Travel

There is a great HRP thread here and some nice pics here; and in the spirit of la fraternité, one in French

By the way, if anyone reading this thread is interested in the night train situation, it seems that although the French SNCF overnight train to Hendaye is not operating at the moment (as Pedro pointed out) there is an alternative which is the Spanish RENFE "Trenhotel" which goes from Paris Gare d'Austerlitz to Madrid but stops at Vitoria Gasteiz which is near Irun and from where one can get connecting trains or buses to Hendaye/Irun.

I'm taking the day train on the outward journey in order to spend a relaxing evening stocking up on my fat reserves in Hondarribia, as Philip suggested, but my friend will be making the return journey on the Trenhotel train. Advance price bunk compartments are euro 99. With advance price Eurostar at £49 it doesn't come out too badly considering that you get to eat Breakfast in Paris, Tea in Bordeaux, dinner in Hondarribia and then on the return leg, have dinner in Vitoria before snoozing off on the 11.30pm night train to Paris.

Excelllent find  Clare.  Just had  a look at the web site and  found  outward promotional  bunk bed fares at 74 euros on selected days. Even better.

Useful bus service site for Navarra Region, which shows for example how to get from Vitoria or Pamplona into whichever bit of the mountains you want to get to. Particularly useful is that if, inevitably, there is no direct bus service to your chosen remote piece of rock it then gives you a search option for how to get there by changing buses.

http://www.autobusesdenavarra.com/siv/internet/resbusqueda.jsp?Origen=31_201&Destino=1_59&Fecha=2%2F7%2F2011&HoraInicio=12%3A00&HoraFin=18%3A00&chk_L=on&chk_M=on&chk_X=on&chk_J=on&chk_V=on&chk_S=on&chk_D=on

>French SNCF overnight train to Hendaye is not operating at the moment

I do'nt think

look at 

http://www.tgv-europe.com

At this moment in time it is not operating when it is required.

I was planning to walk the Camino de Santiago in  2014, but have now changed my mind. The GR11 and HRP seem far more challenging and adventurous. I think I shall start planning now and look for a hiking buddy. I like the idea of merging the 3 routes and finding my own route.

That's what I did. Having spent time in the Pyrenees there were parts  I wanted to visit and also parts which I wanted to avoid at all costs. I wanted to  be based on the GR11 but starting in the sea and ending in the  sea (rather than on cliff tops) so I criss crossed the border many times.

hi Lesley,

I'd say that the only problem with chopping and changing routes is to find the mapping as and when you need it. When I started this thread last year i think that someone suggested that I could get maps as and when I needed them, in the villages and so on. I didn't find that to be the case and am very glad I carried all the sections that I wanted to use.

As to GR11 v Camino. When my route crossed the Camino it felt as if I'd suddenly arrived on the seven sisters, a motorway of walkers. I had emerged from some stunning empty hills where great swarms of vultures had been screeching around cattle. The Camino felt similar, but the swarms were descending on the village patisserie.

Good luck with it.

Clare

On that section I must have met more people than on the rest of trip - at least 100 in 2 miles or so.