Overnight stay in Pamplona prior to SJPP

[Sebastian Cohen]

EDIT:

I was checking trains from Alicante to Pamplona. I now see that my options are much much better going from Alicante-Madrid and then Madrid-Pamplona. Its actually almost the same price and it takes 5 hours all together and not 9 hours (train times only, not waiting time in Madrid Station).

This way I will get on the bus that leaves 17:30 from Pamplona as well.

PERFECT....I'm such a smart little fellow I need to pat myself on the back!

S


So,

checking train tables it appears trains arriving from Madrid get to Pamplona 18:26 the earliest.

The bus from Pamplona to SJPP leaves 17:30 the latest.

So I will need to have an overnight in Pamplona I guess.

Then I can leave the next day at 14:30 or 17:30.

Then I will need another sleepover in SJPP before I start walking.

But I will not yet have received my Camino Passport, so how can I stay in the Albergues? Are there any other cheap lodgings that's not too shabby?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

how can I stay in the Albergues?

Credencials are available at the desk in Jesus y Maria and Paderborn, so you can buy one and stay there. Other albergues may do the same.

 

[SabsP]

Credencials are available at the desk in Jesus y Maria and Paderborn, so you can buy one and stay there. Other albergues may do the same.

Same goes for Albergue Casa Paderborn.

 

[whariwharangi]

Try going from Alicante to Irun/Hendaye.

Alicante to Madrid Atocha 0720 - 0932

Cercanias or Metro from Atocha to Chamartin ...

Madrid Chamartin to Irun 1015 - 1651

Donostialdea Metro or taxi 3 km from Irun to Hendaye

Hendaye to Bayonne 1720 -1755

Bayonne to SJPdP 1806 - 1912

If you want to take later trains, make an overnight stop at Irun. You can catch SNCF train from Hendaye 0650 in the AM to Bayonne and from Bayonne to SJPdP arriving at 0843.

If you plan to stay at SJPdP ... the pilgrim office stays open till the last train from Bayonne arrives. You can get your credencial at the pilgrim office and they will assist in finding you a bed.

 

[Dutchwalk53]

I'm doing the same....I will arrive, like you, in Pamplona early evening and the next day I will take the bus to SJPP. I love Pamplona and staying over for the night will give me a chance to get over my jet leg. After checking into a hostel , I will sit on the main square and enjoy some food and red wine.... THAT'S when my Camino will start I'm sure some Albergues will cooperate when you explain if you can't get the credential that night. Worst case...pre book a private albergue in Pamplona . Not sure when you go but you should be able to find some cheap ones.

 

[michelle grech]

I did exactly the same thing in May 2014. Stayed at Aloha hostel and hadn't bought my credential yet. Was still charged the pilgrim's rate. Shared a taxi to SJPP with another pilgrim. I then bought my passport it SJPP as I wanted the french one from the office which was just opposite the Albergue I was staying in the night before kick-off.

 

[Camino2010]

I stayed overnight at Albergue Jesus y Maria in Pamplona in 2010, then went to SJPP the next day. I had my pilgrim passport from Canada in advance that year, but they do have Spanish credentials there at the albergue as someone else said. I haven't used a Canadian credential since (I've walked the Camino Francés four times) but these days I always end up with three credentials anyway, one from France, one from Spain (when I run out of space in the French one -- I don't collect sellos everywhere, but I do enjoy getting more than the minimum, in places that are memorable for one reason or another), and the Fisterra credential when I walk from Santiago to the coast.

It's all good. Congratulations on saving yourself train time, and Buen Camino!

P.S. It was really neat that first year, being at Jesus y Maria and meeting pilgrims who'd come across the Route Napoleon and made their way to Pamplona. I was completely new to the Camino and a little in awe of them, and then 6 days later (I stayed in Orisson the first year) I'd walked myself back there again!