getting to Somport

[dbird10]

We walked this spring from Roncesvalles, I plan to return but would like to start in Somport, does anyone have advice as to the easiest way to get there. I am thinking of flying into Barcelona as a change from Madrid. Maybe I would be better to fly into Paris. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Sil]

I walked from Lourdes this year in June. It is a lovely walk and worth starting there if you can spare an extra 5 days. It is part of the Voie de Arles and the stages go to Asson, Arudy, Oloron Ste Marie, Sarrance, Borce and then over the Somport Pass to Canfranc Estacion. There are pilgrim Gites at Asson, Arudy, Oloron, a monastery in Sarrance, a two gites in Borce and an albergue in Canfranc.
We flew to Toulouse and got the train to Lourdes.
You could get a train from Barcelona to Jaca. And then a bus to Somport.
Check the Alosa timetable here: http://www.alosa. es/
and then the Mancobus to Somport
HORARIOS DEL MANCOBUS
There was a lot of snow in April this year so you might want to time your start a little later.

[dbird10]

thank you for this, I am not sure I can start any further East as I want to walk to Finesterre. I am in early planning stages at this point as I am looking at starting in April 2011. We started in Roncesvalles this year on Good Friday due to the amount of snow. You take what the Camino will give you.

[Villagejonesy]

Hi dbird, I started the Somport route in Oloron, about 60 km from the Somport peak. Oloron was a great place to start from. If you fly into Paris, you can take a TGV (!!) train right to Lourdes, or Pau near Lourdes, and then a connecting train from Pau to Oloron-Ste.-Marie. It's about two days to walk over the Somport pass from Oloron (I stopped in Bedous at 27 km, and then from there, it's 32 km to the peak, and there's an albergue at Candanchu, open year 'round, and a few others that are closed in winter). It took me 40 days to walk from Oloron to Santiago, with about five rest days. The Somport route was very mystical, going over the Pyrenees, and going through the ghost town of Ruesta, with its beautiful medieval tower ruins, and the rest of the town that was left a ghost town in the 1950s by the dam.

I found Ruesta very moving. Be sure to talk to Antonio, the guy at the albergue who looks like a biker. Everyone was afraid of him, but he and his friends were very nice guys to talk to, full of interesting facts about the town.

And buen Camino!