Brompton + trains from St Petersburg to London

[AMC]

I've managed to wangle a study trip to St Petersburg, flying out (taking advantage of BA's generous luggage allowance) & travelling back to Wales by train, stopping in the main cities en-route: Tallin, Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw, Berlin, Frankfurt.

I'll partly be meeting colleagues & friends & partly sight-seeing, hence the Brompton. However, none of them cycle so I can't get any sensible advice out of them wrt particular cycle conditions in each city.

Does anyone have any experience of cycling in these places, & is there anything I particularly need to know about taking the Brommie on any of the trains? (I'm hoping it should be pretty straightforward, especially if I stick it in a laundry bag, Dympa or some such). I'm sure something unforeseen will trip me up, so any advice gratefully received!

[Cyril Haearn]

Seems like a great trip and a chance to relate a story about Warszawa
A frenchperson set off for Moscow
A russianperson set off for Paris
They met in Warsaw, the frenchperson thought she was in Moscow and the russianperson thought he was in Paris

I would not really bother cycling in Berlin, it is very busy, lots of cyclists, too little room

Frankfurt/Oder is good for cycling by the river, but I suspect you mean the Other Frankfurt A big busy city, not so good for cycling but nearby along the Rhein is good

Try searching these fora for more info, doubtless you will find plenty

What are studying in 'Leningrad'?

[AMC]

They met in Warsaw, the frenchperson thought she was in Moscow and the russianperson thought he was in Paris

Well, I shall keep a keen eye out for confused French & Russian persons in Warzawa then

Frankfurt/Oder is good for cycling by the river, but I suspect you mean the Other Frankfurt

Frankfurt M I'm afraid - I've spent a lot of time there in the past, my last visit a couple of years ago was a shock - I don't think I've ever known a city change that much outside China. I'll just be using the bike as transport there so probably won't be much fun, but had better investigate any bike infrastructure. The Rhine waits for a longer trip...

What are studying in 'Leningrad'?

Prepare to be fascinated: Social Network Analysis...

[Cyril Haearn]

How did you wangle that, what is it?

Used to know FfM fairly well, how has it changed?

[John Holiday]

Cycled with Brompton recently in Warsaw & travelled by train from Gdansk without any problems.
Warsaw was quite cycle friendly with some good infrastructure.
Enjoy

[Bmblbzzz]

I lived in Warsaw for a year but that was almost twenty years ago. Conditions for cycling weren't great back then, lots of big dual carriageways, fast and rather unruly traffic. The number of cyclists there now is far greater than it was. Of course the amount of traffic is also far greater (more cars per head than UK) but it's correspondingly a bit slower and a bit more disciplined than it used to be.

Despite the Paris tale, Warsaw is not as pretty as Moscow and I doubt if (nowadays) it's more Parisian in terms of cultural or material opportunities; in social terms, maybe.

I've also been to Vilnius but only for two days, no cycling, and it was back in the late 80s, so only relevant comment would be on architecture and layout (Nordic - Hanseatic influence, and small, compact).

[AMC]

Apologies for late response to comments, been away.

How did you wangle that, what is it?

Social Network analysis is surprisingly useful if you do the kind of research I do with communities; a simple explanation of it is beyond me, but I'm hoping this will change after the course! Wangled it through the university - I "won" an award - sheer luck that it fitted their criteria butI'm delighted, I wouldn't be doing this otherwise with usual expenses & a new house to rebuild

Used to know FfM fairly well, how has it changed?

You've probably seen it as it is now, but after a long hiatus since my early 1980s visits it was unrecognisable a few years ago - the old centre seemed to have been completely subsumed by the financial centre & associated developments, & the rather picturesque residential quarters likewise. I'd already had to come to terms with the replacement of the old wooden trams by the S-Bahn...more efficient but I was so enamoured of those trams.

Warsaw was quite cycle friendly with some good infrastructure.

Great, I'll research a bit before I get there then

I've also been to Vilnius but only for two days, no cycling, and it was back in the late 80s, so only relevant comment would be on architecture and layout (Nordic - Hanseatic influence, and small, compact).

Delighted if still the case - small is good by bike...

[Cyril Haearn]

Looking forward to reports from each stop please
FfM nearly became the capital of the BRD, Bonn got a few more votes