bikes on eurostar

[g1957g]

does anyone have any experience good or bad on travelling tofrance by eurostar with bikes
we are agroup of 6 thinking of travelling from london to paris then on to geneva
was wondering if bikes can be pre booked or would we have problems travelling with 6 bikes in 1 group
any info would be much appreciated thanks

[vernon]

Have you tried contacting Eurostar regarding group travel with bikes?

[robgul]

Have you tried contacting Eurostar regarding group travel with bikes?

It may be simpler to ask Rail Europe (Google it) as they handle tickets and bookings for Eurostar and the SNCF TGV services (there's an almost seamless change of platform connection at Lille)

... I haven't used Eurostar with a bike but they seem to have got it together now so that you can travel with your bike, rather than it going as "goods" on (possibly) another train as used to happen ... we returned from Avignon on the Saturday service to St Pancras last July and a couple of guys wheeled bikes onto the train - likewise TGV no longer requires a bike bag for all services - witness a trip from Paris to Annecy where we saw bikes on the train.

Rob

[geocycle]

Have you tried contacting Eurostar regarding group travel with bikes?

It may be simpler to ask Rail Europe (Google it) as they handle tickets and bookings for Eurostar and the SNCF TGV services (there's an almost seamless change of platform connection at Lille)

... I haven't used Eurostar with a bike but they seem to have got it together now so that you can travel with your bike, rather than it going as "goods" on (possibly) another train as used to happen ... we returned from Avignon on the Saturday service to St Pancras last July and a couple of guys wheeled bikes onto the train - likewise TGV no longer requires a bike bag for all services - witness a trip from Paris to Annecy where we saw bikes on the train.

Rob

Rail Europe will book your tickets but you have to go to Eurostar for bike bookings. It costs £30 per bike per journey. It's a good service, just be aware it is quite a trek to the offices at Gar du nord and st p. there are few threads on here.

[frank9755]

My experience (bad) is detailed on a thread on here.

They do take lots of bikes and, if you are happy to dismantle it, it is free. In which case their rules say it must be in a bike bag but, in practice, cardboard boxes are allowed but CTC bags are banned.

[pga]

Travelled London-Paris a couple of years ago with non folded bike. Booking very cumbersome but calls answered quickly and very pleasantly. I paid £20 extra for the bike. Baggage department (excellent service) put the bike on the train. Had to go through security check with the panniers etc and had stove confiscated because of gas bottle. Could have been a problem with other camping/cooking kit and tools, eg Swiss knife. In Paris took the bike out of the luggage van myself (not sure if this was the norm). Went south on RFR but Lille might be better bet for some services especially as this avoids the ride across Paris, which is ok on cycle routes but slow due to map reading necessary if you don't know the way. Book early for the best prices and check through ticket prices for further destinations.
Could be better to book separately for these. French regional rail timetables easy to find on the internet but TGV harder. Most regional trains carry unfolded bikes as do some TGV's.

[joegallus]

Hi there - update on using the Eurostar.
I used this service on Easter Sunday (2012) to return from a London to Paris trip. We had a folding tourer and my bike (a Thorn Raven) was going in a bag. The bikes, plus panniers and CF trailer, etc, all amounted to a fair collection of bits and bobs to get onto the train. There were NO trolleys available at the Gare du Nord and the escalator did not work. There are about 4 separate check-in processes (ticket check in, French passport control and then customs, UK border control) and all the gear needed to be moved through these processes bit by bit. I had stripped and packed the bikes at the entrance to the station – but it is a long way from there to the check in area (and up one flight of stairs) – so you might want to try getting the bikes to the first floor before breaking things down? I believe there is a lift that might help?
We could not move all our kit from the station entrance in one hit, so we had to shuttle the gear from stage to stage. Understandably, the security staff were a bit annoyed with us as we had to leave bits of kit unattended as we moved everything upstairs and through the processes. They got so narked with us that they decided they were either going to call the police or find us a trolley – luckily they chose the latter. Once we had a trolley it was all OK (all our gear including the 2 bikes fitted on one trolley). So if you have a lot of kit – try to get a trolley from the Eurostar staff.
No one was bothered about the amount of stuff we had - it was just the fact that we could not be with it at all stages of the process. The whole thing took so long that we missed our booked service, but they just put us on the next one. Once on the train it was very smooth. At St Pancras it was OK as there were trolleys available.
So overall a good (if expensive) service but be warned - the check in and boarding routine at the Gare du Nord can be a big hassle if you cannot move everything at the same time!

[robgul]

Hi there - update on using the Eurostar.
I used this service on Easter Sunday (2012) to return from a London to Paris trip. We had a folding tourer and my bike (a Thorn Raven) was going in a bag. The bikes, plus panniers and CF trailer, etc, all amounted to a fair collection of bits and bobs to get onto the train. There were NO trolleys available at the Gare du Nord and the escalator did not work. There are about 4 separate check-in processes (ticket check in, French passport control and then customs, UK border control) and all the gear needed to be moved through these processes bit by bit. I had stripped and packed the bikes at the entrance to the station – but it is a long way from there to the check in area (and up one flight of stairs) – so you might want to try getting the bikes to the first floor before breaking things down? I believe there is a lift that might help?
We could not move all our kit from the station entrance in one hit, so we had to shuttle the gear from stage to stage. Understandably, the security staff were a bit annoyed with us as we had to leave bits of kit unattended as we moved everything upstairs and through the processes. They got so narked with us that they decided they were either going to call the police or find us a trolley – luckily they chose the latter. Once we had a trolley it was all OK (all our gear including the 2 bikes fitted on one trolley). So if you have a lot of kit – try to get a trolley from the Eurostar staff.
No one was bothered about the amount of stuff we had - it was just the fact that we could not be with it at all stages of the process. The whole thing took so long that we missed our booked service, but they just put us on the next one. Once on the train it was very smooth. At St Pancras it was OK as there were trolleys available.
So overall a good (if expensive) service but be warned - the check in and boarding routine at the Gare du Nord can be a big hassle if you cannot move everything at the same time!

Yebbut - Eurostar says that you can just wheel bikes (i.e. no folding/bagging that you did) - I'm about to look at a booking for the summer - St Pancras - Lille - TGV to somewhere on S coast

Rob

[joegallus]

Hi Rob - not sure you can just wheel it on as per UK trains - I think the wheel the bike on option is if you book the cycle onto the train and it is carried separately - costs a bit more and again at Gare du Nord is a bit of a faff (but not as much as taking it with you on the train as I did yesterday). I used that service a few years ago (I think it's about £30 per bike extra) and the problems from then prompted me to try the option of bagging the bikes and taking them onboard as normal luggage. The main issue for me when booking the bikes on separately is that Eurostar cannot guarantee that the bike will go on the same train as you - they say it will get there within 24 hours (although I suspect in reality they always do go on the same train?)
As I said, the hassle factor was just getting through the check in process at the Gare du Nord. St Pancras was OK. I am not sure about Lille. I have never used the TGV and would be interested to hear if it is possible to book a bike onto those trains?
good luck

Joe

[johnb]

Yes you can book bikes on TGV although not on them all. When your booking online the various times and trains are show along with symbols for bikes.

[BE1]

Rob,

as others have said Eurostar do not run a UK style wheel on service. Instead you need to drop the bikes off at the baggage service. If you intend changing to a TGV in Lille then you need to send the bike in advance as the "travel on the same train option" is not available.

Best bet is to call Eurostar at St Pancras -in fact the baggage people are Esprit Europe (number on the Eurostar website) and discuss with them, in my experience they are very helpful.

[robgul]

Rob,

as others have said Eurostar do not run a UK style wheel on service. Instead you need to drop the bikes off at the baggage service. If you intend changing to a TGV in Lille then you need to send the bike in advance as the "travel on the same train option" is not available.

Best bet is to call Eurostar at St Pancras -in fact the baggage people are Esprit Europe (number on the Eurostar website) and discuss with them, in my experience they are very helpful.

Ah - then perhaps the summer only Avignon - London direct service on a Saturday is different and the lazy French allow bikes to be wheeled on? - we saw two on the platform, with their owners, as we boarded as (non-bike) passengers in July 2011.

Rob

[CJ]

Hi there - update on using the Eurostar.
I used this service on Easter Sunday (2012) to return from a London to Paris trip. We had a folding tourer and my bike (a Thorn Raven) was going in a bag. The bikes, plus panniers and CF trailer, etc, all amounted to a fair collection of bits and bobs to get onto the train...

Yebbut - Eurostar says that you can just wheel bikes (i.e. no folding/bagging that you did) - I'm about to look at a booking for the summer - St Pancras - Lille - TGV to somewhere on S coast

Sure: you can simply wheel the bikes to the appropriate freight handling office (Euro Despatch at St Pancras, Sernam at Gare du Nord) at least one hour before your chosen train and they will take care of everthing.

It's an excellent service, but it costs £30 per journey and must be booked in advance to be certain of your bike being carried on the same train, which is a four-stage process: 1) find a suitable train or two on Eurostar's website, 2) phone Euro Despatch to see if you can book a bike space on that train, 3) buy your seat on that train, 4) confirm and pay Euro Despatch for the bike space. It sounds like a rigmarole, but it works fine. Tip: shift your seat to a carriage higher than 10 to Paris, lower than 10 to London. Then you'll arrive in front of the mid-train cargo space and can aprehend your bike before it is carted off the platform, thus saving yourself a very long walk with a pair of panniers dropping off your arms - because as we know, there are no trolleys at Gare do Nord (and Sernam's office is at the far end of platform 2)!

Alternatively, if you want it for free, you've got to pack the bike into a small enough bag to fit somehow into the carriage-end luggage spaces. Apparently there's a bigger than usual space between carriages 14 and 15, but I haven't checked that out myself.

If you want to go to the Mediterranean coast, changing at Lille, the latter option is just about the only option, since few if any of the TGVs on those lines have yet been modified to include any provision for bikes as bikes.

[joegallus]

Hi Chris
We had 2 bikes in bags, a folded large CF Y trailer, a large 90ltr sac and 2 ortleib panniers - it all went into the normal luggage space no problem.

[geocycle]

My experience was as described by cj. Generally all positive. The only downside being the long trek down platform 2 at Gare du nord and the trip back from there with the panniers up through security. Oh and £30 is a bit steep.