Pamplona hotel?

[zeke00]

Hello fellow pilgrims!

I am from Sweden and I am going on my first Camino this may-june (but first I will spend a weekend in Barcelona to see my first Formula 1-race )

Because this is my first Camino I have some questions, so bare with me and my english.
I am planing to go from Barcelona to Pamplona with train and then go to Roncesvalles by bus.
From what I have read on this board, it is adviceable to stay in Pamplona over night, because the refugios in Roncesvalles close quite early. Does anybody know of a good and cheap hotel near the train station?
By the way, where is the train station located? I have looked in maps over Pamplona but haven?t found it.
I don?t know if I will try to go to SJPP, but that is of course the real starting point. I understand, from reading many questions about it, that it is difficult to go from Roncesvalles to SJPP by taxi or some other transportation. I must ask, is it impossible to walk to SJPP? Sure, it makes the Camino a bit longer, but isn?t walking what it?s all about.

I?ll be back with more questions.

Zeke, Sweden

 

[Peter Robins]

where is the train station located? I have looked in maps over Pamplona but haven?t found it.

it's to the NW of the city centre. http://www.pamplona.net is the city website; http://callejero.lanetro.com/APPS/ANIMSA/ is the roadmap they use; search on 'estacion'.

SJPP, but that is of course the real starting point

huh? why is SJPP the 'real starting point'?

 

[zeke00]

Thank you for your answer. It?s a bit easier to search hotels near the train station if I know where the station is.

huh? why is SJPP the 'real starting point'?

Well, I know that one can start from anywhere on the Camino and that the Camino actually have many "starting points", even in Scandinavia. But reading the Camino Frances board, one can easily get the impression that it is from SJPP the Camino Frances really starts.


Gracias
Zeke, Sweden.

 

[peregrina2000]

I see you now have information on the location of the train station, but you might want to think about coming into the city center and spending the night there. The bus station is about a 5-10 minute walk from the main square in the old town, and it doesn't leave till 6p.m., so you're going to have lots of time to explore Pamplona. The historical center of Pamplona is a beautiful place -- lots of good food, lots of people out and about, a beautiful covered market, some nice museums, etc. I have walked the Camino several times and we always stay in the Hostal Bearan on the Calle Bearan (one of the pedestrian streets leading off the plaza). Rooms were about 34E for a room with bath and two twin beds. And it's right down the street from one of my favorite restaurants on the Camino, the Restaurante Basseri. The bar in front has great tapas, and the restaurant in the back has a terrific menu del dia at lunchtime.

 

[zeke00]

Oh, gracias

More information than I asked for. Perhaps one must eat too?

 

[zeke00]

peregrina2000

Is it possible to book a room at Hostal Bearan in advance and preferably via internet? I have searched but I can not find it.
I think it is a bit easier via the web than by telephone, as I do not speak spanish.

 

[peregrina2000]

If you go to this website, http://turismo.navarra.com/pamplona/hotpam.html
you will see a list of all the accommodations in Pamplona (it's the regional government's website, I believe).

If you click on "solicitud de informacion", it will pull up a form for you to fill out that will be sent to the Hostal.

Hope it works!

 

[Mabel]

Pamplona to SJPP & Accommodations

I too am going from Barcelona to Pamplona then SJPP.

Have decided to stay at Pamplona at the Hostal Bearan, sounds pretty decent. I have written to the turismo site in Spanish..don't know, zeke00, if you ever got a reply, but if I do, I will post the info (as in cost for 2006) on this forum.
Then, after a good night's rest and WARM shower, cab to SJPP (68 Euros), enjoy the town, begin the journey!

Buen Camino, Peregrino!
Mabel

 

[sillydoll]

Starting in St Jean

Hi Peter.
I am not surprised that there is a perception amongst pilgrims (especially those coming from continents other than Europe) that the starting place of the Camino Frances is at St Jean Pied de Port.
This seems to be promoted by different guides – like the Confraternity of St James’s guide for the Camino Frances that starts at St Jean. John Bierley’s guide is “From St. Jean Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostella." Even the Millán Bravo Lozano guide starts at St Jean.
Do you think was a decision taken by the writers of the guides or was it perhaps in response to the demand by pilgrims to start at St Jean?

PS: I doubt that Spanish pilgrims bother to cross the border into France so that they can make a pilgrimage to the tomb of their patron Saint but growing numbers of 'foreign' pilgrims are starting at St Jean.

 

[tjm]

Hi, Sil. I think my decision to start in SJPdP was so I could do all of the camino in Spain; but I am sure that I was influnenced by what I had read too. My own introduction was in a book by Rosemary Mahoney in which she describes her visits to a number of different pilgrimages sites, and that is where she started her trip.

Of course any starting point is arbitrary, but it seems to me that the Pyrenees make a natural breaking point (as you walk up and out of one way of living and into a new way of passing the days (if only for a little while). You could also say that the pilgrimage starts when you leave home, and the fact that part of it is in a plane or car doesn't change that.

I am leaving in sevne days. Thank you for all of your posts. I have enjoyed and benefitted from them.

tom

 

[Mabel]

Hostal Bearan

I'm having problems locating the Hostal BEARAN.....HOWEVER, I have found the restaurant Basseri, from the Michelin guide. As the hostel is right there, no problem.

However, I am looking at a comfortable hotel with internet connections close by...on the way in fact..>Hotel Yoldi for 57 Euros individual...948-22-48-00 and it does have a website and email address.

Buen Camino!
Mabel R.

 

[sillydoll]

Starting in St Jean

Hola pilgrim Tom!
Thousands would agree with you that St Jean is a lovely place to start. The pilgrim stats for 2005 show that 23 710 pilgrims started from St Jean last year and this figure is 10% up on 2004 which was a Holy Year. Not all walked the whole way to Santiago - or, not all earned the Compostela. Those who don't state a religious purpose for walking are given a different certificate at the end.
The highest numbers of pilgrims start in Sarria - which is obvious as you have to walk the LAST 100kms to earn your Compostela and that is a good place to start. And, last year, the second highest number started in St Jean.
So you are in good company pilgrim Tom and I know that you will be pleased that you started in the Pyrenees.
Have a safe and wonderful walk.