South Africa to St Jean Pied de Port

[jsalt]

Has anyone got any good ideas on how to get from South Africa to St Jean Pied de Port this year, now that Iberia Airlines has abandoned us? (The Lowveld Ramblers are back!) We need to leave Johannesburg the weekend of 13 June.

 

[Dave C.]

Has anyone got any good ideas on how to get from South Africa to St Jean Pied de Port this year, now that Iberia Airlines has abandoned us? (The Lowveld Ramblers are back!) We need to leave Johannesburg the weekend of 13 June.

Check out:
rome2rio.com for some options.
Buen Camino!!

 

[Donjek]

Biarritz BIQ is closest airport to SJPdP. BIQ has flights to several major European cities.

Biarritz Airport - Book a flight from Biarritz to more than 20 destinations

Welcome to Biarritz Airport, Basque Country

biarritz.aeroport.fr

San Sebastian EAS is closest airport to SJPdP in Spain. It is located about 3 km from Hendaye. There are flights from Madrid and Barcelona.

San Sebastián

www.aena.es

SJPdP is connected by SNCF train to Bayonne.

SNCF – Horaire, Train, Info Trafic, Services et Groupe International

Portail de présentation de l'offre et des actualités de SNCF, groupe international de mobilité de personnes et de logistique de marchandises.

www.sncf.com

SJPdP is connected by regional bus to St Palais.

Fiches horaires Txik Txak le Car Express

www.communaute-paysbasque.fr

SJPdP is connected by CONDA bus, operating on seasonal schedule, to Pamplona. http://www.conda.es/

Bilbao and Bordeaux are secondary international airports close to SJPdP.

Suggestions:

Johannesburg to Paris. SNCF train Paris to Bayonne. SNCF train Bayonne to SJPdP.

Johannesburg to Madrid. Renfe train to Irun/Hendaye. SNCF train Hendaye to Bayonne. SNCF train Bayonne to SJPdP.

Renfe | Train tickets AVE, Avlo Low Cost (with No Booking Fees)

Buy cheap train tickets AVE, Avlo high speed Low Cost ✓ Timetables, Fares and Discounts ✅ No Booking Fees! ▷ ( Renfe.com )

www.renfe.com

Johannesburg to Barcelona. Renfe train Barcelona to Pamplona. CONDA bus Pamplona to SJPdP.

Johannesburg to London. Transfer by bus Heathrow to Stansted. Stansted to Biarritz. Chronoplus bus from Biarritz airport to Gare Bayonne. SNCF train Bayonne to SJPdP.

Johannesburg to Lisboa. CP train Lisboa to Hendaye. etc.

 

[spursfan]

Has anyone got any good ideas on how to get from South Africa to St Jean Pied de Port this year, now that Iberia Airlines has abandoned us? (The Lowveld Ramblers are back!) We need to leave Johannesburg the weekend of 13 June.

Air France to Madrid via Paris CDG seems to be cheaper then Air France to Paris CDG (I used kayak.co.uk)

 

[Jan_D]

Hi Jill, KLM are doing return flights Jhb-Madrid (via Paris) in June/July for as little R7,895. I know you usually like arriving/departing at airports closer to your start and end points, you can play around with multi-destination booking on the website (or contact a travel agent in SA?). In any case, Madrid is quite central in relation to both Pamplona and Santiago, and R8k is incredibly reasonable!

 

[Jan_D]

Air France to Madrid via Paris CDG seems to be cheaper then Air France to Paris CDG (I used kayak.co.uk)

Seems we were looking at the same option - Air France and KLM have merged! However I find the KLM website much easier to navigate, and the KLM customer service team seem easier to communicate with in general (based on my own personal experience).

 

[jsalt]

Air France to Madrid via Paris CDG seems to be cheaper then Air France to Paris CDG (I used kayak.co.uk)

Yes, it’s weird isn’t it? I don’t understand why it’s cheaper to fly to Madrid via Paris than ONLY to Paris, on exactly the same outbound flight. It was the same a couple of years ago on Iberia: it was cheaper to fly to Porto via Madrid than ONLY to Madrid on exactly the same outbound flight.

Many thanks! It’s deals like this I’m looking for.

 

[Jan_D]

Yes, it’s weird isn’t it? I don’t understand why it’s cheaper to fly to Madrid via Paris than ONLY to Paris, on exactly the same outbound flight. It was the same a couple of years ago on Iberia: it was cheaper to fly to Porto via Madrid than ONLY to Madrid on exactly the same outbound flight.

Many thanks! It’s deals like this I’m looking for.

It is very weird indeed. By the way, out of curiosity I checked out the 'multi-city' option: it actually isn't as expensive as I thought, to fly Jhb-Biarritz, and then return Madrid-Jhb, comes to about R12,000 (although, annoyingly, this is only coming up on the AirFrance site, not KLM...)

 

[jsalt]

Hi Donjek, thank you so much for the reply, really appreciate it.

Johannesburg to London. Transfer by bus Heathrow to Stansted.

Ha, ha! Sorry, just have to laugh at this one - South Africans have to pay enough $$$ for the Schengen Visa without buying one for the UK as well.

Johannesburg to Lisboa. CP train Lisboa to Hendaye. etc.

Yes, looking at this one. TAAG (Angolan Airlines) comes up with some good deals occasionally.

Thanks again!

 

[jennysa]

Fly to Madrid. Take train to Pamplona then bus to SJPdP. If there are a group of you, you can organize a shared taxi to SJPdP. There is also a new shuttle service in St J that could fetch you.

 

[jennysa]

- Express Bouricot. Or, Guillaume,TAXI NAFARROA - Guillaume Lopépé
Tel '33 (0) 675 783 or giteguill.lopepe@gmail.com
Transport for 1 to 5 people from Biarritz airport or train station on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 11.30am and 2pm to Saint Jean for €80. Holidays €90.
Other times and days (if available) Biarritz-St Jean €90 eur night (7pm-7am) and holidays €105

 

[Han1213]

Borders are problematic everywhere these days, so you can fly through Kenya. Borders are open and tickets are cheaper. It's more convenient and safer, I flew that way myself recently. It's a little farther in time, but much more interesting and reliable. At the same time you can go to Kenya birding safari, get a lot of positive emotions from the wildlife and wild animals, and from the place itself. I did it and got a lot of pleasure, though it took more time. So I can advise you to fly that way. You will not regret this choice.