Transportation between cities

[Tom M.]

I will be on the Camino Frances from July 9 until July 26. I realize that is not enough time to complete the entire walk but I want to start in St. Jean. Somewhere along the way I will have to leap forward in oder to be in Santiago de Compostela sometime around July 24. Will there be any problems arranging transportation? Bus? Train? etc.

 

[RobertS26]

I will be on the Camino Frances from July 9 until July 26. I realize that is not enough time to complete the entire walk but I want to start in St. Jean. Somewhere along the way I will have to leap forward in order to be in Santiago de Compostela sometime around July 24. Will there be any problems arranging transportation? Bus? Train? etc.

It is relatively easy to leap frog from one of the larger towns (e.g. Pamplona, Logrono, Burgos, Leon, Sahagun) along the Camino to another larger town. Transportation between smaller towns is also available, but not as frequent (but a taxi ride can overcome these kinds of issues). With your limited time, you might want to consider walking SJPP to Pamplona (3 days) and then leap frogging ahead to either Astorga (traditionally 11 days from Santiago) or Ponferrada (traditionally 9 days from Santiago) depending on how far you intend to walk each day.

 

[tyrrek]

Check out the Alsa (bus) and Renfe (train) websites for timetables. As your leap will be quite a big one it may involve connecting somewhere like Burgos/Leon etc, and you'll want to minimise that connection time. One thing to be aware of if you're connecting in Burgos is that the train station is miles outside the city centre, so if connecting from bus-train or vice versa you'd need to get a bus/taxi between the two.

 

[Olivares]

I guesstimate you have enough time for about half the Camino Frances. So, I have two sugestions: 1) plan you "leap-frog" either 4 times so that you minimize missing large chunks of the Camino. For example, I saw quite a bit of pilgrims "leap-frogging" from Fromista to Leon. That's about 115 Kms or about 5 days. I saw the bus leaving early so you actually could continue walking from Leon. You will have to pick similar sections along the Camino. The second suggestion is that you skip Logroño-Astorga. That's about 370 Kms; 15 days. This way, if you ever want to return to complete the whole Camino Frances you only have one continuous section with anchor cities that are accesible and with very good public transportation options to come in/out. Another option is to skip the Meseta (Burgos-Astorga), which is about 240 Kms (9-10 days). I loved the Meseta so this is a tough call.

If I was forced to make a desicion, I would bus/train Logroño-Astorga. Buen Camino!

 

[Rambler]

Tom:
Being in your same shoes, we found two options that we are weighing.

• There is a night train from Barcelona to A Coruna that passes through Longrono, Leon, Astorga, and Ponferrada. You can catch it, sleep on the way and then start fresh the next morning. Just be forewarned that the train will be late night for you, with an start straight from the train station.
• You can rent a car one way and drive to your next destination. It is about the same cost as the Trenhotel, but gives you a bit more flexibility.

Just more ideas.
Rambler

 

[SYates]

Traditionally the 'entire walk' starts at the door of your home and walking back again - everything else is a modern construction ;-) Additionally, if you skip part of the way you are also, most likely, loosing your new-found camino friends/family - something to think about. Why don't you simply start where you want to start, see how far you get and continue next year?
Buen Camino! SY

I will be on the Camino Frances from July 9 until July 26. I realize that is not enough time to complete the entire walk but I want to start in St. Jean. Somewhere along the way I will have to leap forward in oder to be in Santiago de Compostela sometime around July 24. Will there be any problems arranging transportation? Bus? Train? etc.

 

[Tom M.]

Thanks. If I decide to jump from Estella--Lizarra to Sarriais there train/bus service?

 

[whariwharangi]

Thanks. If I decide to jump from Estella--Lizarra to Sarriais there train/bus service?

Places like Estella are served only by bus. Estellesa provides service between Pamplona and Logrono. A transfer will be required at Logrono, (Jiminez) Burgos, (ALSA) Leon (ALSA) and probably Ponferrada (ALSA) too. Finally there is a bus (Monbus) from Lugo to Sarria.

So the tactics are probably best served by getting to a town with a train station and take a Renfe train.

adif manages Renfe stations Spain. See the map under 'infraestructura y estaciones/estaciones'.
http://www.adif.es/es_ES/conoceradif/conoceradif.shtml

 

[Tom M.]

Places like Estella are served only by bus. Estellesa provides service between Pamplona and Logrono. A transfer will be required at Logrono, (Jiminez) Burgos, (ALSA) Leon (ALSA) and probably Ponferrada (ALSA) too. Finally there is a bus (Monbus) from Lugo to Sarria.

So the tactics are probably best served by getting to a town with a train station and take a Renfe train.

adif manages Renfe stations Spain. See the map under 'infraestructura y estaciones/estaciones'.
http://www.adif.es/es_ES/conoceradif/conoceradif.shtml

thanks

 

[mspath]

Thanks. If I decide to jump from Estella--Lizarra to Sarriais there train/bus service?

Tom,

Bus from Estella to Logrono then train to Sarria (9 1/2 hours total time) is the fastest connection shown on Rome2Rio.com

Buen Camino,

Margaret Meredith