The Camino de Santiago is such an adventure. But first, you need to get there! Read out to find out about the best airports for the start of the Camino.
Where are the best airports for the start of the Camino de Santiago?
The Camino de Santiago routes all start in different towns or cities. Spain has a number of international airports, the biggest being Barcelona, Madrid and Malaga. If you are traveling from outside Europe, it may be that you will fly into one of these large cities before traveling onward to the start of the Camino de Santiago. Malaga and Barcelona are fantastic cities and if you have time to, why not explore there before the walk?
Alternatively, if you are keen to travel straight to the start of the route, read on to find out about the best airports for the start of the Camino de Santiago.
Best airport for the start of the Camino Frances
The Camino Frances starts in St Jean Pied de Port which is in France. The nearest airport to the start of the Camino Frances is Biarritz Airport.
How to get from Biarritz Airport to St Jean Pied de Port?
The distance from Biarritz Airport to St Jean Pied de Port is around 25 miles. You can take a taxi. Or take a bus and train, or two trains. This requires a change in Bayonne.
Best airport for the start of the Camino del Norte
The Camino del Norte starts in Irun, which is in Spain near to San Sebastian. The nearest airport to Irun is Biarritz. Therefore Biarritz is the best airport to fly into for the start of the Camino del Norte.
How to get from Biarritz Airport to Irun?
From Biarritz Airport you can travel to Irun. You will need to take a bus or train to Hendaye, which is still in France. These are frequent. From there, you can walk or take another train into Irun. This is very easy journey and you do not need to pass any security or passport checks to pass the border.
You can read more about the Camino del Norte here.
Best airport for the start of the Camino Portuguese
The best airport for the Camino Portuguese, depends on where you plan to start your walk. If you ware walking from Porto, then Porto is the best airport for you to travel from. However, if you plan to walk from Lisbon, then Lisbon is the best airport to arrive into. Both cities can be reached easily from the airport. The start of the Camino routes are both in the city.
Lisbon has a larger airport than Porto and more international flights, subsequently if you need to fly into Lisbon but you are starting from Porto, you can get to Porto easily. Consider the train or bus to get to Porto for the start of the Camino.
You can read more about the Camino Portuguese here. Find out more about accommodation in Porto here.
Best airport for the start of the Camino Ingles
The Camino Ingles starts in either A Coruña or Ferrol. The nearest airport to both is A Coruña , but this is a small airport. Your best bet is to fly into Santiago de Compostela.
From Santiago de Compostela, you can take a bus or train direct to the start of the Camino Ingles.
Best airport for the start of the Camino Primitivo
The Camino Primitivo starts in Oviedo. The nearest airport to Oviedo is Asturias, but this is a domestic airport. The best international airports to fly into is Santander.
How to get from Santander airport to Oviedo?
From Santander, you can take a bus or train direct to Oviedo. The train takes around 3 hours and bus around 5 hours.
Find out more about Oviedo and Santander here in our guide to the best cities on the Camino.
Best airport for the last 100km of the Camino
For the Camino Frances and Camino del Norte, the best airport to fly into for the last 100km of the Camino is Santiago de Compostela. For the last 100km of the Camino Portuguese from Tui, we would suggest flying into Vigo airport which is 19km away.
If you can’t get a flight to Vigo, another option is Santiago de Compostela or Porto. Both of which offer direct buses to Valenca/ Tui for the last 100kms of the Portuguese Camino.
Find out more about the last 100kms of the Camino here:
- The last 100kms of the Camino del Norte
- The last 100kms of the Camino Frances
- The last 100kms of the Camino Portuguese
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