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lovelyshell

Active Member
Time of past OR future Camino
October/November 2016
Hi -
I fly into Biarritz next Monday and I am now considering going to Lourdes. I see on Rome2Rio.com that Lourdes is a 2 hour drive from SJPDP so can this be done as a "day trip"from SJPDP? I'm thinking I could head to SJPDP from Biarritz, check into my hotel to recover from jet lag, the next day make a day trip to Lourdes and then start CF the following day (so three nights total in SJPDP) - is this feasible or does anyone have a better recommendation to experience Lourdes while I am in the region? Any insight or suggestions would be much appreciated! I do need to spend some time in SJPDP to see the town and get some hiking poles. I am planning to stop in Orrison so I believe I don't need to head out as early on the day I start CF and perhaps I could get my poles that morning. Too many decisions I don't know the answers too...please help if you can!
Thank you.
 
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I got tired just reading your plans...:)
To me, it makes much more sense going Biarritz (actually, Bayonne, the adjacent city) - Lourdes, right away, by train. See SNCF for schedules.
I don't know if there are buses for Lourdes-SJPP. Ask in the tourism bureau, Place Peyramale, 65100 Lourdes (this is the main square, do visit the parish church). Both places are not connected by the main routes
I suppose that by taxi is feasible, although expensive. Or you can return by train to Bayonne, then to SJPP.
I see a Decathlon outdoor and sport shop in Biarritz, for buying your poles.
http://www.decathlon.fr/fr/store?store_id=PS_47
Both Biarritz and Bayonne are lovely cities. You can spend a day (or a night) there.
There is a Saint James pilgrim bureau in Lourdes, here . You can stamp your credential -a nice souvenir of your visit.
Buen camino!
 
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The first edition came out in 2003 and has become the go-to-guide for many pilgrims over the years. It is shipping with a Pilgrim Passport (Credential) from the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela.
Hi -
I fly into Biarritz next Monday and I am now considering going to Lourdes. I see on Rome2Rio.com that Lourdes is a 2 hour drive from SJPDP so can this be done as a "day trip"from SJPDP? I'm thinking I could head to SJPDP from Biarritz, check into my hotel to recover from jet lag, the next day make a day trip to Lourdes and then start CF the following day (so three nights total in SJPDP) - is this feasible or does anyone have a better recommendation to experience Lourdes while I am in the region? Any insight or suggestions would be much appreciated! I do need to spend some time in SJPDP to see the town and get some hiking poles. I am planning to stop in Orrison so I believe I don't need to head out as early on the day I start CF and perhaps I could get my poles that morning. Too many decisions I don't know the answers too...please help if you can!
Thank you.

Transports64 offers bus service from SJPdP to St Palais, and from St Palais to Orthez. SNCF operates a train from Orthez to Lourdes.

It probably works out better taking SNCF train from SJPdP to Bayonne and Bayonne to Lourdes.

It wouldn't work as a day trip unless you rent a car. I would not rely on Rome2Rio as a reliable source for driving time.

If you want to go to Lourdes I would suggest going there from Biarritz using SNCF trains. Then, when you have finished with the sights of Lourdes, go to SJPdP.

'Too many decisions' ... not. Are you there to walk the camino or are you there to be a tourist.

Did you know its possible to start walking from Lourdes?
 
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Now in response to your question, I agree with Felipe.
I feel you are trying to do way too much in too little time.:eek:
Having been to Lourdes and walked from there to Spain, I can tell you in my opinion, it's more than a day trip.
But it's your Camino - do what makes you happy. ;)
 
Hi -
I fly into Biarritz next Monday and I am now considering going to Lourdes. I see on Rome2Rio.com that Lourdes is a 2 hour drive from SJPDP so can this be done as a "day trip"from SJPDP? I'm thinking I could head to SJPDP from Biarritz, check into my hotel to recover from jet lag, the next day make a day trip to Lourdes and then start CF the following day (so three nights total in SJPDP) - is this feasible or does anyone have a better recommendation to experience Lourdes while I am in the region? Any insight or suggestions would be much appreciated! I do need to spend some time in SJPDP to see the town and get some hiking poles. I am planning to stop in Orrison so I believe I don't need to head out as early on the day I start CF and perhaps I could get my poles that morning. Too many decisions I don't know the answers too...please help if you can!
Thank you.

Hi lovelyshell

I have walked into Lourdes from Le Puy, and given its size and location, I would struggle to see it as a part of day trip from SJPdP. At the best of times it is crowded with people and tour buses, so simply parking would be challenge at best. Many of the tourist sites have long line ups, so it would be hard to see most places within a day trip.

As wisely suggested by @whariwharangi, I would consider taking the train instead but keep in mind the train connections from SJPdP are slow and infrequent. Therefore I would instead plan to spend a couple of nights in Lourdes. In my opinion @whariwharangi was trying to offer some sound suggestions and I am sure that others that have been to Lourdes would offer the same advice.

And again as suggested you could start your camino from Lourdes instead of SJPdP. Others on this forum have done so, and there is good advice in other threads about which way to go after leaving Lourdes.
 
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I can't see anything wrong or inconvenient about your idea of a previous trip to Lourdes...it is your time and your business. Just quite tiring...I'd try to simplify my schedule, and take the simpler (not necessarily the shorter) transportation way -which means the train.
Do consider a rest day in Biarritz/Bayonne. You can visit the pilgrim's bureau in Bayonne cathedral, just to talk with former pilgrims (and even get a stamp). Or walk along the Nive river (this is actually a secondary pilgrimage way, going to SJPP).
About Lourdes...well, it is definitely an experience. I have mixed memories of my visit. You will see...
 
My wife ,son, daughter in law and I went to Lourdes driving down from Paris several years ago, not as part of pilgrimages walking the caminos. It, for us, as Roman Catholics, was an incredibly spiritual experience. Yes, there are folks who visit it as merely a tourist attraction much as some undertake the Camino as just a cheap hike but both are so much more. Not to experience the spiritual aspects of both is to deprive oneself of major life changing experiences. I would certainly concur with a recommendation above to stay there at least one or two nights. The experience of being one of several thousand of the faithful carrying candles in a procession around the grounds, praying the rosary, following people brought there, many in wheelchairs, who have come to pray for healing is one I shall never forget.
 
One full day in Lourdes..two night stay...it's a lot to take in. Then train to St Jean via Bayonne. The walk from Lourdes is about 100 miles and not as well marked as it could be.
 
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