Travelling to the Alps with a bike by train: step by step.

Following with interest, hope it all works out!!!

Also following this, ta!

On the sleeper train, where will your bike be? In the compartment with you?

On the sleeper train, where will your bike be? In the compartment with you?

There are bike spaces on the sleeper train.

I haven't quite finalised how I'm going to take my bike with me yet.

Eurostar may have restarted taking fully assembled bikes by June, in which case I'll probably have a combination of locking the bike to the bike rack and taking one or both of the wheels off on the sleeper train.

If Eurostar require it to be in a bag still, then I may keep it in the bag all the way there, I haven't decided yet. Last time I took it in my normal bike bag and getting it across Paris was a PITA. I do now have a lightweight bike bag that should make things easier.

I'm in for the ride too. Good thread, be interested to see how it goes.

Intriguing!

What a palaver

What happens if you can't get the bike onto the trains on the second leg of the journey?

What happens if you can’t get the bike onto the trains on the second leg of the journey?

You mean to Briancon?

I think it’s unlikely because you book a space when you buy your ticket, but if I can’t then my back up will be to stay overnight somewhere on the way there and back, probably Paris.

@jkomo agreed, it’s about as far from user friendly as possible.

However it should get easier when Eurostar allow bike bookings online which they’re promising to do.

It’ll also be easier when you can take your bike on the Eurostar without it being in a bike bag.

Following this one.

I ♥ Kramer

there was an article in the magazine about this a few years back. Maybe time for an updated version if things have changed post covid?

https://singletrackworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/singletrack-issue-127-verbier-by-train/

On the sleeper train, where will your bike be? In the compartment with you?

What happens if you can’t get the bike onto the trains on the second leg of the journey?

Time for an update.

Last Saturday I checked using the Trainline app, and the tickets for the sleeper train had become available to buy.

Unfortunately, no bike spaces were showing as being available on those trains. I did feel a bit worried, but a quick bit of googling told me that if all else failed, it would still be possible to take my bike on the train in a bike bag in the compartment with me.

However having experienced the French rail online booking service before, I realised that there were a few possibilities:

• SNCF hadn't marked the bike spaces as available yet and they'd likely appear in the next few days.
• Someone had already booked the spaces and I was too late.
• Someone had accidentally held the spaces but not booked them.

The third one is quite interesting. On the trainline app, if you put your tickets into your virtual basket, but then don't checkout, it'll hold them for a week for you. I suspect this is a quirk of the French booking system. Therefore someone may have been searching to see if bike places were available

So I decided to wait and see.

Lo and behold, today the bike spaces have appeared and I have booked them.  Cost £156.45

Total cost so far - £344.45 which is comparable to flying with a bike bag plus transfers, and I get two extra days to ride in the alps and two extra nights holiday.

Apologies for not reading the whole thread yet, but is this another of these "Travelling by train assuming you live in London/SE England " threads

@thegeneralist, nope I'm in the West Midlands.

Cool. How do you find the bit to/ across London?

Thanks for documenting. I might need to do this later this year. Probably ride back.

Cool. How do you find the bit to/ across London?

Last time I did it, it was fine. Crewe to Euston on Avanti West Coast Pendolino, the bike goes in the guard's van.

Then Euston to King's Cross is pretty easy. Last time I jumped in a taxi.

Eugh. Nice idea, but what a bloody palava.

So Train Crew to Euston, Taxi across London, Eurostar to Paris then sleeper train to where you want to be on holiday.

All booked separately so if there is one delay / breakdown / slight issue in one leg, the whole shebang is fubar'd and you need to attempt to buy all new train tickets, if available incl bike, for the remaining legs?

Man, I love holidays and train journeys are the most enjoyable way to travel imho, but that's too big a risk for me to be willing to take for my big holiday for the year!

where "across London" is half  mile along Euston road.  10 min walk without luggage. Must be a bazillion taxis doing a few 100yds between Euston and KX/StPancras for those with a little bit too much luggage to haul along the road, so I wouldn't really class that as a leg to go wrong.

Ha ha, I agree it's not for everyone.

If you get aticket to "London CIV" then you will get onto the next available Eurostar if your journey to London is delayed for any reason. Not sure about the onward side, there's not likely to be more than one sleeper train...

Yeah I'm thinking of doing that. I'm pretty sure that Eurostar sort out connecting trains if you're delayed too?

I've also left lots of time for transfers.

As I said it's not for everyone, it's more about having an adventure as opposed to air travel, which even when it goes well is pretty mundane.

I'll keep people the thread updated anyway.

CIV is a conversion of European Rail operators of which all UK. train companies are part of.  Consequently if you are making a rail journey via Eurostar (or on the Harwich Hook of Holland ferry)  from  many stations in the UK, including Crewe you should book a ticket to  the destination of London International (there is no such station) . You would then be covered by the International Conditions of Carriage and thus are guaranteed onward travel on Eurostar and back home on your return.

These tickets are usually at a bigger discount than normal advance tickets. For this reason you must be in possession of a Eurostar ticket when you make your journey. I have never been asked to produce this on the train. They have been increasingly difficult to obtain and now the only online source is Trainsplit (remember to remove the split option when booking ). You can still buy them at station ticket offices but you will need to take along your Eurostar ticket when buying.

The ticket is valid on the Underground to St Pancras. You will be able to take your bike (except at peak times Mon to Fri.) on the Met/Circle line between Euston and Kings X / St Pancras.

Great thread, really useful - I wasn't aware of CIV.

"As I said it’s not for everyone, it’s more about having an adventure as opposed to air travel, which even when it goes well is pretty mundane."

Applause..
And agreed. I rode out to the Alps last summer via a ferry then got the train back from Lyon to Paris then Paris to Caen and the overnight ferry home. The journey wasn't without a bit of faff and doubt plus included a bivi on the banks of the Seine as I couldn't get a connection the same day, but all in all it was an experience I enjoyed and the travel bookended the ride nicely. Even that 9 euro beer late in a Paris bar was enjoyable. Airports are easy but for whatever reason I just dislike the whole experience.
I think this thread will come in handy planning another ride out this summer.

I love getting trains across Europe. It's usually worth losing a day or so off the rest of the holiday for the chance to stop off in a couple of new places for an hour or two. Trickier with a bike though!

I don't know if it'll help, or how much it costs, but there are decent left luggage lockers at the Gard du Nord where you could stash a bike bag. Might make the rest of the journey easier (or not). I generally find it's easier to manage a bike than a bike bag, but it does depend how much luggage you've got.

@peteza - that's really useful to know, thanks.

Do you know what the maximum duration is?

I don't sorry, I've only stuck stuff in there for a day. My Google Fu has failed me and I can't find the 'official' one I've used, but there appear to be quite a few options in or aroudn the station.

For those who are interested I have one of these as a bike bag.

I actually bought it prior to Covid, after struggling across Paris with a full sized bike bag, and haven't had the chance to use it yet.

It folds up small enough to go in an 8l bar bag, so that's my current plan.

It's also small enough to fit Eurostar's meagre bike bag size restrictions.

Sounds more like stop by stop!

Following as I fancy doing this at some point...I'd need to add the (mis)adventure from middle of Scotland to this though, so plenty more chances for things to go pear-shaped.

@peteza - I think that the self service luggage lockers are limited to 24 hours maximum. But as you say there are plenty of other(quite spendy) luggage storage options near there.

I'm also keeping half an eye on Eurostar to see when they start taking assembled bikes to Paris again, because if they do, then that'll make things much easier.

So can you no longer just ride up to St Pancras and drop your bike off and then ride it away at Paris? Thats crap.

Just before covid we took our bikes to Loire Valley for a week. Just rang Eurostar asked them to reserve 2 seats both ways, they then put us through to baggage on the same call and we reserved 2 bike spaces on the same train. Just rode to St Pancras from Euston, detached our panniers, and handed the bikes over. No bags or boxes needed.

They only offered the 'wheel on wheel off" thing for 2 bikes per train. But it all worked perfectly.

@Blackflag, by all accounts they are looking to reinstate that service, it's just that they're not giving a time frame for it yet.

I'm hoping it may be back in action for my trip as it would make things much easier.

It really would mate. Good luck and enjoy your trip however it works out.

I just went to Brussels and back with the bike, so as is without a box - I am sure you will have this all planned, but check the location of the drop-off at St Pancras before going. It's poorly signposted and right at the back of the station, so you want to be dropped off there if bike is in box, not at the front.

Good luck with your trip - a phlegmatic disposition necessary for bicycles meets mass transit ime. I booked a bike space over the phone with Avanti for this trip, Stockport to London, and was given a reference number, told it will unequivocally reserve a space. No mate - not accepted. Had to get a bike ticket from the office 10 mins before the train was due. Had the spaces been full the trip would have been bolloxed.

But that's Avanti. SNCF won't let you down!

@Gary_Lager thanks for the tip. The drop off at Gare Du Nord is even harder to find.

Thought I’d update this thread whilst on the train down to London.

In the end I booked a standard ticket to London. The reason being that a return to London CIV was £30 extra, and as I’m having to leave plenty of transfer time in London I didn’t think that the peace of mind was worth the extra. Ticket cost me £90.

Unfortunately, despite my wishful thinking, Eurostar have not yet restarted taking fully assembled bikes from London to Paris. A shame, because for this trip to Briançon, it would make things much easier if they did.

This means that I’ve had to make a decision about where on the journey to pack and unpack my bike and how to carry my stuff. Using my Aeroe racks would be too much faff getting them on and off my bike, and then dissembling my bike to go in the bag. Also my bike bag, although lightweight, does take up a fair amount of space in my luggage.

My decision came down to either take my bike fully assembled and ride it with a heavy rucksack from Euston to St Pancras, or put it in the bike bag from the start. Perhaps I’m a bit paranoid, but someone has tried to mug me for a bicycle in London previously, so I didn’t fancy riding an expensive full sus through a dodgy part of London whilst weighed down by a backpack, so I’ve decided to put it in the bike bag.

However this leads to another slight conundrum. Although the bike in the bag isn’t too heavy, it is unwieldy to walk with, so I’ve decided to treat myself to a taxi from Euston to St Pancras.

Only slight problem so far has been a bike tourer managing to use his bike to take up all four of the bike spaces on the train, so I’ve had to rearrange it for him. Unfortunately I’ve come across this problem before. If you can’t remove your panniers from your bike, eg because you’ve zip tied them in place, then they don’t fit in the cycle spaces.

Further updates to come.

Thanks for updating this @kramer. I'm still considering doing the same later this year although I have to say it's looking unlikely. As much as it surprises me to hear myself say it the Avanti to London part would be the only straightforward part of the whole thing!

Bon voyage @Kramer!

It’s not as much hassle as it sounds.

I’ve now dropped my bike off at Eurostar luggage services, where the extremely friendly staff gave me very specific instructions about where to pick up and drop off my bike in Paris and back in the UK - detailed on the confirmation email that they’ve already sent me. Also very specific instructions to make sure I’ve checked in for the train that I’ve said I’m getting on when it’s called.

Only slight confusion is that there is “Luggage Services” with quite a big queue on the way to “Travel Services”. It could be easy to get the two mixed up if you didn’t have your wits about you. Then you could end up queueing for ages only to find out that you’re in the wrong place.

I’m checked in for the Eurostar, fairly simple, took 15 minutes total. Departure lounge was a scrum but now a train is boarding it’s ok.

Slightly worrisome is that the start of the “Inspector Sands” announcement keeps starting and stopping. 😳

So, now on the sleeper train. The transfer across Paris was €40 in a taxi. Lesson learned. Next time I’d find a quiet(er) corner of Gare du Nord (🤣) and build my bike up to ride across to Gare Austerlitz. Austerlitz is a quiet station, only two trains per hour, so it would have been better to wait somewhere else.

The sleeper train is busy and cramped. Apparently only second class people travel by bicycle, so it’s six to a compartment. Annoyingly I think there are some empty compartments, but they are locked and we’re squeezed in like Sardines.

The bike storage is pretty good, not least because it’s not easy to get bikes on and off the train. Even with it full of bikes, there’s room for bike bags too.

However there’s not much room for anything else. People are congregating in the corridors because it’s about the only place to stand up straight. I shall report back tomorrow about whether I manage to get any sleep.

Following this with interest! Well versed with the sweaty boxes that are sleeper trains but I've always been nervous about whether I'd trust my bike to make it. I'll definitely be on this idea next summer if it works out

Not the best night’s sleep I’ve ever had, but not the worst either. My bike’s still here too.

The bike racks and surrounding luggage.

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This is a stressful thread 😖

So I’m sat back at Euston station waiting for the last leg of my journey. Had a fabulous week of riding epic singletrack and a few bike park lines with Bike Alp in Briançon.

A few things I’d do differently:

• Keep more of an eye on the various European trains when they become available to book bike spaces. Because the Tour was in town last weekend the bike spaces went really early.
• Keep my bike assembled to transfer between Euston and St Pancras and Gare Du Nord and Austerlitz - far easier and cheaper to transfer than by using a taxi. I spent about £65 that I didn’t need to, as well as spending time hanging around Austerlitz with a bike bag when I could have been riding around Paris.
• There’s always somewhere reasonably quiet and safe to build up your bike without attracting too much attention in stations. Usually near the drop off points
• I’d only take a basic cable opportunistic combination lock for this journey - the train was full of families, trekkers and climbers. I didn’t feel it was worth taking a heavy duty chain.
• After consideration, and a full extra day’s riding yesterday, I’d do the sleeper train again. The guys flying home ended up delayed and getting home in the small hours of this morning anyway.
• I’d bring better ear plugs and eye mask than those supplied by SNCF
• I’d almost certainly bring an inflatable pillow and possibly a lightweight sleeping mat next time. Those Couchettes are firm and the supplied pillows are next to useless.
• I wouldn’t worry about snoring. Everyone accepts that you’re going to be cheek by jowel anyway and just gets on with it.
• If there were no bike spaces left, I wouldn’t worry about taking a bike in a bike bag and leaving it in with the bike spaces.

My Ground Control Tardis bike bag worked well and is small enough to go in my rucksack.

Total cost £343 there and back. Comparable to 2-up driving or flights, parking and transfers.

Here’s hoping that Eurostar is able to restart taking full assembled bikes London - Paris soon.

Big shout out to the Eurostar staff, especially travel services who’ve been super helpful.

Any questions, feel free to ask them and I’ll try my best to answer. ?

Nice to hear it all worked well.  good for you for doing it.  Trains are much nicer than planes IMO

I wouldn’t say I had a good night’s sleep last night, but I definitely had some sleep. And it definitely has been an adventure, I’ve had fun riding around Paris today.