Train travel to France
Road Red
Posts: 232
We're looking to travel by train to Pau for next year's Etape.
Is this easy to do?
What has people's experience been of travelling with bikes on the trains?
Is this easy to do?
What has people's experience been of travelling with bikes on the trains?
0
Comments
-
I've travelled on the Eurostar.
You have to take your bike to St. Pancras in advance (the day before ideally) and leave it to the baggage office, pay 20 pounds and they send it to Paris with the first available service. They guarantee the bike to be in Paris within 24 hours (normally it takes less). Then you can collect your bike at the baggage office once in Paris. As for the French part of the trip, I don't know... I assume it's a bit easier... the difficult bit might be to carry your bike in the underground between Gare du Nord and Gare du Montparnasse. If you have a bike bag it might be easier, but you still have to send it for the international part of the journey.
Good luck!left the forum March 20230 -
bike bag on eurostar is walk on luggage.
Same for french trains.
heres a great site for all things this....
http://www.seat61.com/Europe.htm
Tux0 -
seat61 is a great resource.
Top tip from there: change in Lille rather than Paris since you won't have to change stations.
Disclaimer 1: my knowledge is entirely theoretical as I plan for next year
Disclaimer 2: I have been looking into other destinations - your mileage may vary.0 -
Yes, you can walk your bike on so long as it's in a bag. Bubble wrap and cardboard won't do, they'll get uppity.
You will find a very long journey, I'd imagine 12 hours. You can book at http://www.tgv-europe.com/en/home/ but look at a flight to Toulouse too (BA, easyjet), where you can get trains to Pau from.0 -
We walked on with two bikeboxalan hard bike boxes - similar to scicon and massive! They were a bit put out on the check in but when we got to the train, they were super organised and took it all in their stride. There were loads of riders getting on with bikes in boxes and bags. It probably would have been easier with a bag - the boxes were a bit of a pain and weren't really necessary as you loaded the bike onto the shelf yourself anyway. If i was going by plane, I would definitely go for a hard box though as you never know how the airline people may treat your pride and joy.
Yeh, I changed a Paris and was a bit of a pain - Lille would have been much better but there wasn't one going early enough for us.
We're driving down again this time as we're staying for 2 weeks. It's a bloody long way so I think we're going to stop over in Le Mans.0 -
We did the bikeboxalan thing on the train for this years etape - very easy, cheap and highly recommended - about £105 return and you can sit in the bar and drink all the way home. Would also recommend changing at Lille. On the French trains I think you can only book 3 months ahead, but it was no problem and we booked both legs through Eurostar. I'd recommend booking over the phone too - they were very helpful and got us seats near the beer supply.
If you're up for it, going entry-only and sorting the accommodation yourself is much more preferable to doing an (dis)organised tour.
Have been offered an entry for next years etape, but we did Pau - Tourmalet last year (in the cold and rain). Think we'll find something else instead...0 -
Hello
Having spent the better part of my time since the 14th trying to secure entry only places for L'Etap have now finally succeeded so now on hunt for top tips on getting to Pau and securing accommodation and support at start and finish. Any tips from veteran L'Etappers most welcome especially on the level of support from ASO to non package entrants.
Driving down to that part of France is much faster now with the final leg of motorways in the Dordogne region than when I last tried it in the late 1990's. An overnight ferry cabin from Portsmouth to Cherboourg gives you a early fresh landing in France and you can break the back of the trip in one full day. Regards Sudor0 -
You won't go far wrong with Chris and Helen at Pyractif - actually they are very good.
See if you can stretch your trip a few days as there are some superb climbs only a short ride from their base near Luchon.0 -
Sudor wrote:Hello
Having spent the better part of my time since the 14th trying to secure entry only places for L'Etap have now finally succeeded so now on hunt for top tips on getting to Pau and securing accommodation and support at start and finish. Any tips from veteran L'Etappers most welcome especially on the level of support from ASO to non package entrants.
Driving down to that part of France is much faster now with the final leg of motorways in the Dordogne region than when I last tried it in the late 1990's. An overnight ferry cabin from Portsmouth to Cherboourg gives you a early fresh landing in France and you can break the back of the trip in one full day. Regards Sudor
Go Portsmouth - Le Havre with LD Lines (half the price of Brittany Ferries) but book early as cabin space limited.
As for ASO, they don't give a monkey's but they should be rolling out the red carpet to anyone not from France as they are earning an extra €100 per head.0 -
Sudor wrote:Hello
Having spent the better part of my time since the 14th trying to secure entry only places for L'Etap have now finally succeeded so now on hunt for top tips on getting to Pau and securing accommodation and support at start and finish. Any tips from veteran L'Etappers most welcome especially on the level of support from ASO to non package entrants.
Driving down to that part of France is much faster now with the final leg of motorways in the Dordogne region than when I last tried it in the late 1990's. An overnight ferry cabin from Portsmouth to Cherboourg gives you a early fresh landing in France and you can break the back of the trip in one full day. Regards Sudor
Go Portsmouth - Le Havre with LD Lines (half the price of Brittany Ferries) but book early as cabin space limited.
As for ASO, they don't give a monkey's but they should be rolling out the red carpet to anyone not from France as they are earning an extra €100 per head.0 -
My experience from this yearusing a bike bag:
Bristol - St Pancras using BR - cramped, rude unhelpful staff, late.
St Pancras Lille with Eurostar - smooth as you like, very comfortable
Liile - Valence TGV - perfect, fast comfortable, loads of space
Valence TGV - Valence - ripped off massively by a taxi driver.
I'd think carefully about the connections either end. Try and give yourself some time to relax and catch up on sleep before the Etape.
Oh, and Cyclomundo's idea of a 'hearty breakfast' is some cheese slices and a massive bowl of coffee - if going by tour, take your own porridge!0
