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Oloron to Somport

Karl G

Member
Time of past OR future Camino
August and September 2019 - Arles
I am going to have the opportunity in a week to do a two week “test run” of a part of the Camino I have planned for September/October. I’d like to start in Oleron St. Marie but haven’t found any English language sources of information - especially accomodations - for the possible stages between Oleron and Somport. I have good information from Somport onwards.

Does anyone have any English references for that small section of the Arles immediately preceding the Aragones? Does anyone have accomodation and/or route or stage suggestions between Oleron and Somport?

Many thanks!
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Karl,
Check out the posts/links in this earlier forum thread.
Also check out the other relevant older answers automatically cited below this one.

For general info amd a handy schematic map see

You may enjoy this French blog from 2004.

Happy planning and Bon chemin!
 
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Use Google Chrome browser to translate Gronze.com info on this final section of the Arles Way. I contra-walked it two weeks ago and found it beautiful and easy to find accommodations despite a complete lack of French! I highly recommend the route, but definitely head down into Jaca to finish the “crossing”. FYI: Albergue in Confranc Pueblo is indefinitely closed, but Confranc Estacion is open and excellent.

We stayed at:
Oloron - Sarrance - Borce - Somport

PM me if you want specific info/photos, otherwise I’m happy to post info here.
 
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Get the Miam Miam Dodo for the Arles route. It is in French but accommodations and route info is clear without knowledge of French.
 
Use Google Chrome browser to translate Gronze.com info on this final section of the Arles Way. I contra-walked it two weeks ago and found it beautiful and easy to find accommodations despite a complete lack of French! I highly recommend the route, but definitely head down into Jaca to finish the “crossing”. FYI: Albergue in Confranc Pueblo is indefinitely closed, but Confranc Estacion is open and excellent.

We stayed at:
Oloron - Sarrance - Borce - Somport

PM me if you want specific info/photos, otherwise I’m happy to post info here.

Thanks for suggesting translating Gronze. Very helpful. Unfortunately the links in many old posts are broken and the information can be outdated. Gronze has some good information and current accomodation options that are much appreciated.
 
Get the Miam Miam Dodo for the Arles route. It is in French but accommodations and route info is clear without knowledge of French.

Thanks for recommending the Miam Miam Dodo for the maps. Unfortunately I’m in the US and just checked Amazon. It only ships from the UK so without paying expedited shipping it probably won’t arrive in time.

By chance do you know of any other sources of detailed maps? I’m a little concerned about finding the route and staying on it as I don’t know how well it is marked and we will need some reference to find it again if we accidentally lose the trail or make a wrong turn.

Maybe there will be a copy in Oleron but I’d like to have a back up if not.

Thanks again for any help or ideas you can offer.
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
There are several places on the trail where you might buy the Miam Miam DoDo guide. For example a bookstore in Arles, the Tourist Office in Oloron and the redone station/albergue complex at Canfranc. Even 'ordinary' gas stations along the Spanish E 7 highway route sell such books.
Good luck and Bon chemin/Buen camino
 
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The Albergue in Oloron is a wealth of information including maps, turn-by-turn directions, accommodation info, etc...unfortunately it’s all in French! Buen Camino app has great info plus a followable map.
 
Use Google Chrome browser to translate Gronze.com info on this final section of the Arles Way. I contra-walked it two weeks ago and found it beautiful and easy to find accommodations despite a complete lack of French! I highly recommend the route, but definitely head down into Jaca to finish the “crossing”. FYI: Albergue in Confranc Pueblo is indefinitely closed, but Confranc Estacion is open and excellent.

We stayed at:
Oloron - Sarrance - Borce - Somport

PM me if you want specific info/photos, otherwise I’m happy to post info here.

Thanks for suggesting translating Gronze. Very helpful. Unfortunately the links in many old posts are broken and the information can be outdated.
Get the Miam Miam Dodo for the Arles route. It is in French but accommodations and route info is clear without knowledge of French.
The Albergue in Oloron is a wealth of information including maps, turn-by-turn directions, accommodation info, etc...unfortunately it’s all in French! Buen Camino app has great info plus a followable map.

I have the Buen Camino app but I cannot find any information on the Arles. There are a variety of other Caminos but no Arles. Is there another version by chance? Is it showing up in your app?

Thank you for your help.
 
St James' Way - Self-guided 4-7 day Walking Packages, Reading to Southampton, 110 kms
Sorry, I meant the Buen Camino for the Aragones Route (which is the continuation of the Arles route into Spain). Sorry about the confusion.

Not sure what you meant about broken links and old post in Gronze - there’s a guide section for the Arles in there that I used a few weeks ago that was accurate and worked.
 
Sorry, I meant the Buen Camino for the Aragones Route (which is the continuation of the Arles route into Spain). Sorry about the confusion.

Not sure what you meant about broken links and old post in Gronze - there’s a guide section for the Arles in there that I used a few weeks ago that was accurate and worked.
Sorry for the confusion. The comment about broken links in old posts was meant for another poster - and maybe even on another thread... 🤪
 
Where I stayed, May 2018:

Oloron - Hotel de la Paix (near bus station, adequate)
Sarrance - Les Pas Sages (recommended!)
Borce - Maison Bergoun (recommended!), but albergue looked OK....
Somport - Pushed on to Canfranc Estacion instead....
 
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Use Google Chrome browser to translate Gronze.com info on this final section of the Arles Way. I contra-walked it two weeks ago and found it beautiful and easy to find accommodations despite a complete lack of French! I highly recommend the route, but definitely head down into Jaca to finish the “crossing”. FYI: Albergue in Confranc Pueblo is indefinitely closed, but Confranc Estacion is open and excellent.

We stayed at:
Oloron - Sarrance - Borce - Somport

PM me if you want specific info/photos, otherwise I’m happy to post info here.
Gronze is fantastic. I highly recommend it over the Miam Miam Dodo having used both for the Arles route. It not only has up-to-date info on accommodations, but the elevation maps are great.
 
I start my unexpected “warm-up” Camino tomorrow with a flight to Madrid and then Bordeaux. Tuesday is the train to Oloron and then the journey begins. Thank you all for all of your help. I’m really looking forward to the days ahead. 👍🏻
 
I am going to have the opportunity in a week to do a two week “test run” of a part of the Camino I have planned for September/October. I’d like to start in Oleron St. Marie but haven’t found any English language sources of information - especially accomodations - for the possible stages between Oleron and Somport. I have good information from Somport onwards.

Does anyone have any English references for that small section of the Arles immediately preceding the Aragones? Does anyone have accomodation and/or route or stage suggestions between Oleron and Somport?

Many thanks!
H Karl, I didn't stop in Oloron but followed the Arles to Somport. Perhaps this thread could help.
Cheers
 
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We were unable to obtain a Miam Miam Dodo at the Oloron-Sainte-Marie Office of Tourism but the woman at Relais du Bastet made copies of the relevant pages for us. Very kind.

However, even better was we fell in with a French gentleman who had done multiple Camino’s and he was using a fantastic app called Windy Maps - highly recommended, I cant imagine why I never heard of it before - offline super details interactive maps with Camino routs clearly marked 👍🏻 It’s what I’ll be using the next trip.
 
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It's not in English, but Gronze is very good for the Voie d'Arles. I think actually better than the Miam Miam Dodo at times for this particular route. It's in Spanish, but I use it with limited Spanish as it is fairly intuitive. https://www.gronze.com/camino-arles
Gronze.com is especially useful for accommodation information. I was tipped off on another thread that if you open the site using the Google Chrome browser an English translation is available.

Definitely an excellent resource. 👍🏻
 
I start my unexpected “warm-up” Camino tomorrow with a flight to Madrid and then Bordeaux. Tuesday is the train to Oloron and then the journey begins. Thank you all for all of your help. I’m really looking forward to the days ahead. 👍🏻

Well? How was it?
 
Well? How was it?
Really good but not as planned. My youngest son and I started in Oloron St. Marie and headed to Somport and the Aragones. I loved the countryside, food, and pretty much everything. The one hitch was my son developed an Achilles’ tendon problem when we got to Urdos. We decided to call a halt to the hiking at that point before it got bad. So, we hopped a bus back to Bedous, and hung out and rested for a few days in a fabulous little village. In the meantime, son #1 flew over to meet us. We took the bus to Somport and train to Jaca and had a great time there for a couple of days to complete the healing. Thanks for the tip on the Hotel Acebo - it worked out great.

Next stop was a bus ride to Llierda and a day hiking to the Gorge and through the tunnels to Lumbier. Fantastic day. Next stop was Pamplona for a couple of days, then a train to Madrid and a day hiking around the city.

So, a classic case of when you get lemons, make lemonade. Great trip.

The days in France, though, convinced me to change my plans for my upcoming trip. I was going to hike Somport to Santiago. Now I’m leaving in 12 days to walk from Arles to Somport. Can’t wait.
 
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