Public transport options

[Ntln1976]

Hi. My name is Natalie and I am new to the forum and new to the Camino. I will be arriving in Biarritz on 21st Sept and plan to start from St Jean the next morning. My mother flies in to Biarritz on 24th and will be on her own. At that stage I hope to be in Akerreta/Zubiri. My mother will be hoping to use public transport to join me there so she can walk a couple of days with me. Basically I'm hoping for guidance about the best way to get her to me using public transport. Do I get her to take the train to St jean and I can just bus it back to get her there or should I get her to go to Pamplona and meet her there. We will be staying that night in Akerreta so wherever I meet her we will then need to get back to akerreta/zubiri. I hope this makes sense and someone can advise best route. Her flight arrives in biarritz just before 3pm.

Thanks in advance. Natalie

 

[Paul McAmino]

Hi Natalie, welcome to the Forum.

There us a twice-weekly bus from the train station in Biarritz to Pamplona. It takes about two hours. I learned this by using the website rometorio.com and entering the start and finish locales. You might want to do the same for Biarritz airport to SJPDP, to see which of the options make the most sense to you.
You would the need to find out more about how to purchase tickets, what the schedule is, and where the bus stop is. There may be some Forum members who have taken the bus to Pamplona, or have gotten to SJPDP using the express bus from Biarritz or other means. They might be able give a detailed account of either or both.

Good luck in your research. What you are planning sounds lovely, and very doable.

Buen Camino.
All the best,
Paul

 

[andycohn]

Hi Natalie: Best thing is for your mother to go from Biarritz to Pamplona and meet her there. There are actually quite a few buses directly from the Biarritz Airport to Pamplona on September 24, leaving as late as 7:35 PM. The bus company is Alsa. You can check the schedule on their web site. Here’s the link right to the Biarritz Airport - Pamplona service on September 24:

Checkout - Alsa

www.alsa.com

If your mother wants to spend the night in Biarritz insead of travelling right away to Pamplona, there are frequent local buses (or a taxi) from the airport into Biarritz itself. And then she can get a bus the next morning from the center of Biarritz to Pamplona.

It’s way too complicated for you to make it back to SJPDP to meet her there, and then go back to Pamplona.

Also, Rome2rio, mentioned by Paul above, is a very good place to start when you’re looking for itineraries. However, it’s not always accurate when it comes to details, like the exact schedule or prices. For accurate details, go directly to the web site of the transport company, in this case, Alsa. Usually rome2rio will give you the link, so just follow it.

 

[Ntln1976]

Thanks. I did consider the biarritz pamplona option. I know there is also express bourricot and they seem to pick up from the airport and go as far as st jean and roncevalles. I am checking with them if they go as far as akerreta. It seems as if its not any problem getting from biarritz to st jean or pamplona. The hardest part is getting from there to akerreta.

 

[Tincatinker]

It’s about a 20 minutes €25-30 taxi ride from Pamplona to Zubiri. So, bus to Pamplona, cab to Zubiri, happy reunion.

 

[Ntln1976]

It’s about a 20 minutes €25-30 taxi ride from Pamplona to Zubiri. So, bus to Pamplona, cab to Zubiri, happy reunion.

Thanks very much. That's quite straightforward