From Barcelona to the Camino Frances

[George]

I am flying into Barcelona and I am biking the Camino Frances. I am wondering where to enter the camino and how to get there. Is there another Camino from Barcelona that meets up with the beginning of the Camino in Western France?
Thanks

 

[sillydoll]

Barcelona to France

Hi George,
If you want to start at St Jean (and not ride all the way) you can go by train to Bayonne (10.45 hours) - then to St Jean: http://www.sncf.com (French rail).
Or you could ride the ±700kms on the Camino Catalan - from Barcelona to Montserrat ±200km and onto the Ruta el Ebro. You can find info on the route from Monsterrat to Zarragoza
http://www.mundicamino.com/rutas.cfm?id=48
and then the Rutal el Ebro here which takes you to Logroño and the camino Frances.
http://www.mundicamino.com/rutas.cfm?id=21

Good luck!

 

[sillydoll]

Barcelona to Logrono

One more web link which Peter Robins posted sometime ago.

http://www.camisantjaume.com/

 

[George]

Thank you! It seems that my map does not include many of the towns that either you mentioned or are on the websites you provided links to. Is there a detailed map on the web that I can accsess? Do you know if the Spains trains accept bikes?

 

[Javier Martin]

From the Barcelone association, in english, you can see a map in

http://www.amicsdelspelegrins.org/icatalans.htm

I hope it's useful for you.

Buen Camino,

Javier Martin
Madrid, Spain

 

[George]

Maps of the camino.

Thank you for the map info. It is a great website. When you go through customs in Europe - are you allowed to bring non-perishable food. I am wnting to bring nergy bars and gels?

 

[Javier Martin]

Re: Maps of the camino.

To avoid this problem, why don´t you buy it in Barcelona?

 

[George]

bus times/ energy bars

I am surprised that the train to Bayonne takes over 10 hours. Then time spent to St. Jean. Is it true that the trains do not accept bikes?
I guess I am being cheap since I get the energy bars and gels free. I also was not sure of there availablility in Spain and did not want to spend too much time finding them. I have tried to use the bus website, though my spanish is minimal and I was not able to find the costs of the transit times.
Thank you!
George

 

[Javier Martin]

Re: bus times/ energy bars

Train Hendaya-Bayonne takes about 40 min. Train Bayonne-St. Jean takes 1 h 20 min.

And about the train Barcelona-Hendaya, yes, 10 hours. Look at
http://horarios.renfe.es/hir/index.jsp? ... F=NaN&ID=s

I would suggest you to go by train to Pamplona and then by bus or by taxi to St. Jean. The train takes between 5 h 30 min and 6 hours. You can share the taxi with others pilgrims and then it cost to you cheaper.

Buen Camino,

Javier Martin
Madrid, Spain