Madrid to SJPP

Kbierstube · Jul 3, 2017

Hi Pilgrims, I will be flying in and out of Madrid. I need to get from Madrid to the starting point on the Camino and from the finishing point on the Camino back to Madrid. I intend to start in SJPP and I aspire to finish in Finisterre. How should I get from Madrid to SJ PP? How should I get from Finisterre back to Madrid?

Anemone del Camino · Jul 3, 2017

Madrid-Pamplona-SJPP:

To Madrid: bus from airport is easy peasy, or take the cercanias suburban train downtown to catch a train there.

Once in Pamplona, there are a few buses a day, or share a taxi

Fisterra-Santiago-Madrid: buses, train (may have to be via A Coruna) or air (Ryanair is my choice due to cost even if hours are not great for connecting flights to the Americas).

Check out Rome2rio, renfe.com and alsa.com

Deleted member 43985 · Jul 3, 2017

What time are you arriving in Madrid?

Kanga · Jul 3, 2017

Here's the thread with a compendium of useful links for travel from Madrid to SJPDP.

From Finisterre to Madrid the options are to catch a bus to either A Coruna or back to SDC, and then fly or train or bus to Madrid. Here's the Rome2Rio link

t2andreo · Jul 3, 2017

...Or, you can do it in style and fly to MAD then connect to PML (Pamplona). Iberia Express runs several flights per day.

As others have stated, take a bus from Pamplona to St. Jean Pied de Port. Alternatively, you can choose to do what many have done and do each year, and start from Pamplona.

Having walked the Pyrenees twice, via the Napoleon Pass, my wife has made me promise not to do it a third time. She is concerned that my lunge actually WILL burst from my chest. Hence, the next time I do the Frances, it is either the Valcarlos Route or start at Pamplona.

I hope this helps.

KinkyOne · Jul 3, 2017

Iberia also has two daily flights from Madrid to Biarritz and from there it's easy to get first to Bayonne train station and from there to SJPdP.

JabbaPapa · Jul 3, 2017

... or start in Madrid, which is also a perfectly viable choice.

Up to Segovia then Valladolid, then join the Francès at (edit : Sahagun) would seem easiest, though there's a more easterly variant that goes up via Palencia (but it spends a suspiciously lengthy stretch near a motorway).

Maybe not your cup of tea ?

I'd actually suggest the bus then, the Spanish ones are quite comfy now, though yes perhaps a train would be better for the return to Madrid.

Gerhard58 · Jul 3, 2017

I have just finished the Camino Frances from St Jean to Santiago starting on the 10th of April 2017. It was quite a struggle for me to get to the start at St Jean from Madrid. I made the mistake of arriving on a Sunday in Spain { and please let me warn you not to arrive on a Sunday} because most of the services are spontaneous and you have to do with irregular services .I also arrived in madrid by plane and I made the mistake of taking the train to Pamplona which is about three times as expensive as taking a bus to pamplona. take a bus to pamplona and then from there another bus to Roncesvalles.. The bus and train from from Madrid arrives to late to catch the one and only daily bus to Roncesvalles /SJPDP (which only starts RUNNING ON April, 2) so you have to either take a taxi via Roncesvalles and St Jean or sleep the night over in Roncesvalles and then take the bus .the next day.

Really with the experience of hindsight now I would easily have started my Camino in Pamplona without having any remorse after the time. I think that to start in the st jean cost you a lot of extra money and it is really tough the first stage over the pyrannees!!

KinkyOne · Jul 3, 2017

JabbaPapa said:
... or start in Madrid, which is also a perfectly viable choice.

Up to Segovia then Valladolid, then join the Francès at Léon would seem easiest, though there's a more easterly variant that goes up to Sahagun via Palencia (but it spends a suspiciously lengthy stretch near a motorway).

Camino de Madrid doesn't go through Valladolid (just a detour) and Palencia.

But I have the impression that the OP is a firsttimer (according to avatar) and wants to walk the CF which is good for a first time in my book.

JabbaPapa · Jul 3, 2017

I was being a little tongue-in-cheek, though not completely, but ...

KinkyOne said:
Camino de Madrid doesn't go through Valladolid (just a detour) and Palencia.

I have two routes from Madrid up north towards the Francès on my iGn European Caminos map. The Palencia route is completely different to the Camino de Madrid, and probably not waymarked.

However, it does seem that the current be-yellow-arrow'd Camino de Madrid goes to Sahagun via Segovia rather than to Léon as on my map -- which I must confess is older than the waymarkers are on that route. Probably a wise choice by the Madrid pilgrim association, as the terrain south of Léon can be a tad harsh, and the very busy main road that the traditional route likely corresponds to was a dire environment to be in even 20 years ago. It seems to bypass Valladolid, you're right, though I think that the historic route would surely have passed through that city.

http://www.caminosantiago.org/cpperegrino/caminos/caminover.asp?CaminoId=11

KinkyOne · Jul 3, 2017

JabbaPapa said:
I was being a little tongue-in-cheek, though not completely, but ...

I have two routes from Madrid up north towards the Francès on my iGn European Caminos map. The Palencia route is completely different to the Camino de Madrid, and probably not waymarked.

However, it does seem that the current be-yellow-arrow'd Camino de Madrid goes to Sahagun via Segovia rather than to Léon as on my map -- which I must confess is older than the waymarkers are on that route. Probably a wise choice by the Madrid pilgrim association, as the terrain south of Léon can be a tad harsh, and the very busy main road that the traditional route likely corresponds to was a dire environment to be in even 20 years ago. It seems to bypass Valladolid, you're right, though I think that the historic route would surely have passed through that city.

http://www.caminosantiago.org/cpperegrino/caminos/caminover.asp?CaminoId=11

Interesting. I haven't heard of Palencia route as a "Camino". Is it maybe one of GRs or Es (European routes)?

Can't really agree about Valladolid being on Camino in the past because Camino de Madrid is one of the "new/artificial" routes. At least that's what I remember from reading about it. But OTOH in past centuries pilgrims just walked from their doorsteps and who are we to say which route is "THE Camino"

JabbaPapa · Jul 3, 2017

KinkyOne said:
Interesting. I haven't heard of Palencia route as a "Camino". Is it maybe one of GRs or Es (European routes)?

Can't really agree about Valladolid being on Camino in the past because Camino de Madrid is one of the "new/artificial" routes. At least that's what I remember from reading about it. But OTOH in past centuries pilgrims just walked from their doorsteps and who are we to say which route is "THE Camino"

If it's on my map, it's a traditional route.

For the Camino de Madrid, the site I linked to says : El Camino de Madrid cruza la Sierra de Guadarrama sobre los restos de la vía romana XXIV del Itinerario de Antonio, cuya traza sigue hacia Segovia y Simancas (Valladolid), la cual fue usada hasta el siglo XX por los segadores gallegos que desde la provincia lucense venían a Castilla para la siega ... which to cut to the salient point means that it follows an old Roman road, and so must therefore have been used by pilgrims -- but as I suggested earlier, the traditional route that I have follows the motorway-like Madrid to Léon main road from Valladolid onwards, so yes the Simancas/Valladolid up to Sahagun bit is a modern creation.

The most popular variant via Palencia seems to follow the Camino de Madrid to Valladolid, then the Canal de Castilla up to Fromista -- I've heard from someone who did this that it's a nice walk -- but it's not the traditional route of course, as the canal didn't exist. It does seem to be quite the maze of routes and secondary routes north of Madrid.

---

Anyway, the bottom line is that an alternative for the OP to travelling to SJPP from Madrid does exist by walking instead up to the Francès, that it's waymarked, has several Albergues along the way, and is probably not solitary.

KinkyOne · Jul 4, 2017

JabbaPapa said:
...
Anyway, the bottom line is that an alternative for the OP to travelling to SJPP from Madrid does exist by walking instead up to the Francès, that it's waymarked, has several Albergues along the way, and is probably not solitary.

It is solitary. I've walked it

Thanks for other info.

And sorry for going off-topic to all the others.

Frankybaby66 · Monday at 9:57 PM

Hi I'm travelling to Burgos to walk part of the Camino Frances next year and my options seems to be fly into Santander and coach to Burgos, or fly into Madrid, then coach to Burgos. Don't think...

bryan138 · Thursday at 10:24 PM

Hello! I’ve been browsing the forum and there’s plenty of info for baggage transfers from stage to stage, where you pick it up daily, give it back and move on, however what I’m after is a service...

Madrid to SJPP

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