Walking el camino frances in june 2011

[Pibicamino]

Hi,
I'll arrive to Madrid june 16th, I leave a few days later. So... my plan in to start el camino from St Jean Pied du port at june 19th-20th.
So I'm wondering, if anyone, first have any good advice from travelling from Madrid to France, do I have to book bus or train before I get there?
And second, I wonder if anyone is planning to walk el camino the same time as I?

 

[sillydoll]

You have three choices - none of them direct.

Train: Madrid to Hendaye on http://www.renfe.es (± 6 hours) and then SNCF train to St Jean 3.5 hours. http://www.voyages-sncf.com/
Train: To Pamplona and take Express Bouricott taxi to St Jean. Book in advance, cost depending on how many are in the mini-bus could be 15 euro. apcaroline@hotmail.com

FLY: http://www.iberia .com to Pamplona - Express Bouricott or Taxi to St Jean or bus at 6pm
from Pamplona to Roncesvalles on Autocares Artieda and then a taxi to St Jean.

BUS: Madrid to Pamplona http://www.continental-auto.es/index.do and then Express Bouricott or Taxi to St Jean : 10 busses between 8am and 9.30pm (± 5 hours and E24.55)
Bus: Madrid to Irun (6.5hours) then Irun to Bayonne and then to St Jean.

 

[Mexicanpilgrim]

Im not sure, but I think once you arrive to Hendaye (or Irun on the Spain side), from there you take the train to Bayonne, and once in Bayonne you can take the train or a taxi, train is cheaper but has a limited schedule, and Sant Jean is near.

Another option is fly from Madrid to Pamplona, and from Pamplona take ground transportation to Roncesvalles and from there to Saint Jean.

I'll take the option from Bayonne, so once you are in the camino every place would be a new one..

 

[dewayneg]

Hi, my son (he will be 17) and I are walking the Camino around the same time. We will be arriving to Paris on June 19th and hopefully starting the walk on June 22nd. A friend of mine who lives in Madrid will be joining us in Leon on July 9th or 10th and we will be walking together to Santiago. I'm not sure if our paths will cross, but if they do that would be great.

 

[Pibicamino]

Thank you! I think I'll take the bus or the train, would be nice travel through Spain. Actually it would be easier not go to Madrid first, but I will visit some friends there, so that's why I'll go there. I just hope I'll manage to get to SJPP without spending too much money and time.


Then, Dewayneg, maybe we'll meet each other on the way

So looking forward to do this trip!

 

[Cmeckley]

I'll be walking from St. Jean in June as well, with my 14 year old daughter. We'll likely be a week ahead of you. Being on this forum makes it feel so real. Sillydoll...thanks for the great travel info.

 

[cilento]

I flew into San Sebastian and took a taxi to Hendaye. I took the train from there to Bayonne and then switched to the train to Saint Jean. Although it is not the most common route, I did not want to see Pamplona or any part of the Camino until I actually walked it. I can be a little OCD about travel, so the "backtracking" aspect of arriving in Pamplona did not at all appeal to me. I didn't want to see the border crossing by taxi and then walk it the next day.

Madrid -- San Sebastien -- Hendaye -- Bayonne -- Saint Jean. It was all rather easy, and the connections were good. We had to wait in Bayonne for about an hour, but we grabbed some lunch and took some pictures. I liked spending some time in France -- and on a French train -- before climbing into Spain. It was all rather romantic.

Arriving by train to Saint Jean was exciting, and the walk to Pamplona was my favorite part of the Camino.