Where to fly into.....?

[Camino2014]

Hi,

I am starting my Camino in Lourdes (and then following the Frances).
What is the cheapest airport to fly into if I want to get to Lourdes (taking into account train fares)?
I am going to fly from Houston in the United States, if that is any help.

Thank you!

 

[Tumbleweed]

Hello,

It looks like Paris CDG. I searched the web - cheapoair.com for starters.

Just enter Houston - Lourdes - the dates then search. Many flights will come up giving you an idea of what your choices are. Good luck and Happy Searching

Buen Camino,
Angela

 

[drvnsmiln]

Last year on the return from an organized Pilgrimage to Fatima, Lourdes and Santiago, we took a bus from Lourdes to Pau and flew from Pau to Paris. Pau is about 45 -60 minutes from Lourdes. For my pilgrimage to SdC next year I plan to fly Seattle>Paris>Pau and then take the TER train (SNCF) the next day to SJPP. Just an idea... Hope this helps

 

[whariwharangi]

I went Vancouver to London.

Factors in that choice:
-A lot of flight options from Vancouver go to London and then transfer ie YVR LHR MAD or YVR LHR CDG making for a very long day of travel.
-Price.
-English and jet lag go together better than unfamiliar language and jet lag.
-Outside Schengen area so time in Britain does not count toward time in Schengen (max 90 days)
-Discount airlines fly from London to many airports in Europe. I flew London to Biarritz with Ryan AIr and, homeward, Madrid to London with Ryan Air.

In your web search, try going from Houston to several major centers (London Madrid Frankfurt Paris Amsterdam etc) to get an idea of relative costs and travel convenience. Expedia is a good tool for doing this.

Find your destination airport (ie Lourdes or Pau) and see which airline flies there and where they fly from.

 

[tyrrek]

London is an option as there are plenty of flights from Houston, and you can fly from there to Lourdes. HOWEVER, the flight to Lourdes is with Ryanair and is from London Stansted not Heathrow, which would be your most likely arrival point from the US. The service is currently twice weekly (Tues and Sat) and leaves at 6.15am :shock: so you'd have to add the cost of a transfer between airports and a hotel to the cost of the flight (which would probably be about £60 one way including luggage if booked in advance). Altogether I reckon you're looking at at least £150 from leaving the plane at Heathrow to arriving in Lourdes.

Other forum users have noted that taxes on flights to London can be higher than other European cities, so beware of that when checking flights.

Assuming you're flying back from Santiago, Ryanair do a flight from there to Stansted. There's also a flight from A Coruna to Heathrow with Vueling airlines.

Buen Camino!

 

[whariwharangi]

As noted a transfer is needed from LHR to STN. London has 4 airports so transfer between airports is always an issue.

I transferred LHR to STN by bus. 3 hours £25
I stayed at a hotel in Stansted. £35
I took the local bus from the STN airport to the hotel and back.
Meals are expensive in Britain.
After the flight from Vancouver a stop was needed.
Add the £60 Ryan air flight ... yeah £150 is a fair estimate.

On the way home I went Madrid to Gatwick (LGW) and transferred to LHR. Costs were the same except the time was Christmas so Hotel was £50

Its still cheaper than taking a mainline airline flight to anywhere that stops in London enroute.

I don't enjoy travelling. Breaks are needed.

 

[Larricka]

I found the least expensive flight from SFO was into DUB. Checked LHR, MAD, BCN but saved about $400.00 for each ticket (total savings $802.21). Got a direct flight from DUB into Biarritz (Ryan Air). Bus to Bayonne and train to SJPdP. The last two equal what it was cost if you flew into MAD or CDG. The transfers equal out to be a push.

 

[scruffy1]

Its not so difficult to fly in close to Lourdes, say Birriatz or Toulouse, Pau is even closer the hard bit is getting back home from Santiago. Ryan Air is cheapest and most, well, ascetic, no frills, but from London they will get you off to Birriatz and back to London from Santiago for the least dinero.

 

[miamijhp]

Check your flights here:

http://matrix.itasoftware.com

You are going to have an idea of the main flights and the posible connections you can get. Once you find what do you need, copy the information and give it to a travel agent.

YOU CAN NOT BUY TICKETS HERE (YOU ARE NOT A TRAVEL AGENT). IT IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION