How to get home from Italy on a cycle?

MikeSlim

Hello All,

My house mate and me will be cycling from the house to Italy this August. We plan to stay one night in Leeds, then over the Hull where we'll board a ferry to Belgium. From there, we hope to pass through as many countries as we can until we a arrive in Venice three weeks later. This is all very doable and rather exciting. We then plan to catch a sleeper train home to Paris, then London and back to Manchester. Venice would be our preferred destination due to the prospect of passing Lake Garda. However, we have recently established that cycles are not allowed on long distance trains from Venice to Paris.

Would anyone have any suggestions of how we could get back with our bikes, perhaps you have done this before and you found a way? Flying home could be an option also but obviously we wouldn't have bike boxes with us - but there is a Decathlon in Venice.

All tips and advice will be happily accepted.

Thanks, Mike

nicknick

Ride back?

MikeSlim

Thank you, but no. We only have time to cycle there before we have to get back into work.

nicknick

Sorry I couldn't resist! Your trip sounds great, something I would really love to do but don't have the bottle yet! What are your accommodation plans and what bikes and type of luggage are you carrying? If travelling light you could locate a bike shop and get a cardboard bike box that they would just throw out, even if you offer them a few euros so you don't look too cheeky.

ooermissus

Do all routes ban bikes, or just the overnight Venice-Paris sleeper?

MikeSlim

Lol, no worries, Nick - I should have put it in the body of my post.

Anyone can do this, it just takes a bit of planning, effort and cash, or and common sense and you're away. Just do it before you find you can't.

We have one man tents for most of our nights, but there is the option to do some Couch Surfing off their website; of which I have allowed surfers to stay many times here, but only once have I surfed a couch. Alternatively, a cheap hotel/b&b where we can get a proper nights sleep/wash.
He has a touring bike; whereas, I have a tri-cross (which enables me to do a few races on it too).
I already have two back panniers by Edinburgh Cycles home brand, but I'll be getting two front panniers by Ortlieb as I hear they are the best for waterproofing (and look rather good). He will be buying the same.

The idea behind the box. Are you saying to put the box on a train?

ooermissus - As far as I can tell, it is all routes from Venice. Which is a real shame.

andrewleck

Are there any routes out of venice that allow bikes so you could catch a connection or cycle from venice to the nearest place that does allow bikes on, to connect in Paris/ Geneva / Turin/ Milan etc

andymiller

The most straight forward way is the DeutcheBahn sleeper from Munich to Paris*. This has plenty of spaces for bikes.You can find all of the information on times on the http://www.bahn.co.uk site but IIRC the train leaves Munich at quarter to eleven and gets to Paris at about 7.30.

The best way to get to Munich is on the DB/Austrian Railways EuroCity train. They do go from Venezia but if you are aiming for the lago di Garda then you could get the train from Verona (or Rovereto). This has two bike spaces (the train, not the city).

Here's a link to the timetable (pdf) - this information seems to be hard to find on the UK site. (Munich is Monaco in Italian by the way).

You need to reserve spaces for the bikes on both services (10€ for each one). The best way to do this is via the DeutscheBahn call centre in the UK - you can book the tickets on the line, and then ring up but it's easier to do it all in one go). There is a DB office in the lower-floor at Verona station, but for the best prices it's best to book in advance. (There's also a call centre in Italy)

I've done this journey several times in one direction or the other, it's very easy and straightforward (well except for the time the clocks went forward and they were doing engineering works on the line).

I don't think taking a bike in a box on the train is practical.

*If anyone is confused by this there are trains run by Thello (the Italian railways in conjunction with Veolia the rubbish company) and by DeutscheBahn. Bikes aren't allowed on the Thello services but they definitely are on the DeutscheBahn sleepers.

MikeSlim

Mr Andy Miller, thank you every so much for putting in all this effort to help a stranger/fellow cyclist. The information you have provided is impressive to say the least. I shall look into this further with my house mate as soon as he arrives back.

Kind regards, Mike

MikeSlim

He, Gavin, fully approves of this plan. So, thank you again

bigjim

Jet2 and Easyjet fly direct Venice to Manchester. Bikes in plastic bags.
Home in a couple of hours. Easy.

andymiller

MikeSlim wrote:

He, Gavin, fully approves of this plan. So, thank you again

You're very welcome. Post again if you want any information about options for getting to the Lago di Garda.

bigjim wrote:

Jet2 and Easyjet fly direct Venice to Manchester. Bikes in plastic bags.
Home in a couple of hours. Easy.

More like a couple of hours hanging around in the airport before you take off. If all goes well.

There's no doubt that if you only have a week's holiday, flying is the most practical option, but if you are taking three weeks to get somewhere, taking a day or so to get back doesn't seem like such a lot. Besides taking the train back can be part of the experience. Unlike flying which is usually just a PITA.

Ryanair fly to Treviso which would also be a practical option.

bigjim

More like a couple of hours hanging around in the airport before you take off. If all goes well.

By the time you have gone through check-in and security it is usually less than that.
I don't actually mind hanging around in the airport. I like people watching, sipping coffee, reading in a comfy seat etc. After a week or more cycle camping I find the airport quite luxurious.
I've also spent longer waiting around on cold, windy train platforms.
But.. I do think the train is the finest way to travel if you have the time and the money. Which I usually haven't.

culverwood

MikeSlim wrote:

Would anyone have any suggestions of how we could get back with our bikes, perhaps you have done this before and you found a way? Flying home could be an option also but obviously we wouldn't have bike boxes with us - but there is a Decathlon in Venice.

I have flown back with the bike in a cardboard box, boxed by the LBS in the town I was flying from and on one occasion at Geneva airport a box provided by the airport when they would not accept our bikes unboxed.

MikeSlim

Thanks everyone for their continued responses - we appreciate your knowledge of experience.

I would prefer to get the train home, as it is part of the holiday, despite it taking a long time. To live the experience of taking a sleeper train and then the 'famous' Channel Tunnel is definitely what I want to do. However, if the only option is to fly, then we shall fly. I will investigate your recommendation, Culverwood too. Thanks.

Andy, if you wouldn't mind providing me with info on getting to Lago di Garda? That'll be great.

andymiller

MikeSlim wrote:

Andy, if you wouldn't mind providing me with info on getting to Lago di Garda? That'll be great.

It depends a bit on where you are coming from.

For my money the nicest, but trickiest option is via the Lago d'Idro and then the Lago di Ledro. However, the reason that it is tricky is that part of the old road to Riva del Garda (the Strada del Ponale) was cut by a landslide. so they built a big tunnel - but the tunnel is banned so bikes have to take the old road. It's a spectacular descent but at the bottom there's a stretch of fairly rough gravelly path. I was OK riding it with an MTB-tourer but it's a bit rough for a road-bike tourer. On the other hand it's such a spectacular descent that it would be worth doing even if you had to walk the last kilometre or so.

There's a nice road going via Mezzolombardo, Andalo, the Lago di Molveno and the Lago di Tenno with a descent through vineyards to Riva del Garda.

Teh most straightforward option is to turn off the Valle d'Adige cycleway (the local name for the ev7/ciclopista del sole) and take the cycleway to the Lago di Garda via Torbole.

If you do end up in Riva del Garda there's a decent site just outside town:

http://www.campingbrione.com/EN/

I'd avoid the sites in the town itself.

MikeSlim

Apologies on this very late response, I guess life has been getting fairly busy of late.

Thank you very much for the extra info; it is all being noted.

Regards, Mike

MikeSlim

Hi guys,

Well it seems we have hit a 'slight' hitch in our getaway plan from Venice, in that the DB trains will not accept our bikes due to engineer work (or something or other) so we are desperately trying to figure out the best possible way to get our bikes home - with 2 months to go, things are looking tight! DHL gave us a laughable quote of £7000 (the bikes are worth just over a seventh of that). sendmybag.com will do it in small boxes for £30 each; a bargain if my XXL frame would go in; but it's not ideal. Flying is possible, but we fear our bikes may be damaged in transit. Car hire is about £600 - not the best to shell out this extra cost; however, this would equat less stress and more cycling/relaxing time. We are waiting to hear from Eurocar if this is possible (their website says it is).

We were under the impression that bikes weren't allowed on trains to Paris, so we have booked our Eurostar from Brussels instead - later found that is was not true. Apart from cycling, does anyone have any suggestions on how we would get from Venice (does not have to be Venice, but Venice would be preferred) to Brussels?

Cheers, Mike

Mikey23

Have you contacted raileurope? I have found them to be incredibly helpful in planning stuff and they will work really hard to find a solution that fits. they found me the only available bike space on a TGV. i would be very surprised if there is no bike transit by train out of a touristy place like Venice in the summer although I suspect that if you haven't booked by now you might find it too late