PRE AND POST CF.

[EL LECHERO]

Hello, All,

God willing I hope to walk the first part of the CF next year. Starting at SJPP. I have 15 day to travel there, walk and get back to the US. My question to y’all is how many days should I set aside for travel? 2, 3, 4 (that is for getting there and return). This will help me gauge how many days to walk.

Thanks in advance.

Lechero

 

[C clearly]

Well, it depends on what sort of travel preferences and plans you have! You haven't given us much to work with. You'll have to do some research to start, and then we can point out some refinements and make suggestions about the details in France and Spain .

 

[EL LECHERO]

Well, it depends on what sort of travel preferences and plans you have! You haven't given us much to work with. You'll have to do some research to start, and then we can point out some refinements and make suggestions about the details in France and Spain .

To be more specific coming from the States and flying to Paris then train to SJ how many days should I allow myself to get to SJ? I'm figuring walking to SJPDP as far as I can go. If I have only 15 days......which includes travel perhaps 10 or 11 days on the Camino?

 

[mspath]

Milkman,

Welcome to the Forum.

You can easily get to SJPdP in one day by train from Paris. Fast TGV trains go from the Paris Montparnasse station to Bayonne. At Bayonne you connect with a local train to SJPdP.
Check www.Rome2Rio.com for more info re travel in general.
Check www.SNCF.fr for French train info.

The return to Paris from wherever you might be on the camino will be more complicated. However you can use www.Rome2Rio.com to plan/plot your return.

Happy research and Buen camino.

 

[C clearly]

Also keep in mind that you can buy an air ticket from the US to Paris, and then the return from Madrid to your starting US city. It is called an "open jaw" ticket and is usually about the same price as a return ticket.

 

[trecile]

Also keep in mind that you can buy an air ticket from the US to Paris, and then the return from Madrid to your starting US city. It is called an "open jaw" ticket and is usually about the same price as a return ticket.

They are also called "multi city" tickets.

My friend joined me on my 2nd Camino, but she also only had two weeks travel time. We flew into Madrid, and took the train to Pamplona the next day, then a taxi to SJPdP. There are also bus options that you can take to save money between Pamplona and SJPdP, as well as buses that you can take directly from the Madrid airport to get to SJPdP (with a change of buses along the way).

My friend walked with me as far as Logroño, which is a good stopping place since it's a large enough city that there are good transportation option back to Madrid. She took a morning train to Madrid from Logroño.

 

[naplesdon]

Depending on where you are flying from Bilbao can be a less expensive alternative and probably is more accessible to the CF than flying to Paris.

 

[dick bird]

Do you have to fly in via Paris? If you flew via Madrid (or Barcelona or Bilbao), you'd be that much closer your start point - which would also have to be easily accessible by AVE (fast train), bus, or a flight - European cities mostly have airports serviced by budget airlines. Whatever you do, try to minimise the travel time, walking the camino in the grips of jet-lag wouldn't be a lot of fun. Maybe walking the Primitivo from Oviedo is an option.

 

[Deleted member 76633]

You can also fly to Logrono via Madrid.

 

[Anhalter]

Train from Paris to SJPDP is around 5,5h and there are multiple connections each day (at least in normal times).
How long it will take you to get to Paris is a question no one can answer but you since we don't know the details.
It took me 11 days of walking to get to Burgos (at 26,9km/day average). If that turns out to be to much, you could stop at St.Domingo d.l. Calzada and save another 2-3days. Then Bus to Madrid either from Burgos or S.D.d.l.C and fly back home (Bus to Madrid is 3-4h depending where you start).
This way you stay flexible. Book the flight to Paris, the train to SJPDP and the flight back home, walk however far you feet carry you, get on bus to catch flight home and done.