Airport storage

The Franckster
The Franckster Posts: 44
edited October 2007 in Tour & expedition
Dear All,

The wife and I would like to fly abroad for some cycle touring next year taking our trusty steeds with us. To this end I'm considering buying a pair of the soft padded Revolution bike bags to carry them in. However, I'm wondering what arrangements there are for storage of such bags at the destination airport whilst we're touring as I don't really want to be carting them around with us for two weeks. (Haven't decided on exactly where we're going just yet)
Could anyone out there who's done this before advise what the set up is?

The Franckster.

Comments

  • JHcp
    JHcp Posts: 144
    I don't think you will be able to leave the bags at the airport. However we have used airport hotels in the past. We have pre-booked ourselves rooms for the nights of our arrival and departure and prearranged to leave the bags. All of hotels we have used had a lockable room to leave the bags and were most accomodating.

    Using a hotel does incur extra expense, you may find that a local campsite might do the same arrangement. Certainly when we were at the campsite at Bodø, Norway, a German lad had left his bag at the campsite, which they had locked away in a store room.
    CycleTourer website
  • wakemalcolm
    wakemalcolm Posts: 913
    Frackster

    Geneva airport still has a left luggage service and I've seen bike bags stored there. The alternative, as mentioned, is to leave them at an airport hotel who all seem to have box rooms. I've never been charged for this service.
    ================================
    Cake is just weakness entering the body
  • The Franckster
    The Franckster Posts: 44
    Many thanks JHcp and wakemalcolm.
    Hotels! Of course, never thought of that. These soft cases I'm thinking of getting should fold down reasonably small as well so they won't take up too much room.

    The Franckster.
  • megilleland
    megilleland Posts: 786
    You could try one of the local car hire companies. Most have a depot close to the airport and they may be able to help you.
    The more you spend - the faster you go - the less you see.
  • pneumatic
    pneumatic Posts: 1,989
    Yep, definitely recommend Geneva airport for this (and they have a cycle path network running from the door of departures).

    Alternatively, you could do what we did in Spain and post your bags on to your destination (Santiago de Compostela in our case) where the parcels office will hang on to them until you arrive. They did insist on us putting them in a cardboard box but it worked.

    Fast and Bulbous
    Peregrinations
    Eddingtons: 80 (Metric); 60 (Imperial)
  • andymiller
    andymiller Posts: 2,856
    If you haven't yet bought bags then I'd definitely recommend considering the Ground Effect Tardis bags. They fold down to the size of a phone book and you can then send to your final destination hotel or to a Post Office (assuming you are going somewhere with a poste restante service - most countries do, I think). this makes it ideal if you aren't going to be doing a circular route.

    The bag is perfect for touring bikes. It's unpadded and it doesn't have wheels but the pluses definitely outweight the minuses.
    Italy Cycling Guide
  • The Franckster
    The Franckster Posts: 44
    Thank you to all for your suggestions. I'm quite impressed by the Tardis Andy. They wrap up so small and light that they're probably OK to carry with us. Quite cheap too. Food for thought...

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