Bike to Germany for Rhine Route

[EmmaS]

Hi, new on this forum. I have done part of the Rhine route by going via Harwich. It took a while. I'm looking for suggestions for getting to Germany with fully loaded bike. Read you can take it on the Eurostar but not sure of connections after that. German and Dutch trains have different rules and I fell foul of these last time and had to sit and wait for off peak train for 2.5 hrs on one side of the border not so great if you just cycled 55 miles @ Sherpr will deliver your bike for you in a bike box for a price but then if your route is linear??? How to get home again? Flixbus has mixed reviews combined with bike transport is a bit stress making. There is a specialist bike touring company that can get you and bike into France for a high fee. Suggestions? Thoughts? Really bad experiences of things to avoid? Thanks

[bohrsatom]

You have explained nicely why I always fly with my bike unless:
a) I start/end from a ferry port
b) I start/end from Paris or Brussels Eurostar station
c) It's convenient to take the European BIke Express back to London

Everything else it's too much faff and you end up spending too much of your holiday getting to your start point rather than riding.

Would prefer never to fly with my bike but that's the way it is.

PS - if you are really keen on taking a train without dismantling it, try this. Get a Eurostar from London to Brussels. Then attempt to plan a train journey from Brussels to your destination using the Deutsche Banh website which lets you include only trains that take bikes. Full instructions on https://www.bahn.de/hilfe/view/pk/en/fahrrad.shtml.

[simonhill]

You stated your problems, but don't say where you want to go from, where you wat to get to and where you want to return from.

Have a look at the Easyjet website for their routes.

I flew Gatwick Basle in the summer with bike and bags, very easy.

[foxyrider]

To avoid cross border issues on the trains ring DeutcheBahn in London who will happily sort you out with the right tickets and advice. (if you know the route journeys before hand it reduces the time on the phone!)

You can get to Koln quite easily using Eurostar to Brussels then onward from there into Germany. From Koln you can get to pretty much anywhere in Europe by train.

Knowing where you are trying to get to / return from will get you some more exact information.

[dnrc]

my last few euro tours i have flown somewhere in europe and cycled back to hook of holland to get the ferry home

it's been the simplest option logistically for me given the time i have had available to tour

It does limit my options somewhat but i don't want to do round trips and I didn't fancy the hassle of trying to find/pack a box at the end of a trip

[slowpeddler]

Hello Chums

Off message but slightly relevant.

By reading this thread you must be interested in cycle touring Germany

Free to a good home.

1. The Bikeline Radweg 1 Cycle Guide.

From Arnhem through Berlin to the Polish Border. I've cycled much of it but will not be using it again. In the Eastern part of Germany not many campsites unless things have changed in the Harz mountains.

2. The ADFC BVA guide to the Romer Lippe route.

Not many Brits do this wonderful ride. Its only 300km and starts at Detmold and finishes at Xanten.
Good campsites along the route. If you have seen the film Gladiator where the well known roman general Russellius Crowsius says "Let hell begin" That is the site of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest near Detmold. The ride starts at the monster statue of Herman the German (the Victor) and you follow the centurion helmet sign along the route of the Roman army retreat to the Rhine at Xanten. Good campsites all along the way. From Xanten you can follow the Rhine back to Hook and the ferry. I thought this ride a a cracker. Following the River Lippe (approx) It uses some of the Route of Industrial Culture ( old name the Ruhr Cycle route) a little bit of Radweg 1 above and some canal paths. The route surface is generally good but slightly crunchy in the Ruhr District

If you do it, go to the Xanten museum. I thought the Roman Park OK but you don't have to enter the park to go to the museum. ADFC guides, in my opinion are better than Bikeline but then, we all dance to different music.

Would appreciate you making a small donation to a charity of your choice. I don't look a this forum that often but if you want them send me a private message and next week I'll see if anyone is interested before they go to a charity shop,

John

[Onyourbike.wales]

I took a train from Hamburg to Amsterdam then another a few days later to Brussels.
The German trains were great, I booked in advance and had a reserved bike space but in reality, it was a struggle as people just got on and put their bike in anyone's space.
Eurostar lost my bike and I was stranded in Brussels for a week. That was nearly 5 months ago and now I have to take legal action to recover my costs.

I would alway suggest flying.

[bohrsatom]

Eurostar lost my bike and I was stranded in Brussels for a week. That was nearly 5 months ago and now I have to take legal action to recover my costs.

I'd be interested to hear more about this.

[horizon]

EmmaS (or someone): surely you go from Harwich to Hoek van Holland and start from there? Am I missing something? Are there not trains along the Rhine if you want to start at a different point?

[mjr]

Eurostar lost my bike [...] I would alway suggest flying.

Because no airline ever lost or damaged a bike? I'm sure that's not right!

[foxyrider]

EmmaS (or someone): surely you go from Harwich to Hoek van Holland and start from there? Am I missing something? Are there not trains along the Rhine if you want to start at a different point?

Probably my preferred option atm. By booking through Bahn UK you can easily get the right tickets/journeys organised. Trains don't follow the whole of the Rhein but can certainly get you to almost any point along its length.

[st599_uk]

The bahn.de London Spezial ticket allows you to travel to any German mainline station. I'm not sure if the bicycle option works on tickets that include Eurostar, but they have a UK ticket office you could ring 08718 80 80 66 (they charge a 1.5% booking fee for phone bookings, but that may be worth it for peace of mind that they've correctly booked your bike)

https://www.bahn.de/p/view/angebot/sparpreis-europa/london-spezial.shtml

[Slowroad]

The bahn.de London Spezial ticket allows you to travel to any German mainline station. I'm not sure if the bicycle option works on tickets that include Eurostar, but they have a UK ticket office you could ring 08718 80 80 66 (they charge a 1.5% booking fee for phone bookings, but that may be worth it for peace of mind that they've correctly booked your bike)

https://www.bahn.de/p/view/angebot/spar ... zial.shtml

That does look excellent value! I can't get it to come up in English though.

[st599_uk]

https://www.bahn.com/en/view/offers/europe/saver-fare-europe-london.shtml

I'd ring though to check about bikes.

[Slowroad]

https://www.bahn.com/en/view/offers/europe/saver-fare-europe-london.shtml

I'd ring though to check about bikes.

Thanks! I'll look at it for my possible late-May-holiday trip from Mannheim to Basel.