Bike bag/box at destination

[ian62westley]

Hello,
After touring domestically my wife and I are planning a winter tour at a warmer destination in Europe.
Since we live in northern Scotland and have limited holidays from work it seems flying is the only option.
My question is how to pack our tourers and what what we do with the bags/boxes while we tour?
Ive read that they could be left at the start/finish for circular tours but how do we manage a linear route?
Many thanks for any useful advice
Ian

[simonhill]

Two main options:

Use poly "CTC" bag. At arrival airport you re-fold and carry with you.

If you choose to use a cardboard bike box. Leave it at arrival airport, then source a new one at final destination from a local bike shop.

These are the normal methods, however, if you are thinking of a rigid box, then you would have to sort out some sort of courier to send it to a hotel or campsite (pre arrange) at you final destination.

[Richard Fairhurst]

On a couple of occasions I've left a hard bike box (well, actually a Samsonite suitcase for my Bike Friday) at a railway station left-luggage office, then returned to it by train at the end of the trip.

[whoof]

I use a cardboard box on the way out and buy a cheap tarp from a hardware shop for the journey back. One exception was Toulouse where my final night hotel and a Decathlon were right next to the airport so I got a cardboard box for the way home.

[pal]

I use the Ground Effect 'Body Bag', reinforced with cardboard boxes/bubble wrap. On arrival, I ditch the cardboard, and either post the bag to my destination or bungee it to the rear rack (it's about the size of a large phone book when folded, so either option is feasible); at the other end, I seek out some more cardboard boxes and repeat the process. It's a bit of a faff, of course, but not a huge one (and, because the packaging you need at the end doesn't have to be bike-box shaped -- any protective packaging will do -- it allows for a bit more flexibility; I've only had problems in two places -- Cuba, where any sort of paper/cardboard is vanishingly rare, and Iceland, where recycling is so efficient that hardly anyone had spare boxes lying around...)

[bohrsatom]

Always a hassle with a linear route. As an alternative you could fly into and out of the same airport and take a train from your finishing point back to the start. That way you could fly with a more sturdy bike bag/box and leave it at a willing hotel (check before you book) awaiting your return.

[Nigel]

Always a hassle with a linear route. As an alternative you could fly into and out of the same airport and take a train from your finishing point back to the start. That way you could fly with a more sturdy bike bag/box and leave it at a willing hotel (check before you book) awaiting your return.

Also, check the airport "left luggage" options. Some airports are not overly expensive. I've left ski transport bags at airports left-luggage before (usually packing several bags and various other stuff into a single bag, so only one fee was paid).

[Antbrewer]

Ian,
If you were to fly back from the same airport as has been suggested following a train back the airport left luggage option can be good.
I have recently arranged with the left luggage in Salzburg airport a discount from about 60 euros to 24 . I just emailed them and they replied with the discount.,
Might be worth a try at yours if that is how things work out.
Good luck.
Anthony