, there is a train which arrives in the afternoon around 4:00 PM. I thought that would be better than getting in at night with time for orientation and documentation. There is a train through Bordeuax to Bayonne from CDG. But that leaves at 7:40AM. So a flight into CDG needs to arrive very early especially if checking luggage. But there is a train from the Paris - Montparnasse station that leaves at 10:10 arrives at Bayionne at 2:55 PM in time for the 3:05 train to SJPdP.

Phew! All that said I think its doable either way. There is a JFK Air France flight that arrives at 6:00 AM. I think American has a flight that arrives at 7:35AM into CDG. That would leave 3 hours to goes through customs and get a bus / train to Montparnasse. I think there is a comparable flight from BOS too.

Joan, what day were you planning to leave. My daughter is getting married on 5/5/12. So I thought I'd leave the next week.

Even if we come in on different flights, we can meet up at the airport to navigate the Paris mass transit system together.

Laurie, I like the Paris to SJPdP route better. Except for the last leg, its high speed train. So you get to see the French countryside as you travel.

I thought going back from Madrid is the spot of choice. You can get a flight out of SdC. Its expensive on one airline. But I am going to try a European discount airline, with a major carrier to the US.

In case you haven't found it, Hipmunk.com is a good place to see all the flights for the day.

Sorry to be so loquacious. But I think I got it all said!


Buen Camino

Alan

 

[meisterbalogna]

Alan and Laurie,

Thank you for the information, both of you!

I was planning on arriving at CDG May 2, but like I said, have not booked tickets yet. I am attempting to back into a Santiago arrival date of June 6th ( my 30th birthday) so wanted to give myself ample time to make my June deadline.

On that note, Laurie, does that seem like a reasonable timeline?

I have not decided whether I will fly home via Paris or Madrid yet and am very open to either. I plan on doing some traveling at the end of my journey in one of the two places for another week.

Alan, what helpful info! That is the same train route I was looking at from Paris to St Jean and around the same time of day I'd like to make it there. That will work out beautifully if I can manage it.

Thanks again,
Joan

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Joan,
One of the most frustrating things for those of us who have to fly very long distances to start the Camino is that we have to buy a return ticket when we buy our flight across the ocean, which in turn means we have to know when we're going to arrive in Santiago! I hate doing this, and I'm frequently wrong, which means either that I have extra days to walk to Finisterre, or I have to hurry up and hoof it more than I would like. So I'm probably not the best person to give you advice on this. And also, since I'm twice your age, my gauging might be very different (translate slower) than yours.

But having said that, I usually start walking on Day 3 or 4 of my trip. That is, Day 1, leave US; Day 2 -- arrive in Madrid and take train/bus to starting point, Day 3 -- relax, buy food for walk, get over jet lag, etc. Day 4 -- start walking. If you are going to start in St. Jean, it's worth it, IMO, to spend a day there just enjoying the town -- a little touristy to be sure, but quite scenic. So, if you start walking on May 4, and you want to arrive in Santiago on June 6, that's 32 days of walking if I'm counting right. I think that's just a teeny bit short of the "average" -- I think most people take 33-35 days. If you're reasonably fit and don't want to have any rest days to visit, e.g, Pamplona, Burgos, or Leon, the three main cities the camino passes through, I think it's perfectly do-able, especially given how young you are. I think it would be wonderful to arrive in Santiago on your birthday! Buen camino, Laurie

 

[Nandy61]

Joan,

Last year my daughter and I took an AerLingus flight out of Boston to Dublin. It was much cheaper than anything into France. From there we took Ryanair to Biarritz (19 euros) We arrived by 3:30pm. Carolin at Bourricot Express collected us at the airport. The van was full, so we only paid 8 euros to get to StJPP.
For the return, there were two options back to Dublin- Ryanair (thru London) and AerLingus direct. Check them out.

 

[meisterbalogna]

Thanks so much! I'll look into it!