Travel advice

[Randy Olson]

This information may be superfluous at this point, but just in case it may
be of help, let me also direct your attention to buses from Madrid to
Pamplona; it is a very convenient way,  perhaps a more convenient way, to
get from the Airport to Pamplona.  You can catch the E.M.T. city bus
directly out in front of the international arrivals terminal at Barajas
Airport in Madrid.  One runs every 15 or 20 minutes; its destination is
Plaza de Colon (you pay the bus driver as you board -- somewhere between 400
and 500 pesetas (I don't know the euro conversion)).  The bus runs directly
by the Avendia de America metro station.  You get off here (if you are
afraid of missing it, ask the driver, though the signs are pretty visible if
you are siting on the right side of the bus).  You can also take the metro
to Avenida de America, but it isn't as easy as the bus since you have to
schlepp a good distance across the airport to get to the metro enttrance,
and you have to make a couple of switches on the metro).  Avenida de America
is a large metro station, inside of which is a bus terminal with the bus
line that services Pamplona (it's underground). There are numerous buses
leaving daily to Pamplona.  The bus fare is a fair bit cheaper than the
train fare; the bus ride is only about 30 minutes longer than the train
ride, and you can probably catch a bus out within an hour or slightly longer
of your arriving at the bus station, meaning that you don't have to sit
around all day at the train station waiting for the afternoon train to
Pamplona, a real drag after having been on a plane all night.  And you can
arrive in Pamplona by early or mid-afternoon, giving you more time to find a
room for the night.  And, finally, the bus station is proximate to downtwon
Pamplona, and a number of hostals and pensions are within an easy walk (the
train station is not very proximate, and one must catch the city bus).

Best, Randy


> ----------
> From:         Jean Seeler & Dave Gifford[SMTP:jeandaveaMINDSPRING.COM]
> Reply To:     Road to Santiago Pilgrimage
> Sent:         Monday, March 18, 2002 3:54 PM
> To:   GOCAMINOaPETE.URI.EDU
> Subject:      Re: Travel advice
>
> The Madrid "metro" runs from the airport to downtown.  With a few changes
> you can get to the Chamartin RR station which is for trains north to
> Pamplona (Iruna)   I know of one leaving around 9 Am, another at 5 PM.
> The
> trip takes about 4.5 hours.  There may be others trains.  These two are
> direct (no change anywhere)
>
> There is a RENFE ticket office in the Madrid Airport.  You need noth a
> ticket to your destination and a seat reservation.  Both bought at the
> same
> time.
>
> The problem is arriving Pamplona at 9:30 PM or so.  You might call ahead
> for
> a reservation at a Hostal recommended in the guide books.   Probably the
> refugio will be filled.  The bus that waits for the 9:30 PM train runs
> right
> by the ** (two star) Hostal Principe de Viana I & II, Avenida Zaragoza 4,
> phone 948 24 91 47. We paid $34.57 for a double with bath, in May 2001.
>
> If you stay over near the RR station in Madrid and get the early train,
> you
> are ready to continue on the Camino once you arrive in Pamplona.  I
> understand there are busses from Pamplona to Roncesvalles but have no
> experience.
>
> There is a web site for the RENFE, but I have forgotten how to access it.
> It provides schedules.  Note that Pamplona is also referred to as Iruna.
> Buen Camino
>     jean seeler   jeandaveamindspring.com
>