Storing extra luggage while walking

[ebrandt]

My husband and I are going to be travelling by train before and after we walk the Camino Frances. We want to stash our extra luggage somewhere before we start the walk. We assume there will be lockers at the train station in Bayonne or in St. Jean. Is this a good assumption? Are there better options? Thanks. Liz

 

[JohnnieWalker]

Hola - I wouldn't make that assumption without finding out in advance. I've been in many stations in Spain and France where there is no left luggage facility. Perhaps the hotel where you staying can advise? You could also call/email this company who provide left luggage facilities along the way - but perhaps not where you want it to be! http://www.jacotrans.es/

If you find out more information could you let us all know please?

John

 

[Yallah]

I don't remember seeing luggage lockers at Bayonne or St-Jean train stations but I wasn't specifically looking for them, so I'm not positive.

I would recommend contacting a hotel in one of those towns and asking them to keep the bags for you. If you stay there they may do it for free or else charge you a small fee. Most hotels have secure luggage storage area.

Another idea would be to contact the pilgrim office in St. Jean. I have always found the volunteers absolutely wonderful and helpful and I'll bet they would be willing to keep the bags for you. When I started there I left a gift for my friend to pick up there a few weeks later and it worked out brilliantly. The downside would be you would have to find your way back to St. Jean, which is probably more time-consuming than going to Bayonne.

Best of luck!

 

[ebrandt]

Thanks so much for the tips. ONe of the reasons I posted was to find out about the trains. My husband travelled by bike throughout Europe in 1980 and says "Of course there's left baggage storage!" I, on the other had and not so sanguine -- lots of changes have occurred singe 1980 . When we get closer to the time of our travel I'll check with the pilgrim office and/or our hotel.

 

[renegadepilgrim]

A lot of it depends on where you are going to return...are you planning to return to France after walking to Santiago? If so, you might be able to pay to store your extra luggage at one of the albergues or hotels.

Another option is to have your luggage shipped to a place in Santiago that will hold your bags for a fee...I don't have the link handy, but I used the service when I walked and they were great. If you choose to mail your luggage somewhere, it is super expensive to mail from France to Spain, but within Spain it is reasonably priced and they are very efficient.

Oh, and your husband should know that many places have done away with luggage storage due to terrorist activities....there are still some places that have it, the Barcelona airport, for one....but the security is just as strict as going into the terminals. Just don't count on it....

 

[k1ypp]

I'm not certain how much "luggage" you want to take. What we did was fill our backpacks with all they would hold, minus any liquids and things that won't go through security. We wore regular tourist clothing for the flight over. We then had a cheap gym bag that we put our stuff that wouldn't go in the back pack, such as collapsible hiking pole, umbrellas, extra clothes. We checked the bag at the airport and picked it up upon arrival at Barcelona. We spent several days in Barcelona before our Camino and spent several in Madrid after the Camino.

After arriving in Barcelona we had regular "street" clothes to wear as tourists and then when finished, we left those at Roncevalles as a donation for someone else. They were clothes that we pre-planned to be rid of rather than carry them.

It all worked rather well and was probably far cheaper than shipping or storing items in Spain.

Dennis "K1"

 

[Kurt5280]

Express Bourricot will pickup your extra luggage in Bayonne or Biarritz and store it in SJPdP before your Camino...Express Bourricot will also transport your extra luggage to Santiago so it is there waiting for you to arrive...so e-mail Express Bourricot and see what they can do for you.

 

[Deleted member 76633]

We assume there will be lockers at the train station in Bayonne or in St. Jean.

No lockers or left luggage in 9/2017. You can check the latest position on Tripadvisor.

As mentioned by Kurt5280 above Express Bourricot will do this for you and if you contact them prior to travelling, there may be others on the run with you to keep the transfer cost down

 

[Samantha Davies]

I wouldn't trust to be lockers at train stations, France and Spain, there is a surprise lack of them... Contact companies to store your luggage like Express Bourricot or Pilgrim before traveling to arrange it.