Help needed ! Getting from Biarritz to SJPDP evening of July 7th

[kerryAnn]

Hi

I will be arriving to Biarritz airport 18:00 July 7th. If i get a bus to Bayonne, i believe all the trains to SJPDP will be gone. Is this the case, or are there busses leavin to SJPDP in the evening also?

If I have to get a taxi, would I be better off getting one direct from the airport, or from Bayonne and does anyone know how much it would cost?

Manyy thanks,

KerryAnn

[HuskyNerd]

You should be able to make the 20:03 train from Bayonne to SJPP. Your problem will be getting lodging at around 21:30 and checking in with the pilgrim office once there. Are you planning an SJPP albergue or a hotel? Here's a link with contact info for the pilgrim office at SJPP and it includes a link for accommodations.

[kerryAnn]

You should be able to make the 20:03 train from Bayonne to SJPP. Your problem will be getting lodging at around 21:30 and checking in with the pilgrim office once there. Are you planning an SJPP albergue or a hotel? Here's a link with contact info for the pilgrim office at SJPP and it includes a link for accommodations.

Thanks for that. Can anyone recommend acommodation in SJPP that I could book ahead? I guess the albergue will be full and I've had no luck on the web so far.

[kerryAnn]

You should be able to make the 20:03 train from Bayonne to SJPP. Your problem will be getting lodging at around 21:30 and checking in with the pilgrim office once there. Are you planning an SJPP albergue or a hotel? Here's a link with contact info for the pilgrim office at SJPP and it includes a link for accommodations.

Could you post the link to the pilgrim office in SJPP as it did not appear in your original post. Thanks.

[HuskyNerd]

Could you post the link to the pilgrim office in SJPP as it did not appear in your original post. Thanks.

Apologies, here's the link: Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port - Amis du chemin de Saint-Jacques de Compostelle P-A . Note also this page which lists albergues in SJPP. Here's another link with hotels: The Hotels in Saint Jean Pied de Port in the Basque Country Southwest France . Hope this helps.

[Franky]

Hey HUSKYNERD

I arrive in SJPP around 16h30, by Express Bourricot. upon my arrival where to I go? all I did was book a ride to SJPP I have no idea what is there? I was thinking I can just stay at the place where I'm suppose to get my Pilgrme Passport?

What do you recommend I do once I arrive? I basically doing this blind I have no idea where to other than that and if I cant find a place I got a tent and will sleep and begin walking in the morning.

Any help would be appreciated

Thanks

Franky

[HuskyNerd]

Hi Franky ~

Awesome! Congratulations on making your first Camino. You have a great experience awaiting you.

When you arrive in SJPP your first task is to head to the Pilgrim Office, 39 Rue de la Citadelle. In French it's the office of "Les Amis du Chemin de St. Jacques," and is located on the main road inside the old, walled city of SJPP (above the more modern, but still fairly old-looking newer city). The pilgrim office is staffed by helpful volunteers from all over the world (mostly French) who will assist you with a) finding your accommodation for the evening, b) advising you about weather and routes over the Pyrenees to Roncesvalles, c) giving you your first stamp on your credentiale (or selling you your credentiale and giving you your first stamp), and d) giving you a helpful printed list of distances and services available for your route to Santiago. I like this one-pager very much and used it to record my mileages and overnights.

For a fun little exercise (not required, but if you're curious and little computer-savvy you'll enjoy it), go to Google and search for "St Jean Pied de Port France." Click on the map that appears, then zoom in to the town. You'll see a marker there as you get closer to street level among the roads and rooftops that denotes the Amis du Chemin de Saint-Jacques office. That's where you're going. For a little more fun, go to "Street View" which you do by clicking and dragging the little yellow figure above the zoom bar so that its little green shadow is right onto the street you'd like to visit. Drag his shadow right over the street in front of the Amis office (Rue de la Citadelle) and you'll see a Google Street View picture of your destination. You'll see a stone and stucco building there with the words "L'Espirit d Chemin" (Spirit of the Camino). Click on one of the arrows on the white line and you can "walk" up and down the street. Click and drag across and you can get a 360 degree view of the road. Voila! SJPP!

Hope some of this helps. A very buen camino to you!

[Franky]

wow Thanks, This helps so much.

Take off in 10 days