Travelling to ITaly with a bike as luggage

Special K

Hi there,

does anyone have any experience taking the train Paris to Milan sleeper and carrying a bike as luggage?

any experience with this would be great, please do share.

Have checked seat61.com for the info, and it's a little ambiguous and as ever, anecdotal evidence can be helpful,

thanks

Alex

andymiller

You can check using the tgv-europe.com (english version of the SNCF website) and click on the little tab that says 'details'. There would be a little bike pictogram if the train has facilites for unpackaged bikes.

I've just done a quick check and there don't seem to be any facilities for bikes, I'm afraid.

I'll be taking that train back from Milan (without bike) at the end of the month - so if I see anything different I'll post again (or at least I'll try to remember).

I hope this won't put you off. The fares can be very good value £29 from London to Paris and the cheapest fare 55€ for the sleeper (less if you get in when they first become available).

The Ground Effect Tardis works well - you should be able to get one under the bottom couchette (I say 'should' - I've only ever used the French sleepers - the Artesia trains may be different).

EDIT: oh and here's the link to the FAQs on the Artesia website just to confirm.

Special K

brilliant - thank you

do report back on this if you find out anything further on your way back

thanks again

woodey

This thread has got me thinking as I fly to Milan nearly every month, anyway I did some research and found this which may be usefull:

http://www.seat61.com/bike-by-train.htm

andymiller

Spent last night on the train back from Milan, so very recent experience.

The space under the bottom couchette is very limited ( bottom of the bottom seat/couchettte isabout 8 inches from the floor). You might be able to do it, provided the other passengers don't have a lot of luggage (there are also some other places where you could fit a small bike bag but it would be tricky. You could of course put it in the corridor but a) it's less secure and b) you're dependent on the good will of the carriage attendant.

The service seems to be very popular so the compartment is likely to be fully occupied.

So unfortunately I think you could be better off taking the day train.