Planning and undertaking a European bike trip.

Bicycle Touring in Europe

Part IV: Trains and Bicycles in France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, and alternatives

On this page:

Why Trains? On the Other hand...
Researching Connections and Buying Tickets
Using portable bike bags
Trains in France
Trains in Italy
Trains in Germany
Trains in Switzerland
Trains in The Netherlands
Trains in Spain

On related pages:

Why Bicycle in Europe? How much will it cost?
When to Go, By Commercial Group? Or, by Personal Tour?
Bring Your Own Bike or Rent or Buy? What Kind of Bike? Customizing Your Bike?
Maps, Guidebooks, Hotels, and Tourist Site Information Sources
What Should You Pack? Security, Traffic, and Safety.
How far will you ride?
Best European Cycling Trips: Author's ratings, and when, where, and how to do them.

Last Revised July 11, 2006

Why Trains?

In Europe, trains are generally as fast, and often much faster, than automobiles. They are normally clean, comfortable, on time (except perhaps in southern Italy), flexible, and economical.  Trains are relatively inexpensive, and (in France very inexpensive if you book in France a month ahead, and pick up your ticket in France.

Transporting a bicycle by air within Europe can present problems: Airlines usually have a 20 kilo (44 pound) baggage allowance, and charge extra for transporting bicycles (but usually less than €50 in 2008). You will need to ride or transport your bicycle(s) to the airport, which may be more difficult than riding to a railroad station, and to box your bike. If you are returning from a different city than the one you arrive at, or if you can not specify ahead of time the exact date and time of your departure or return, airfares can be quite costly, though with the new inter-European budget airlines such as Easy Jet and Ryanair this is not necessarily the case.

On the Other Hand, reasons not to take the train: In Italy and in some of France carrying assembled bicycles on higher speed trains is generally not allowed, and the use of a bike bage (housse--see below) can be quite inconvenient. Taking a train may also be a bad idea if you are travelling to a destination far off the beaten track

Automobiles:   With two or more persons travelling together, rental of a station wagon or SUV can be relatively economic.

If you have been thinking of renting an automobile to carry your bike to or from a tour, check out the costs carefully.  

Toll fees for similar distances may be double to triple those of the United States; these can be avoided by staying off the toll roads, but then the time of travel betwen points may be up to 50% more.  Gasoline prices aretwo to four times more in Europe than in the USA (recommendation: the new diesels are powerful, economical, and nonpolluting; on the author's latest trips in Italy and France, the cost of fuel was less than it would have been in the United States to travel a similar distance).

Within France and within Italy the author has found it convenient to use Hertz or Avis , which have elatively reasonable rates (if reserved from the USA) for one day rentals of stationwagons or vans — which you may drop almost anywhere in France for a French rental and most anywhere in Italy for an Italian rental at no additional charge. Renting a car in one country and returning in another is still very costly (when possible). Car rental days can be combined with most railpassses. One way to reduce the cost of car rental is to book on the Internet from the USA and to use an airline discount or other code.  These can be found on the Web for various rental companies and airlines or affinity groups.  Be careful in selecting a code:  some codes actually result in a higher rental price. The best practice is to test several alternatives with each of several auto rental companies.

(From England, there is a bus service that transports riders and their bicycles to western France, Spain and northern Italy. Information is available at http://www.bike-express.co.uk. or by phone at (44) 1642-251440.)

Researching connections and buying Tickets for European Trains: The best site for researching trains remains, at this September 2006 writing, the English version of the German Rail site. This is particularly true if you wish to bring your assembled bicycle onto the train. Go to the German Railway site: http://www.bahn.de. Click on the heading "English" on the upper left corner of the page. Fill in the information for your routing, and check the box for bringing bicycles with you if it applies. When the choices of trains appear, click on an option for a detailed list of all connections. It is also possible to obtain a listing of all stops of the trains in your routing. Caveats: 1) For France, not all bikes that carry trains are listed. The only way to obtain this information is by calling the French Railways directly, as explained in the French section below. 2) You can't find out fares on-line for travel outside of Germany.

Rail Europe (a USA and Canada company which represents several European railways) has recently upgraded its site, and now is easy to use. It now lists most railway stations in Europe. The connections shown show some information on whether bicycles are carried, but you cannot search making this a criteria. Certain connections between countries require you to piece your itinerary together, by adding together several point to point tickets. For example, to go from a town in central France to a town in northern Italy, a division into three tickets was required: from the French town to Lyon, from Lyon to Milan, from Milan to the Italian city. Rail Europe's software is savy as to rail passes (of which they are the major distributor): If you check you have a rail pass, the site only prices the cost of supplelments and reservations. Prices are quoted for tickets in US$ and for itineraries throughout Europe. The caveat: Prices can be much higher on this site than booking directly in the country your are traveling in. The author researched an itenerary from Paris to Le-Puy-en-Velais in central France. On Rail Europe the tickets cost 20% to 100% more than booking them with the French Railroad and picking them up in France. Recommendation: Price the tickets out both ways and decide if the convenience of booking in the USA justifies the cost.

For information on connections and booking in individual countries, see the rest of this page.

Trains and Bicycles -France: In France, trains are faster than elsewhere, but also less bicycle friendly than in the northern European countries. Fortunately, after many years of neglecting the needs of cyclists, the French railroads now make it easier to bring your bike on the train. For trips starting in the regions of France, you will probably want to depart Paris by train.

If you choose to begin a French biking tour from Paris or one of the Paris airports, or wish to cycle in the Paris region, please see the detailed bike routes and regional train information in the part of this Site on biking out of Paris.

For a map (pdf) of the French rail network, click here.

Alternatives for transporting your bike on French Trains :

You have three alternatives: (1) Ship your bike; (2) take a train that carries assembled bicycles (including a few TGVs); or (3) use a housse (bike bag) or box or case on any French train. The author has tried all three alternatives.

1. Shipping your bike:

On the French railroads, you can ship your bike ahead, either from a freight terminal, or door-to-door. You can arrange things when you buy your train ticket in advance, or, if you speak some French, contact SERNAM (in phonebooks or at telephone number 3635, menu item #41, 0.34€ surcharge per minute ) for rates and information on where to take your bike (39 Euro in July, 2006) or for a door to door pickup (includes hotels or railroad stations) (49€ in July, 2006). You must have a rail ticket to obtain these prices. The problem with this method is that you must hand over and collect your bicycle on weekdays, and you must allow at least two and possibly three business days between shipment and collection. SERNAM is responsible for your bike during the shipment.

Since the author was staying in Paris, he twice started trips by shipping his bicycle from freight terminal to freight terminal, and in both cases had no problem. However he did not like the process: first because the freight terminal for shipment was way out in the 12th arrondissement, and on arrival a half-hour's walk from the railway station; and second, because he was worried about the chance of an error or a strike, which would have resulted in a ruined bike trip. He never tried the door to door service.

If you ship your bike by train, the rail company is responsible for its safety. If you carry it on board - whether boxed or fully-assembled - you are full responsible for its safety. At departure, if your bike is assembled, ask the conductor where to put your bike (many trains have specific compartments).

2. Trains in France carrying assembled bicycles:

From Paris, you may bring your fully-assembled bike with you on certain trains to Amsterdam, Berlin, Frankfurt, Berlin, Basel, Geneva and Zurich. Within France, to many destinations, according to SNCF literature, there are one or more long distance trains a day which carry assembled bicycles—even some TGVs (high-speed trains often running at 180 or more miles per hour). All TGVs require passenger reservations and bicycle reservations, and the payment of additional fees for both passangers and bicycles.) A number of night trains that carry assembled bicycles also require a reservation and payment of a small fee.

Ironically, although many TGV high speed trains do carry bicycles, it is impossible at this 2006 writing to find out about these by looking at timetables or consulting the Internet. Rail Europe (the authorized US, Canadian and British agent for the SNCF) is not in a position to help you. Only ticket offices and travel agents in France tapping into the SNCF computer system can do so.

Your first step in planning a trip with your assembled bike is to determine whether there are trains to your destination that carry assembled bicycles. For a copy of the 2006 information on my site, click here. For later information, navigate to the Internet page http://www.voyages-sncf.com/guide/voyageurs/TrainVelo.htm . Or, if this URL doesn't work, go to http://velo.sncf.com, and click the link "Transporter son Velo". Now, in either case you will need to click "En savoir plus sur la transport de votre velo", which brings up a table of major destinations in France (Grandes Lines) which have transport of assembled bicycles. If your trip is to a smaller town, you will have to consult as well the regional timetables, as explained below.

An important destination or train-change location that doesn't have assembled bicycle service is Lyon (confirmed with the SNCF in 2006—check the TrainVelo URL for subsequent years ). The TGV trip takes about 2 hours. By linking up several regional trains (use the German Railway site for research (bahn.de, click "English), several itineraries that take 6 to 7 hours were found.

To find out which trains to your selected destination actually carry bicycles, and/or make your reservations, your choices are:

(a) go to one of the Paris railway station booking offices, or other SNCF points of sale (as opposed to the station ticket windows), or to authorized travel agents during office hours (approximately 9:00 am to 5:00 PM) and ask for help.

(b) Call 892 35 35 39 (From the USA add the international access code 011 plus the country code 33. When the call is answered "Eurostar", select "English", then Select menu option #2, then menu option #1. When the agent answers ask about the day of your departure and the routing. Your telephone call will be surcharged. The agent can handle most train destinations, not only Eurostar. You can receive information without making reservations. If you are willing to pay for your tickets by credit card and to have them delivered in France or pick them up at the railway station before your departure, you can make your reservations on line.. This is usually the easiest and fastest method, but you can come across a bad sales agent. If so, hang up and try again.

(c) Getting Train Timetables for non TGV trains: Consult the printed timetable that covers your specific route. They show which trains carry bicycles—by putting a pictogram of a bicycle below the train listing. Always check the footnotes for details of the days on which the train runs. (A fourgon is a baggage car; sauf means "except", voiture means "car", SNCF is the French railway company. Lundi, mardi, mercredi, jeudi and vendredi are weekdays=jours ouvrables. Samedi is Saturday, dimanche is Sunday, fetes are holidays.)

Unfortunately, the train timetables are not accurate for taking assembled bicycles on TGVs. In the author's experience, and recent research (2006), they are accurate for regular trains and most regional trains. Some TGVs on many lines carry bicycles; yet they do not show up in the TGV listings on timetables or in the Internet booking train results. The only way to find which (if any) TGVs carry bicycles is by connecting into the SNCF's computer system, which can be done at a booking office in France or by telephone (see above).

You can obtain these timetables in racks in the stations serving your destination, and sometimes other stations, or on the web (as PDF files). Here's how: For long-distance lines, try clicking here. (If the SNCF site page for timetables doesn't come up, go to the URL: http://voyages-.sncf.com. "Click on Ïnformation Practique" page, click on "Totes les services". [The SNCF site is rearranged every year, so you may have to look around.]. In the box on the Fiches Horaires form, select your timetable. If you are leaving or departing from intermediate cities and don't know which timetable to choose, consult the route map here.

Regional French trains: There are trains that carry bicycles, other than the ones on the main schedules: the TER (regional) trains. To obtain their schedules on the Internet, go to this Site: http://www.ter-sncf.com. Click on the region that interests you. On the new page, click on "Telechargement Fiches Horaires". In some regions, all TER carry bicycles. The regions are Ile-de-France (during non-rush hours and only certain stations) , Rhône-Alpes, Alsace, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Centre et Limousin. Careful! Not all trains listed on the timetables are TERs. In the other regions, bicycle pictograms indicate the trains carrying bicycles.

3. Bike Bags (Housses), Boxes and Cases:

You can carry your bike on any train to any country, including TGV's (very high speed trains requiring reservations that serve most major destinations in France and other countries) in a bike bag called a housse (pronounced oosse) (or, though its not mentioned anywhere in the train literature, surely in an appropriately-sized bicycle box or case.). TGV trains have a large luggage compartment at the end of each car, and the floor level shelf of this is fairly high. By sliding your bike in its housse to the back of the compartment (temporarily moving blocking luggage) it will be nicely out of the way, or if your dismantled bike is too tall, you can lay it on its side on the shelf. The box - housse dimensions allowed on a train are 120 x 90 centimeters (47.2 x 35.4 inches), which fits on the shelf. However, many road bikes, even dismantled, cannot fit into a housse of that size, and the commercial models described below, specifically sold to carry onto a TGV, are substantially larger. So most people carrying bicycles have ignored the specification (which would require complete disassembly of a full-sized bicycle, including rear fenders), and to my knowledge no French train staff has ever questioned anybody about it. If, during vacation period, the rack is completely full, you might just lay your housse against it, as there may be no other choice. For non-TGV trains put the house, box or case wherever you can find a place.

The general directive of the SNCF for baggage carried on board is: Don't take any baggage on board which you cannot carry, and which cannot be stored in the spaces provided for baggage storage. In many trips, the author has yet to see this rule enforced, but also he has never seen the aisles of a train seriously blocked.

To fit an average size bicycle into a bike bag, bike box, or bike case , you must remove the seat and at least the front wheel and fender (and, if you keep the container size to regulation, unfortunately, in most cases the rear fenders and rear rack); you must also turn or take off the handlebars, and you may want to remove the pedals as well. Be sure to try out at home, and bring along, the necessary tools.

Bike Bags (Housses): Assuming that you will want to transport your bag with you on your trip in your paniers, you will need to make your own bicycle bag, or have it made for you. (See directions on this page. The commercially available bags, in France and elsewhere, are all too heavy and bulky to carry with you. Your homemade bag will eventually get a few holes poked through it, which is probably why you cannot buy a light-weight bag commercially. Houses (bike bags) can also be used on many airlines.

Authors strong recommendation: Make or have made a housse if you you are going to take high-speed French that don't carry assembled bicycles, or Italian high speed trains. For detailed housse-making directions, click here.

Your home-made housse will roll up tightly and weigh only 15 ounces (380 g). A high-enough quality, lightweight, homemade housse can be fabricated with a sewing machine, some pack cloth, nylon thread, and a zipper. ( According to several train officials the author has chatted with, even crude home made housses are acceptable. You could make one with some wide sheets of bubble-wrap or heavy polyethylene and tape.)

Housses are best carried by grasping the frame of the bicycle within. No handle is necessary, but with a handle it may be possible to carry the bicycle on your shoulder, possibly freeing up a hand to carry a pannier.

Bike Boxes: A question that has come up on reader mail: Is a bicycle box a good substitute for a housse? The author believes that it is not, except perhaps for certain circular trips: The disadvantage of the box (and a store-bought housse) is that they cannot be transported on your bike, so you would have to somehow find another box for the return trip. (However, if you are arriving and returning from the same railway station, you could arrange to store a box or store-bought housse in a nearby hotel you are using, ).

Bike Cases: Many brands of folding bicycles supply a bicycle case to cary them in. This is treated by trains and airlines as luggage. These have the same limitations as bicycle boxes, unless you also purchase a trailer which pulls the case along behind your bicycle. The weight of the case and trailer, for one company, is about 15 pounds. If you are thinking of this option, check whether the trailer wheels fit into the bicycle case. Some folding bicycle companies also sell bike bags. However, the bike bag example the author knows of is too heavy and bulky to be carried in panniers; you should strongly consider making your own bag to fit your bicycle as explained below.

When to put your bicycle in its bag, or box: It is easiest to do so at one's hotel or lodging and take a taxi or bus to the station. If you do so at the railway station, disassemble (if need be) the pedals, fenders and luggage rack before the train's track is announced. Hang your panniers from the handlebars, or carry them. When the platform is announced, wheel your bike to your train car. Then disassemble the wheels and put the bicycle in the bag.

After your arrival, you will have to reassemble your bicycle: on the arrival platform, in front of the station, or at a hotel (if you take a taxi or bus).

Author's experience: To take his bicycle to La Baule, the beginning of the point-to-point Loire itinerary, author purchased a commercial housse. The travel time to La Baule, on a TGV train from Paris to La Baule was a rapid 3 hours, to which must be added the time and embarrassment of disassembling the bike's saddle, handlebars, wheels and fenders on the platform of the Montparnasse railway station ; of stuffing it into the housse during the twenty minutes after the train was announced and before it departed; of reassembling the bike at night on the rail platform upon arrival (one hour); of making readjustments. Still, all in all, taking the train with a housse was better than the alternatives. In Paris, the author kept his bicycle in its housse, and carried it in the rear of a taxi.

Another time the author and a friend with no assembly skills left Paris by night train and decended at 9 AM onto the platform in Florence, Italy, with two bicycles in two housses. Because of a stripped thread on a screw holding up a rear rack, it took two and one-half hours to put the two bikes backin servicewhile trains and crowds of people came and went on the platform, and another hour to cycle to a bicycle store and obtain an unusual-sized screw. The moral is, be prepared with spare screws of all types and sizes! In the afternoon the author and friend rode some 50 kilometers out of Florence and into the Chianti hills. Note that there was really no alternative to a housse for getting the bicycles from Paris to Florence by train. Because of the border crossing and the itinerary, travel by car or air was ruled out.

Rail Passes and general French train information:

In France, to purchase a ticket on the day of depart, go to a ticket window at the station. Ahead of time, stop into a French railways ticket sales office (which are found in most Paris railway stations and elsewhere in Paris).

The least expensive rail tickets for France are available only from the SNCF. You must take delivery at a French address, or pick them up at a French railway station ticket window. The cheapest tickets of all, very much cheaper than full fare tickets, must be purchased several weeks in advance from the SNCF on their Internet site, and mailed to an address in France.

Italy: Many regional trains in Italy do carry assembled bicycles (sometimes a fee is required), but not many long-distance trains do so. Therefore, in Italy the author has carried his bicycle in a bike bag (housse) (see the section on housses under France, above)—on trains from Rome to Bologna, Bologna to Verona, Verona to Milan, and Milan to Geneva, Switzerland), placing it at the end of the corridor or in the vestibule, and getting up to move it aside at railway stations. The official maximum size of a bike bag is only 0.80 x 1.10 meters, 10 centimeters smaller than the French official size in each direction. Luckily the author was not questioned. On Eurostar and some other high-speed trains, the bike bag must be placed in the baggage car; otherwise the passanger may be subject to a €260 fine (2006).

Italian timetables have symbols showing which trains carry assembled bicycles; the author does not know how to access these on the internet; however a list of international trains carrying bicycles to and from Italy can be accessed on the italian railroad site: http://www.trenitalia.it. Click on "Servizi", then click on "Viaggiare con bici al seguito", then click on "internationale" in the text. The farthest south in Italy that these international trains go is Florence. Connections to Italy from France or Holland need to be made in Switzerland or Germany. http://www.italiarail.com/tickets/IR/IR-Timetable.asp?AFF=TRE

Germany: Many German trains will carry your assembled bicycle. For information on bicycles and trains, and also where to rent bicycles (see more detailed information in the rental information section of this site), check out the following URL:

. http://www.bahn.de/pv/view/service/bahn_bike/bahn_und_bike.shtml. For details on the types of trains available, where to put your bike, and German train stations, see the following full discussion by Tim and Maxa who, according to their Web site, live in Oregon, but bike often in Germany: http://www.bicyclegermany.com/trains.htm. The following site is also extremely helpful: http://www.brianwasson.com/trips/trains.htm, and also contains information on Czechoslovakia.

The German Rail site, http://www.bahn.de, provides excellent information on all European trains in English. (Click on "English" in the upper left corner of the home page.) This may be the best English language site to use for specific timetable research throughout Europe , or to search for itineraries that allow assembled bikes to be carried on board (by clicking the appropriate box on the advance search screen that comes up). The author has found, however, that when the bicycle box is checked and no bicycle service is available the site returns a general error.

Switzerland: Most Swiss trains will carry your assembled bicycle. For details go to the Swiss Railways site: www.sbb.ch/index_e.htm. Click on "Timetable". Enter a search for your route and travel time. If you receive a list of stations for your destination, pick the first one, unless you know otherwise. If you receive a summary listing of trains click on any of them. In the detailed listing, look under services. The notation"VN" means that you cannot load your bike yourself on the train.

The Netherlands: Check out the following site: http://www.aero.lr.tudelft.nl/~bvo/fiets/nlbybike.htm(Cycling in the Netherlands by Bas van Oudheusden). The following direct quote is from the site: "You're allowed to take your bike with you on most trains. For this you have to buy an additional ticket, which you attach to your bike. Single fare prices for distances less than 80 km are NLG 10, for more than 80 km NLG 15 (day return prices are NLG 17.50 and 25, respectively). The main restriction is that it's not possible to transport bikes during rush hours on week days (that's before 9.00 and 16.30-18.00 on Monday through Friday), but this does not apply to the months of July and August. You have to take care of the loading/unloading yourself, for which you should preferably use the luggage compartment or those areas specially assigned to bicycle storage. The latter are indicated by a pictogram of a bicycle with attached label."

Spain: Regional trains in Spain carry bicycles but not national trains. To cross the country with your bike, you must switch from regional train to regional train. The Internet site of the Spanish railways is: http://www.renfe.es. Click on "English", "Timetables and Price", and "Regional". Now you should select the regions that interest you, linking between regions. Obviously your travel across Spain with your bicycle will take a good bit of time.

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