How to Transport Your Bicycle by Train in Europe

While riding on a train you have time to look at the countryside, and on many trains meals are available. Trains are generally relatively inexpensive, and in some countries, very inexpensive.

On the other hand, carrying assembled bicycles on higher speed trains is not generally allowed, and while I have used bike bags on these trains, they are quite inconvenient for reasons discussed below, and I have more recently preferred to travel slower on regional trains.

By far the best site by far for researching international trains that carry assembled bicycles (in English and other languages as well as German) is the German Rail site. My most recent check finds that outside Germany train times are not always accurate, but the routes that you can take with bicycles are. http://www.bahn.de. Click on "Deutch" on the upper part of the page and choose English. Fill in the railroad stations and click the shown date for the calendar and time. Click Travellers, bicycles, discounts. Scroll down the box showing the type of passanger to bicycle. Click Accept. Now on the main page click Search. Choose your trip and click Details. (You can also increase the standard time for transfers if, in your results, it appears the interval is too short.) For trains in France, Italy and some other countries, you will not be able to buy tickets on this Internet site. If that is the case, carefully copy down the train information, particularly the cities where each segment begins or ends.

Where to buy tickets:

There are two main websites in English, Rail Europe.com and Trainline.com, that usually are suitable for travellers without bicycles (though a bit expensive). However, I cannot recommend them for traveling with an assembled bicycle (except Trainline for tickets in the UK). I do recommend using the German Rail site described above for the trains that it prices, and otherwise, national websites.

For France:

Use SNCF Connect http://sncf-conect.com. it will ask you if you wish to use the English version of the site. Enter the cities of your trip as a first try -- or if not train is available, the first segment of your trip and the date. Then enter traveler information. Scroll down. Underneath the traveler information you can add another traveler or a bicycle. Next click (q) See prices. Continue filling out your choices and buy your ticket.

If you are reserving for a TER (regional train you will directed to the site veloabord.fr. (If not, navigate there on your own.) Scroll down this site and on the map click on the region where the TER is located. Read if your route is listed. If not, no reservation is needed. If yes, then fill in the cities, date and train and buy the ticket.

Complicated? Yes, especially with sequential TERs but there is no alternative.

Trains and Bicycles—Italy:

Many regional trains in Italy do carry assembled bicycles (sometimes a fee is required), but most long-distance trains do not.

Italian timetables in stations are said to have symbols showing which trains carry assembled bicycles. International trains carrying bicycles to and from Italy as well as internal Italy trains can be accessed on the Italian railroad site: http://www.trenitalia.it. Click the little figure and close the sign-in. The language will change to English in a new window. Enter your starting and ending destinations, dates, and who is travelling You can ignore Main Solutions . Click Search. Select a departure. Once you do this, a pictorial list of things you can add will display. If the train carries bicycles, one of these will be add bicycles. Now you may complete your booking. If no add bicycle was shown, select a different departure.

Trains and Bicycles—Germany:

Many German trains will carry your assembled bicycle. Many train stations rent decent quality bicycles. You can do a search in English with your destination as a search term, or use the German terms "fahrrad" (road bicycle) and"verleih" or "mieten" (rental). On most trains you must purchase a daily bike ticket for a minimal price.

The Eurostar to continental Europe: With an advanced reservation and a fee you can arrange to have your bicycle dispatched on the same Eurostar train you are travelling on from London to Paris or Brussels (or vice-versa). If the reserved space is already reserved, you can arrange for the same fee to have your bicycle shipped 24 hours in advance of your departure for collection on arrival. See the Eurostar site (http://www.Eurostar.com) and navigate to "travel information" and then bicycles. E-biokes are accepted. Fully assembled bikes can be taken to Brussels or Amsterdam, but not Paris, The telephone number for these services, whether calling from the UK, France or Belgium is listed as: +44 (0)8705 850 850.

Eurostar can also carry on your bicycle to any destination if it fits within a 90 x 120 centimeter bike bag bike bag, which is highly improbable unless one has a folding bike or small mountain bike. Since everyone has to pass through security before boarding trains, it seems unwise to attempt to exceed the size limit. And thus, checking your full sized bicycles, as discussed above, appears the best solution.

Within Britain: For the main rail lines, see this map: www.girr.org/girr/england/rail_map.html. Information about taking your bicycle on non-Eurostar British trains can be found on this web page: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/passenger_services/cyclists.html. The site can be extremely helpful. In my experience, traveling on a British train with a bicycle can be a bit chaotic: First you have to contact the national rail group by phone or Internet learn which companies service your departure point and destination. If your route is served by a company that requires reservations, you have to contact the reservation service of that company. Some companies require reservations, some don't. Some trains carry bikes, some don't. There may be several routings to your destination serviced by different companies. If your route uses two or three train companies, as is not uncommon, then you have to work out all the schedules and connections. Bicycle reservations may need to be made several days in advance. To simplify things, one possibility is to ignore any requirements for reservations; and unless you meet up with a very disciplined controller, this will only be a problem if several bikers are at the station or on the train before you. Another pointer: When multiple companies are involved, do not try to buy your tickets on-line with each company, but go to a railroad station (or a travel agent?) where the agent can book you a through ticket with all the companies, and can request bicycle reservations.

Bike Bags Housses, Boxes and Cases:

You can carry your bicycle on any train in or to any country, including TGV's (very high speed trains) in a bike bag called in French a housse (pronounced oosse) or in an appropriately-sized bicycle case. If you do this, you need to allow at least an hour before and two hours after your train trip to partly disassemble and reassemble the bike -- and if you are making a point to point trip, you would need to fabricate a light weight housse not available commercially and carry it with you. Personally, I would rather spend time taking local trains with an assembled bicycle

TGV trains have a large luggage compartment at the end of each car, and the floor level shelf of this is fairly high. By sliding your bike in its housse to the back of the compartment (temporarily moving blocking luggage) it will be nicely out of the way, or if your dismantled bike is too tall, you can lay it on its side on the shelf. The box - housse dimensions allowed on a train are 120 x 90 centimeters (47.2 x 35.4 inches), which fits on the shelf. You can buy a bike bag of this size in France or in the United States for a reasonable amount. However, many road bikes, even with front wheels removed, cannot fit into a housse of that size. (many mountain bicycles can.) So many people carrying road bicycles have ignored the specification (which would require complete disassembly of a full-sized bicycle, including rear fenders), and to my knowledge no French train staff has ever questioned anybody about it. If, during vacation period, the rack is completely full, you might just lay your housse against it, as there may be no other choice. For non-TGV trains put the house, box or case wherever you can find a place.

The general directive of the SNCF for baggage carried on board is: Don't take any baggage on board which you cannot carry, and which cannot be stored in the spaces provided for baggage storage. In many trips, the author has yet to see this rule enforced, but also he has never seen the aisles of a train seriously blocked.

To fit an average size road bicycle euipped for touring into a bike bag, bike box, or bike case , you must remove the seat and at least the front wheel and fender (and, if you plan to keep the bag size to regulation, unfortunately, in most cases the rear fenders and rear rack); you must also turn or take off the handlebars, and you may want to remove the pedals as well. Be sure to try out at home, and to bring along, the necessary tools.

Making Suitable Bike Bags (Housses): Assuming that you are not doing a circular trip, so that you will want to transport your bag with you on your trip in your panniers, you will need to make your own bicycle bag, or have it made for you. (See directions on this page.) The commercially available bags and cases, in France and elsewhere, are all too heavy and bulky to carry with you on your bicycle, or somewhat smaller than 120 x 90 centimeters. Your homemade bag will eventually get a few holes poked through it, which probably is why you cannot buy a large light-weight bag commercially. Housses (bike bags) can also be used on many airlines.

For detailed housse-making directions, click here

Your home-made housse will roll up tightly and weigh only 15 ounces (380 g). A high-enough quality, lightweight, homemade housse can be fabricated with a sewing machine, some pack cloth, nylon thread, and a zipper. ( According to several train officials the author has chatted with, even home made housses that are crude are acceptable. You could make one with some wide sheets of bubble-wrap or heavy polyethylene and tape.)

Bike Boxes: A question that has come up on reader mail: Is a bicycle box a good substitute for a housse? The author believes that for most trips a home-made housse is more appropriate. The disadvantage of the box (or a store-bought housse) is that they cannot be transported on your bike, so you would have to find another box for the return trip. Moreover, they would be more cumbersome to put onto and take off tof rain cars.

Bike Cases and commercial bike bags: Many brands of folding bicycles supply a bicycle case to carry them in. This is treated by trains and airlines as luggage. To my mind, unless your bike trip is circular, these have even greater limitations than bicycle boxes; that is, you can not take them with you on your bike trip – unless you also purchase a trailer which pulls the case along behind your bicycle. The weight of the case and trailer, for one folding bike brand, is about 15 pounds. If you are thinking of this option, check whether the trailer wheels fit into the bicycle case. Some folding bicycle companies also sell bike bags. However, the bike bag examples the author knows of are too heavy and bulky to be carried in panniers, and would serve only for a circular trip. Rather you should strongly consider making your own light-weight bag to fit your bicycle as explained above. If that is not possible, leave time to get hold of a bike box at your destination.

Next page: Panniers and Clothing

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