Need information on traveling from USA

[Betty]

Iam planning on taking the Camino in 2010. I am leaving from Chicago, and I am very confused as to where is my arrival city. Paris?, and then from there how do I get to St Jean Pied de Port. Train? bus?, etc.

Thanks in advance!

[Leslie]

If you travel to Paris the best way to get to St Jean is by train and I would suggest an over nighter - get off at Bayonne and then it is a short train journey to St Jean.

Getting to St Jean is never a direct easy route.

But there are various options. Fly to London and then to Biarritz - then easy taxi or train to St Jean. Or fly to Madrid and then bus or train to Pamplona, then bus to Roncesvalles and then taxi to St Jean.

I like the Paris route as it gave me a day in Paris to wander around and I love the city, more so than Madrid where I have spent quite a bit of time in the past, though it is also worth visiting.

[Betty]

Leslie,
Thanks for your reply. OK, I've never been in Europe so I am a bit nervous as I don't want to get lost in a foreing city. Once I get to Paris, where do I go to pick up the train? Would you recommend working with a travel agency? I don't know anyone who has done el Camino, nor I know anyone in France.

I will be fying from Chicago, USA to France international airport. From there where do I go? Where is Bayone? is it a city? I know I have a lot of time for this, but I want to have everything mapped out so I can start figuring out the cost, and how much money I will need.

Thanks for your help!

[John Hussey]

I flew into Madrid, instead of Paris, but it likely would be not so different, flying into either city. So, I will tell you what I did. You have the advantage that most everyone speaks enough English to answer any of your questions and all you have to do is ask the appropriate question, whenever the need arises, just as you would traveling in your own country. If you select Madrid to fly into, and after you collect your luggage (or after passport control if you carry your, hopefully, small backpack onboard with you as carry-on) just look for the signs directing you to the subway station (underground) (Metro, in Spanish) and one is located at the airport. Once there ask directions for the train station at Atocha. There are also diagram maps of all the lines most everywhere inside the Metro and just follow the links to Atocha.

There are two train stations in Madrid and I believe the other is called Chamartin. Here is the train link :

http://www.raileurope.com/us/rail/fa...FR0RnQodNG8crQ

If you speak enough Spanish, here is the direct link to Renfe, the Spanish railway system:
http://www.renfe.es/#

Once in Pamplona, I took a taxi to St Jean Pied de Port, just over the Pyrenees on the French side, and started my Camino from there. Look for other pilgrims at the station in Pamplona and see if you could share a taxi to St Jean Pied de port as it was costly, around 80-90 euros, as I recall. Alternatively, as Leslie indicated, you could take a bus from Pamplona to Roncesvalles and begin your Camino there, or take a taxi from there to St Jean Pied de Port in France, which would be cheaper.

There are many ways to Santiago. And, part of your Camino experience begins at home as you research all the information needed to put your personal adventure together to arrive there or, perhaps, on further even to Finisterre, which I would highly recommend.

Good luck and Buen Camino

[John Hussey]

Betty:
I Googled 'Bus Lines in Spain' and found this informative site for bus and train itineraries and it will help you untangle the bus lines as there are so many:

http://gospain.about.com/od/bustrave...l_in_Spain.htm

A thought, if you speak some French, fly into Paris. If you speak a little Spanish, then go to Madrid. One could spend days in either fascinating city and not see it all. Another thought, flying east, against the sun, you will arrive quite tired from jet lag and you might consider spending the balance of the day and that evening resting up in the city. (you will likely arrive in the morning at your destination but your biological clock will tell you it is a couple or so hours after midnight)

[Betty]

John,

This is great information, and thank you for the links. I am checking into. This really helps. I believe I will go to Spain. I am fluent i Spanish, and I think I will feel more comfortable in my own language.

Muchas Gracias!

[John Hussey]

I copied this from another website, listing a more reasonable way to get to SJPdP. I wish I had known of it when I went through!

Contact Caroline Aphessetche of Express Bourricot to arrange for a taxi - her little taxi collects pilgrims every day from the bus station in Pamplona and carts them over the hill to St Jean. She usually picks up at around 4:30pm. The cost depends on how many in the vehicle but it will be between 20 and 30 euro.
apcaroline@hotmail.com

[Dan Elliott]

On my first camino, I flew to Madrid then to Bilbao. I highly recommend it. You can get an early morning bus from Bilbao to the Spanish border and then get train to Bayonne. From there there is a local train to St. Jean. All this is detailed in Brierley. I spoke very little to no Spanish (but had the luxury of being able to stay in fairly nice hotels) and found very accomodating people in the tourist offices. Bilbao is fantastic.

[Karla]

Hi Betty,

My name is Karla and I too am planning on walking the Camino in August 2009. In all my checking of airfares, I've found that it is cheapest to fly into Dublin. Right now the fares from Chicago (ord) to Dublin is 709.00 and then to fly to Europe from Dublin is under a hundred dollars depending on what city you go into. I plan to look around in Ireland at the sacred sites before I head onto Europe and start my journey. Just thought I'd share what I've found to be the cheaper way to go.

[JDM]

Betty,

I'm leaving for the Camino from Chicago in March '09. Here's what my research revealed.

I've booked on Iberia as follows:

Chicago - Madrid
Madrid - Pamplona

then,

La Caruna to Madrid
Madrid to Chicago

This cost, at the moment, $928.05

I plan to taxi from Pamplona to SJPP; I haven't yet looked into getting from Santiago to La Caruna (just a bit to the north of Santiago).

I found that virtually every other way was much more expensive.

Good Luck!

jdm

[murphydog201]

How do people get from Santiago to Madrid (if that's where they need to go) at the end of their Camino? I can book a flight from Santiago to Madrid now for about $100. The buses are almost as expensive.

[murphydog201]

I just booked a flight from Santiago to Madrid for $52! That has to be a great deal.

[Dan Elliott]

I travelled from NYC to Madrid to Bilbao (actually 3 years ago yesterday). Brierley outlines how to get to St. Jean from there. Though it involves a bus and 2 trains, it is very easy. Bilbao is a fabulous city to visit.

[murphydog201]

I don't have the Brierly book. How long did that trip take from Madrid to Bilbao to St. Jean? I'm hoping to get from Madrid to St. Jean or Roncesvalles in a day. I assumed the quickest way was to go from Madrid to Pamplona and then to either town.