New to European Travel

[Scubageek]

After being away from this forum for over a year I am back. I was planning on hiking the Camino in 2020, but we all know what happened. I am going to walk it in 2023. I have questions, or maybe they are concerns, on transportation. I am flying into Madrid and then starting my walk in Astorga walking to Finisterre. My walk starts April 27th.

Questions:
What is the best way to travel from Madrid to Astorga?
Do I purchase my tickets before the trip?
When I finish in Finisterre, what is the best way to get back to Madrid? Can I go directly from Finisterre to Madrid?
Any hotel recommendations for Madrid? Santiago?

I really appreciate any help.

 

[SabsP]

After being away from this forum for over a year I am back. I was planning on hiking the Camino in 2020, but we all know what happened. I am going to walk it in 2023. I have questions, or maybe they are concerns, on transportation. I am flying into Madrid and then starting my walk in Astorga walking to Finisterre. My walk starts April 27th.

Questions:
What is the best way to travel from Madrid to Astorga?
Do I purchase my tickets before the trip?
When I finish in Finisterre, what is the best way to get back to Madrid? Can I go directly from Finisterre to Madrid?
Any hotel recommendations for Madrid? Santiago?

I really appreciate any help.

This website is a good tool.

Rome2rio: discover how to get anywhere

Discover how to get anywhere by searching plane, train, bus, car and ferry routes

www.rome2rio.com

Train and bus are both options though the Alsa bus departs directly from the airport making it less complicated than taking the train to Chamartin and then onwards to Astorga.

It is always interesting to prebuy your tickets, especially when you are travelling at peak moments.

Finishing in Finisterre means travelling back by bus to Santiago and from there you can train to Madrid.

Nice places to stay the night in Santiago, depending on your budget :

Hostel in Santiago de Compostela

Hostel Suso in Santiago de Compostela. The hostel is located 150 meters from the Cathedral of Santiago. Familiar and charming hostel. info@hostalsuso.com

www.hostalsuso.com

Hortas P.R. | Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña

Hortas P.R está ubicado en una casa de piedra construida en 1840, a 100 m de la Catedral de Santiago de Compostela. Wi-Fi gratis.

www.hotelesfinder.com

 

[Tincatinker]

Hi @Scubageek. What’s wrong with the answers you got to the same question last time around? The logistics remain the same and www.rome2rio.com remains the best available resource for resolving them.
Fisterra to Madrid? Bus to Santiago, train to Madrid.
Hotel recommendations? I really don’t do that sort of thing. There are many websites that will.
Happy planning

 

[Bill's_Walking]

After being away from this forum for over a year I am back. I was planning on hiking the Camino in 2020, but we all know what happened. I am going to walk it in 2023. I have questions, or maybe they are concerns, on transportation. I am flying into Madrid and then starting my walk in Astorga walking to Finisterre. My walk starts April 27th.

Questions:
What is the best way to travel from Madrid to Astorga?
Do I purchase my tickets before the trip?
When I finish in Finisterre, what is the best way to get back to Madrid? Can I go directly from Finisterre to Madrid?
Any hotel recommendations for Madrid? Santiago?

I really appreciate any help.

I'm always partial to trains. What ever you do, yes purchase your tickets before hand. Not sure about Finsterre to Madrid, but I expect you'll have to go back to Santiago to make arrangements to Madrid.

I stayed at hotel A Tafona d Peregrino in Santiago de Compostella. It's close to the center and was very nice with helpful staff.

​

 

[TrvlDad1]

Hard to beat the ALSA bus, jump on at T4 and off on Astorga a couple of blocks below the Cathedral, and sleep on the bus.

 

[pjacobi]

European travel is a skill that you need to master. I strongly suggest a trip to Europe *before* you Camino so that you can get some experience with the travel skills that you will need on the Camino. There are lots of lessons to be learned from selecting airline tickets, local transportation, jet lag, accommodations, money, credit cards, personal security, phone, communication with non-native language, etc.

Consider a "dry run" trip to Spain to gain travel experience before your Camino. You won't be bored as there are plenty of things to see and do in Madrid.

When it comes time for your actual Camino, all the travel skills that you learned will be great help, allowing you to concentrate more on the Camino.


-Paul

 

[SabsP]

European travel is a skill that you need to master. I strongly suggest a trip to Europe *before* you Camino so that you can get some experience with the travel skills that you will need on the Camino. There are lots of lessons to be learned from selecting airline tickets, local transportation, jet lag, accommodations, money, credit cards, personal security, phone, communication with non-native language, etc.

Consider a "dry run" trip to Spain to gain travel experience before your Camino. You won't be bored as there are plenty of things to see and do in Madrid.

When it comes time for your actual Camino, all the travel skills that you learned will be great help, allowing you to concentrate more on the Camino.


-Paul

Euh? What do I miss? " European travel is a skill ". Not more than travelling in any other continent I believe.
A dry run? Please do not overcomplicate things.

With the modern tools / apps and the world wibe web right in front of us , planning a trip has never been easier.

I remember in the eighties when I travelled on a Railpass through Europe and no cellphone close by. That meant improvisation. Nowadays : not so much.

 

[TrvlDad1]

On the Camino, part of the fun is getting lost or off-track, but if you do, it probably will not last long. A few years ago,I took off from the Camino on a six mile, unmarked detour to some ruins and was stopped by one car and two locals who tried to direct me back to the CF. When I told them where I was going, none of them seemed to have heard of it.

 

[C clearly]

Consider a "dry run" trip to Spain to gain travel experience before your Camino.

This doesn't seem necessary to me, or even particularly helpful.

Certainly one learns how to travel, by traveling, but a competent adult can manage. Doing a "normal" trip to Europe will just bring forward the learning how to travel to/from Spain. Adding on the Camino will not be more difficult than sightseeing and day excursions around Madrid. In fact, when heading for the Camino, all you need to do is follow other pilgrims and the arrows.

 

[VNwalking]

European travel is a skill that you need to master. I strongly suggest a trip to Europe *before* you Camino so that you can get some experience with the travel skills that you will need on the Camino. There are lots of lessons to be learned from selecting airline tickets, local transportation, jet lag, accommodations, money, credit cards, personal security, phone, communication with non-native language, etc.

Seriously? You are not going to the moon, Europe is much more travel-friendly than the United States, with more than ample infrastructure and public transport.

Euh? What do I miss? " European travel is a skill ". Not more than travelling in any other continent I believe.
A dry run? Please do not overcomplicate things.

Certainly one learns how to travel, by traveling, but a competent adult can manage. Doing a "normal" trip to Europe will just bring forward the learning how to travel to/from Spain.

Exactly. Just go - you will find you survive just fine.

 

[Tincatinker]

Oh, I think practice is really important. When I was about 10 years old I practiced walking out into the wilderness and spending the night in the forest. Ok so I could still hear the noise from my families camp but I was in the wilderness. By the age of 12 some of those trips were lasting 3 or 4 days and I couldn’t hear family/familiar noises anymore. By my teens I was in foreign countries where language, custom and even food was different. Previous practice came in handy.
Traveling in “Yerp” these days scarcely requires practice. There is a golden arch on every boulevard. There are some thousand apps and websites that will add to the confusion but can be disregarded. Life is not a rehearsal

 

[SabsP]

Oh, I think practice is really important. When I was about 10 years old I practiced walking out into the wilderness and spending the night in the forest. Ok so I could still hear the noise from my families camp but I was in the wilderness. By the age of 12 some of those trips were lasting 3 or 4 days and I couldn’t hear family/familiar noises anymore. By my teens I was in foreign countries where language, custom and even food was different. Previous practice came in handy.
Traveling in “Yerp” these days scarcely requires practice. There is a golden arch on every boulevard. There are some thousand apps and websites that will add to the confusion but can be disregarded. Life is not a rehearsal

Ok you win though I must say that when I was six my grandfather sent me to a local shop three streets further from his workshop. Little me was ordered to buy a bottle of brandy so he could treat his employees for a happy hour avant la lettre....
Indeed Life is not a rehearsal!

 

[henrythedog]

Ok you win though I must say that when I was six my grandfather sent me to a local shop three streets further from his workshop. Little me was ordered to buy a bottle of brandy so he could treat his employees for a happy hour avant la lettre....
Indeed Life is not a rehearsal!

Vive la difference!

Rural areas where I lived as a child had a healthy disregard for laws which were seen as unnecessary; alcohol, firearms, tobacco, possession of a driving licence etc. but even there and then a six-year-old buying a bottle of brandy would have been regarded as adventurous.

 

[pjacobi]

An example of a travel skills that you need to learn is how to handle the effects of jet lag from the US to Europe. Everyone is different and will require different remedies. An inexperienced traveler may choose the one *wrong* method and that is to listen to your body and sleep at the wrong time. This will only prolog the jet lag and could put you days behind in a Camino plan.

It's far better to get some experience with jet lag in a prior trip to better plan for your Camino.


-Paul

 

[C clearly]

It's far better to get some experience with jet lag in a prior trip to better plan for your Camino.

Good point. The tricky thing is that in spite of plenty of experience, I find that my jet lag depends on so many factors that it is hard to predict and plan for. And it might be getting worse with age. Sometimes I suffer and sometimes not so much, so I make sure that my schedule at the start is not too ambitious.

It is definitely good advice to be prepared for jet lag, for the sleep disruptions it causes, and not to expect too much of yourself in the days after travel.

 

[VNwalking]

An example of a travel skills that you need to learn is how to handle the effects of jet lag from the US to Europe.

That's not a 'travel skill' so much as it is a matter of good sense and mental resilience - it's a thing to be sure, but even at its worst it's hardly the end of the world. Not making a big deal of it is 90% of the battle won. If it happens, you roll with it. If not, great.

As @Cclearly says, a slow start gives space to get over the worst of jetlag if you need to. So don't plan to get to SJPP after many hours of travel and push yourself to walk to Orisson that day. Take a couple of nights to decompress before you walk, and to let mind and body catch up to each other. I did that once after flying straight from Hawai'i and getting to SJPP in the evening - after something like 28 hours of travel - and took the whole next day to wander around and get grounded, with no agenda at all. By the morning after that I was ready to walk.

 

[DoughnutANZ]

It's far better to get some experience with jet lag in a prior trip to better plan for your Camino.

Yes, I recommend a trip to Aotearoa New Zealand before your Camino so that you get plenty of experience with jet lag.

Send me a PM when you get here and I will show you around.

 

[Embee12]

Euh? What do I miss? " European travel is a skill ". Not more than travelling in any other continent I believe.
A dry run? Please do not overcomplicate things.

With the modern tools / apps and the world wibe web right in front of us , planning a trip has never been easier.

I remember in the eighties when I travelled on a Railpass through Europe and no cellphone close by. That meant improvisation. Nowadays : not so much.

In the 80s - me, too - with the Eurail Pass and a huge copy of “Let’s Go Europe”!

 

[markie6]

"Years ago when I was backpacking across Western Europe" .. ♪♪ Friends theme .♪ ..


Not tricky at all to travel in Europe nowadays