Le Puy by Bus

[Nick_Snook]

Hi
Has anybody travelled by bus from London Victoria to Le Puy en Velay?

I'm thinking of going to Lyon by coach and then taking to the local bus service - any advice would be gratefully accepted.

Nick 8)

 

[Caminando]

Hi N

there's no bus

Hi
Has anybody travelled by bus from London Victoria to Le Puy en Velay?

I'm thinking of going to Lyon by coach and then taking to the local bus service - any advice would be gratefully accepted.

Nick 8)

Hi
Theres no bus from Lyon to Le Puy; its train only. To Lyon by bus is tiring and not so cheap. Take an Easyjet flight to Lyon airport.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

You can get the train information here:

http://www.voyages-sncf.com/

Often schedules are only available a few months into the future, but they rarely change, so you can search the day of the week and anticipate that next summer the schedule will be the same. A search of Paris to Le Puy en Velay and Lyon to Le Puy showed quite a number of trains to choose from. Bonne route.

 

[Nick_Snook]

Thanks both

Amen to the coach to Lyon being tiring and pricey, Caminando - 16 hours and £78.00 or 8 times longer and 3 times more expensive than flying Easyjet!Thanks for the advice

Nick 8)

 

[Sagalouts]

hi nick
I'm struggling with a similar decision,starting from Le Puy in spring next year and don't want to fly, I'm fed up with the restrictions on what I can take on board-knife-nail clippers-nail file-walking staff-liquids the list goes on and on-
so you fly to Lyon and maybe have to stay the night there at 20-30 or more euros and then 28 euros train to Le Puy -tired shattered before I even start-no not for me.
I plan talking my favorite knife ( opinel)-and my Sunday Times wine club corkscrew and a staff still to be chosen-my Camino will start when I close my front door and bus pass in hand set off for the white cliffs of dover-thats as far as the plan goes except to maybe make a formal start from Paris-even if it is the train bus or skateboard-I quite like the idea of a slow organic run up to my walking from Le Puy.
with all the information out there its easy in my opinion to get too organised-understandable if your on a tight schedule but if you have the time----------------------------------------
buen Camino
Ian

 

[Nick_Snook]

Hi Ian

Man you're talking my language re restrictions and the genreral atitude of budget airlines.
Like you mine starts at the front door on April 1 2011, I get emotional just thinking about it and can't wait.
I notice that you have a blog - I'll watch for updates on your camino and wish you all the very best for it.
Hywl fawr

Nick

 

[Caminando]

hi nick
I'm struggling with a similar decision,starting from Le Puy in spring next year and don't want to fly, I'm fed up with the restrictions on what I can take on board-knife-nail clippers-nail file-walking staff-liquids the list goes on and on-
so you fly to Lyon and maybe have to stay the night there at 20-30 or more euros and then 28 euros train to Le Puy -tired shattered before I even start-no not for me.
I plan talking my favorite knife ( opinel)-and my Sunday Times wine club corkscrew and a staff still to be chosen-my Camino will start when I close my front door and bus pass in hand set off for the white cliffs of dover-thats as far as the plan goes except to maybe make a formal start from Paris-even if it is the train bus or skateboard-I quite like the idea of a slow organic run up to my walking from Le Puy.
with all the information out there its easy in my opinion to get too organised-understandable if your on a tight schedule but if you have the time----------------------------------------
buen Camino
Ian

Fine - except that there's no bus from Lyon to Le Puy, nor Paris -Lyon. Plus the TGV does not give a reduction on production of a credencial! Easyjet offers you your best chance to get nearer to heaven. So bugger Bognor....

And you will experience purgatory sooner than you think by Eurolines to Lyon. Que malo de culo!!You can buy another Opinel in France and cut a staff with it. Corkscrews are everywhere, and you can always open wine bottles without a corkscrew.

Good luck and buen camino :arrow:

 

[Bridget and Peter]

Single on Eurostar to Paris - £39. Lots of choice on times to depart. (I looked up coaches but that was a little more expensive and lots longer.)
Visit something you've always wanted to see in Paris
Train to Lyon - £20.50 (That was TGV and around two hours. There may be cheaper and a little slower Co-rail)
Train to Le Puy en Velay £19.50.

Do-able in one day if you wanted to. Opportunities for the interesting encounters which makes travel (and pilgrimaging) enjoyable as well as for stretching your legs in Paris and Lyon, eating freshly made baguettes or similar, looking out of windows at fields and forests, factories and back gardens, etc.

Take the cheap flight if you are in a hurry, but I find that even though the actual time in the air is so short, the whole package - getting to airport, going through security, queuing up to board, getting off the plane and through arrivals, finding out where the bus goes from to the city etc - makes me just as tired as a day's travel, without the enjoyment value of the journey.

(and being able to take, in my case, my father's little penknife which I keep in my purse to sharpen pencils, open plastic packaging etc, and live in dread of forgetting to take out before a plane journey and having it confiscated, or else forgetting where I put it safely at home while I was away)

But maybe I'm just a romantic about train travel ('there's something in my eye') and an idealist about considering the least carbon option when possible.

Bridget

 

[Nick_Snook]

Thanks Bridget

Thats a great help - sold me on the film quote - what a belter! I went to Carnforth a couple of years ago and went to THE station, it needs some steam it has to be said.

All good wishes

Nick

 

[gittiharre]

Hi Nick, just to say the train thing from Paris is a breeze and the little train to Le Puy along the Loire is a delight, beautiful scenery and very much part of the journey. Regards, Gitti

 

[Nick_Snook]

Hey Gitti

Thanks for your post - I just cant wait! I've seen several of your posts in other threads - when ara you next off?

Happy Xmas and all good things that go with it

Nick

 

[gittiharre]

Hi Nick, thanks, when am I next off?? The sooner the better, but realistically 2011. I am sooo undecided on my next route. There is a 1600 km coastal route around the Brittany Coast, not a pilgrim trail, so expensive re accommodation, the Vezelay Route has a bit too much concrete by the sound of it and the Silver Route seems a bit tough with long distances and no shade. I got as far as Innsbruck on the Austrian route of St James, there is the whole bit between there and Le Puy, hard to choose. I loved the sociable athmosphere on the Camino and the Le Puy route as well as the scenery. Austria and the Czech Republic were great, but very solitary, hardly a walker let alone pilgrim in sight. Any tips? Have a great time on the Le Puy route. Love, Gitti

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Gitti, I am thinking of heading towards Le Puy again, from maybe Cluny or Geneva, though I know both these routes will be much more lonely than the route from Le Puy onwards. But take a look at this route near the Pyrenees, Voie du Piémont Pyrénéen, that goes through Lourdes: http://vppyr.free.fr/vpp-index-etapes.php3 It has wonderful photos and maps of each etape. This totally inspires me- then maybe over the Somport Pass along the Camino Aragones to Estella. Realistically, probably 2012-13 before I get there..... but oh what lovely dreams!!!
Margaret

 

[gittiharre]

Hi Margaret, thank you, I do like the idea of the Geneva to Le Puy bit and the Piemont Route looks interesting too. Do you know anyone who has done Strasbourg to Le Puy????Gitti

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Not that I remember Gitti, although I imagine some of the people walking from their homes in Germany might well have taken that route. I know someone who walked from Dijon to Le Puy, (and then onto Santiago) so there might have been Strasbourg-starters on some of the same route. He basically never saw any other pilgrims until he reached Le Puy.
Margaret

 

[MaureenM]

Hello Nick

Another suggestion...we took the train from Lyon to Lille last year (2009), booked via SNCF, and then the Eurostar to London. We are returning to France Sept this year to walk Le Puy to Conques and I am currently trying to plan our route and cheapest fares from London or Reykjavik. Our flight from Australia is London return but we are off to Iceland for two weeks prior to the walk. My husband prefers using trains in Europe so we will either take the train from Paris or London (Lille to Lyon direct) to Le Puy. Using the SNCF site I book as soon as the fares are available ...cheaper that way. Check a site http://www.seat61.com for great advice on train travel - choosing fares, seats, etc.

Enjoy your trip.

 

[bjorgts]

From Strasbourg

My husband and I have walked the route from Cluny to Le Puy. There were few other walkers, but we met at least two who had walked from Strasbourg. We also saw in the books on the Gites that there were several walkers coming this route from Strasbourg. Bjørg

 

[Caminando]

Re: From Strasbourg

My husband and I have walked the route from Cluny to Le Puy. There were few other walkers, but we met at least two who had walked from Strasbourg. We also saw in the books on the Gites that there were several walkers coming this route from Strasbourg. Bjørg

Hi Bjorg

Have you just finished your walk or was this during an earlier time? :arrow:

 

[bjorgts]

The route from Cluny (and Strasbourg)

In June 2008 we walked from Cluny. 12 days walking. The plan was to reach Le Puy, but because of the heat and a lot of walking up and walking down, we did not get that fare. We met 4 other walkers, but 2 of them came from Strasbourg - if I remember. May be just one of them.

In June 2009 we continued. Between the many walkers from Le Puy to Conques, we met some comming from Germany and Strasbourg. Some Germans just walk out of their front door, I think, and some walk the route via Cluny. Nice route. Bjørg

 

[gittiharre]

Thank you Bjorg, have a good new year, Gitti

 

[Highgate]

Hi folks,
I know this thread is Le Puy by Bus but it seems to have wandered on to trains too.
Me and a few chums are planning to do the first leg of the pilgrimage in May by bicycle.
Does anyone have any recent experience of getting cycles from London to Le Puy by train?
Thanks,
Paul

 

[Kitsambler]

I took the train from Paris to Le Puy last September to start my walk. Although I wasn't using a bicycle, I did notice there were places marked for bicycle storage adjacent to the luggage racks where we stowed our backpacks. I especially saw this on the regional trains -- there must have been bicycle accommodations on the TGV somewhere.

I know this isn't the full answer, but I hope it's helpful.

 

[KiwiNomad06]

Sorry, haven't got a train timetable to help but I can give you general info about bicycles on trains in France. This info is from my experience in 2006 though-cycling in the Loire- and I can't be sure it hasn't changed.

If you want to go via TGV it is more complicated in that you have to disassemble the bike and put it in a special casing.

Otherwise, you can go via many regional trains and by any train that has a train symbol by its number in the train timetables. You can also take your bicycle via the RER trains within Paris, (in carriages marked with a bicycle symbol) but not via the metro. This means you can generally get from A to B via trains, but you need to allow more time to make the connections, as you can't go on all trains on the timetable, and sometimes need to go via a more roundabout route. Also, there is a limited amount of bicycle space, so your group size can't be too big to fit on one train.

I know you can't use this outside the country, but the train information staff are usually very helpful within France. Even if you can't speak French, if you just write down your start and finish places, and make it clear you have bicycles, they'll do a computer printout of your options.

Margaret