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Before you go download the map for the metro and train service from the airport. Both ways will work. Since I've done it once before I can share it couldn't be easier. But that's not how I felt when I got there. Your tired, everyone seems to be speaking a foreign language, it just so confusing. Just don't place yourself on a time constraint. Take a deep breath, you will be fine. You will look back and share my sentiment, that was easy.A group of 14 have asked me to organize a Sarria to Santiago camino in the unforseeable future. Yippee! I can starting planning again! Has anyone taken the train from Madrid to Sarria? Wondering if this is the easiest and cheapest way to get a group of elderly newbies to the start of the walk. At the end we could fly back to Madrid from Santiago. We are coming from South Africa.
Also consider the bus service. It takes 2 hours longer but if you have to wait 4 hours for the train, you do the math. Yes the long haul busses have bathroom. I find having my rear end on a seat and on my way less stressful than waiting for the "best" option.A group of 14 have asked me to organize a Sarria to Santiago camino in the unforseeable future. Yippee! I can starting planning again! Has anyone taken the train from Madrid to Sarria? Wondering if this is the easiest and cheapest way to get a group of elderly newbies to the start of the walk. At the end we could fly back to Madrid from Santiago. We are coming from South Africa.
As helpful and kind as everyone is being to help Jill plan, I was thinking exactly the same thing as you.To far in the future with to many environmental variables
A group of 14 have asked me to organize a Sarria to Santiago camino in the unforseeable future. Yippee! I can starting planning again! Has anyone taken the train from Madrid to Sarria? Wondering if this is the easiest and cheapest way to get a group of elderly newbies to the start of the walk. At the end we could fly back to Madrid from Santiago. We are coming from South Africa.
You should edit your post to remove your email address. This is a public forum visible to anyone or any it who can use it to send you spam. Members can contact you via private message.In July 2019 I did the Camino Frances from Saint Jean Pied de Port. My wife joined me at Sarria for the last 123km.
She flew from South Africa to Madrid and then took a domestic flight to A Coruña . From there a taxi to A Coruña train station and lastly a train to Sarria where I met her.
She had never travelled abroad alone and was extremely scared. All went well and it can be booked via the internet.
I do not know whether anyone plans to send their belongings ahead each day, but taking a van/shuttle of some type to your lodgings
If it ends up that your next stop after Madrid is SdC the bus from there to Sarria stops in Lugo first. You can get a compostela by walking from there. This gives you 2 days ??? walking to the CF at Melida in less crowded conditions.
Having more info about your plans would be helpful? Do you intend to overnight in Madrid? Or anywhere else? What is your time frame? Any sense of airline schedule landing in Madrid.
Seniors (+60) are eligible for the Carta Dorada (Gold card) on train travel in Spain. You buy it at the train station prior to buying your (first) ticket.
Alex, I just looked into this and the card looks good for unscheduled travel but if going with a group on a pre-arranged trip better discounts should be able to be gotten online. That's good news for Jill. I'm going to keep this card in mind for any future trip that I may make though.@jsalt , in case you don't know: Seniors (+60) are eligible for the Carta Dorada (Gold card) on train travel in Spain. You buy it at the train station prior to buying your (first) ticket. It costs 6 Euros, lasts for one year, and will give you a 25% (!) discount on all train travel. I have used it several years, and it is a real bargain.
Agreed. Traveling alone/with my better half, using that Gold card, has saved me quite some Euros, better spent on wine...Alex, I just looked into this and the card looks good for unscheduled travel but if going with a group on a pre-arranged trip better discounts should be able to be gotten online. That's good news for Jill. I'm going to keep this card in mind for any future trip that I may make though.
The Hotel Weare is located right at Chamartin Train station. It is literally a two miniute walk once you leave the hotel.
The current rate is lower than normal because of Covid. I think we paid abt 75 euros for two persons. However, if people share a room, it may still be affordable in this city.Thank you so much for that suggestion! I checked it out and it appears to be called "Hotel Chamartin The One" now. Affordable rates - looks like a possibility!
We had booked on the overnight train from Madrid to Sarria but COVID got in the wayYou might also check this link to Rome2Rio:
Madrid Airport (MAD) to Sarria - 6 ways to travel via train, plane, and bus (rome2rio.com)
It lists buses, trains and flights to Santiago, A Coruña or Vigo in combination with a train. And you can easily compare the prices of the various options.
It doesn't give you the price of hiring a car, bus or taxi. As Marbe2 suggests. Which might also be a good option.
HiA group of 14 have asked me to organize a Sarria to Santiago camino in the unforseeable future. Yippee! I can starting planning again! Has anyone taken the train from Madrid to Sarria? Wondering if this is the easiest and cheapest way to get a group of elderly newbies to the start of the walk. At the end we could fly back to Madrid from Santiago. We are coming from South Africa.
A group of 14 have asked me to organize a Sarria to Santiago camino in the unforseeable future. Yippee! I can starting planning again! Has anyone taken the train from Madrid to Sarria? Wondering if this is the easiest and cheapest way to get a group of elderly newbies to the start of the walk. At the end we could fly back to Madrid from Santiago. We are coming from South Africa.
Looking at random dates in the future on my favorite flight search site, I see options via Dubai (with Emirates), Doha (with Qatar), and London (with BA / Iberia). As you say, you won't know what to do until you have decided on dates and reviewed the state o' the worl'.There is no direct flight from South Africa – Iberian abandoned us a couple of years ago for better pickings in North America – so I have no idea which route will be the best option when we eventually have dates. There are several routeings and they all arrive at different times of the day, so we will definitely be staying overnight in Madrid. I don’t do time constraints – the less stress the better!
Holy MOLY! FOURTEEN!Thank you so much for all your replies – some useful ideas there!
London (with BA / Iberia).
getting them to be in an agreed place at an agreed time is like
herding cats
Yes. I had a summer job at a travel agency when I was a teenager. I looked up fares on a green-screen that must have been connected to the GDS (Galileo?). Then I hand-wrote tickets and validated them in a manual imprinting machine, with an appropriate metal plate for the issuing airline and a pleasant "Shonk-Shonk" sound when the slider was pulled across. Remember them?remember them?
Oh yes! All credit card transactions used to be made that wayRemember them?
But I also question why someone coming from far away doesn't spend a couple of days in Madrid to rest up and see the sights. What's the rush?
Sorry if I gave the impression that I was responding directly to your original question -- I had read so many replies by the time I responded I was thinking more of suggestions for travel directly from from the airport and/or ways to get to Sarria quickly. Though to be fair you did respond favorably to a suggestion that you spend a night near the Charmartin station, which I took to indicate a desire to make a quick getaway after a night of rest. Wife and I always try to spend 3-4 nights in the arrival city to get used to time zone change, etc., but then we aren't spring chickens anymore. To each his (or her) own, of course.We are not in any rush. Who said that? Any member of the group is more than welcome to spend a few days in Madrid. My query is about how, once I've herded all the cats together, is the best way to get from Madrid to Sarria.
I also love train travel - thank you for your reply.
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