Transporting Bikes to the South of France

KirbyJames

Hi,

We're thinking of taking a party of 10 or 20 bikers to the South of France (the Cevenne).

By plane we'll have to pay a surcharge of £60 return for each bike (£600 or £1200 total). Another option is for the cyclists to fly down and use a van or delivery service to take the bikes down.

Has anyone used any form of delivery or courier service to transfer bikes to and from France?

Many Thanks - Kirby

andymiller

With that number of cyclists wouldn't it be worth considering hiring a van so you can use it as a support van during the trip (taking it in turns to drive) - it's what French cycling clubs seem to do when they go on trips.

Jonny_road

How about something like this - http://www.bike-express.co.uk/. No idea how much it cost but you might be able to do a deal on a group that large.

Butterd2

Admittedly on my own but I took my bike down to Aix-en-provence by train (Eurostar to Paris then TGV). It was a really nice trip and much more pleasant than the flight home from Toulouse which was 'orrible.

pneumatic

the cost of van hire increases hugely if you have to take it abroad.

Solution 1: find a friend with a van and bribe them to join you.

Solution 2: ride to a channel port, take bikes over on the ferry, pick up a van hire at the French port.

It would probably be cheaper to pay a friend's expenses to self-drive than to pay a removal firm to transport the bikes.

You won't get 20 bikes on the same flight and you may even have trouble getting 20 bikes on the same train.

I like the sound of European Bike Express but have never actually used it. A friend of mine did about 15 years ago and said it was fine.

bikepacker

Have you had a quote from the Yorkshire Bikeliner? I believe he charters the bus for groups. http://www.bikeliner.karoo.net/home.htm