Leaving Canada late April

[judyandbonnie]

Hi,
My name is Judy. My friend Bonnie and I will be arriving at SJPP April 27th/08.
We fly into Bilbao. Any idea how to get to SJPP from Bilbao? It's a great adventure and I look forward to meeting many of you.
Judy

 

[Arn]

Judy, I will be flying into Madrid with a week stopover in Malaga, before I start my Camino from SJPDP. I've gotten the following info from another site:

By Bus

Eurolines does seem to be the best for long distance travel. They go from all over Europe to Bayonne, which is only a short train ride from St Jean. Check their web site for price and timetable.
By Train

I traveled once to Paris on a very cheap flight, stayed over night to sight see and then traveled by sncf overnight to Bayonne, I booked well in advance and it was about €45. I arrived in St Jean early in the morning and started walking that day. The same train goes to Pamplona. If you intend to travel by train along any parts of the Camino in August - book well in advance - some days can be completely sold out during the August holidays.

By Air - Airports near the Camino route.

* Biarritz - south west France
* Vitoria (near Pamplona)
* Zaragoza (near Pamplona and Jaca for Somport pass route)
* Barcelona (long bus journey to Pamplona)
* Pau (short bus if starting at Somport - longer if going to St Jean)
* Pamplona (short bus journey to Roncesvalles or walk from here)

There are other airports at Bilbao, Santander and Madrid, however I would consider traveling from these a bit of a long haul.

Check the SNCF web site for information on timetable. From Pamplona to Roncesvalles by bus takes one hour and is about €3.

Buen Camino
Arn