Santiago to Paris

[E. O. Pederson]

>Does anyone have an opinion for travel from Santiago back to Paris(I fly in
>and out of Paris). I would like to compare train cost and time vs bus cost
>and time...and which ones do I take?
>Thanks all,
>Alice

Flying from Santiago to Paris is a possibility using your compostela and
obtaining an Iberia 1/2 price ticket, but that can work out to be more
expensive than buying a round trip ticket and only using half of it.  In the
autumn of 1999 that was the case: it would have been cheaper to buy a round
trip Santiago-Paris ticket here in the US  than purchasing the Iberia
one-way half-price ticket from Santiago to Paris.  Of course, a round-trip
ticket almost always requires a fixed departure date.

There are two train options.  One can take the Talgo to Madrid and then
transfer at Chamartin to a fast train to Paris, the more expensive and more
comfortable option.  The distance is much longer, but the trip takes almost
the same amount of time as the slow train from Santiago, via a number of
places to Burgos, changing trains there for the fast train to Paris, the
second rail option.

If you are leaving from the US, Canada, or Australia-New Zealand, check into
the various European rail passes.  They offer a great flexibility in timing
and do not require you to make specific date and route decisions far in
advance.  There is a 5 day pass that could be used from Paris to St. Jean
Pied-de-Port to start the pilgrimage and then used for whatever routing you
might want to follow back to Paris after you have reached Santiago.  Even if
you only use 2-3 days of the pass, the flexibility and the price make it a
good option.

I have not done the trip by bus, or checked the bus costs or times, so that
may be best (fastest/cheapest)option.


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