Bike-and-train touring

[gbnz]

Bizarre,on so many levels...You do seem stuck in the past an MPd have hang ups with sections of society for oddball reasons.What is the connection between people smoking and post industrial conurbations..Do countryside folk not smoke then?....And since pubs etc banned smoking years ago it is not a problem any way.

The connection between post industrial conurbations, c/w significant sections of society being affected by ill health, smoking, low levels of educational achievement and benefit based lifestyles is well attested. And it's absurd to suggest that you have to be in a pub to be affected by such people.

I was in Newcastle last night waiting for a bus, the only person not smoking amongst perhasp 70-80 in the station. And walking down to the gym this morning, the fag smoke in the air, coarse, grey faced, deformed people lurching down the road with their dogs. The coarse language and behavioural types they exhibit may be interesting to observe, but not at all pleasant when one's obliged to remain in close proximity to such people.

Having been brought up, lived and worked throughout most of my life in more advanced parts of the country, it's impossible not to note how unpleasant post industrial areas and substantial parts of the population they contain are. And from a cycling perspective, it's absurd to suggest that cycling in such areas doesn't affect the pleasure of a ride

This elderly Geordie feels really uplifted now!

Yes, but like me you had the sense to get out . Suppose I haven't been in Berwick Upon Tweed since Monday, but obviously in terms of landscape, history and people, it's very different to the North East Wastelands

[PH]

Given the cycle 'provision' on the new IEPs and others, and the need to book on most Mainland franchises, I wondered about buses/coaches: but even with motorways they seem a lot slower than expected. I think my limit on a bus/coach would be 3 hours

I did Derby > Santander in September by coach via London>Paris>Bilbao, 23 hours there and 26 back, which was quicker than my companions who took the ferry and I had change out of £100 for the entire trip. It wasn't the most luxurious of travel, it wasn't the worst either and I'll do it again.
I'll jump on a train quite often while touring, sometimes I'll camp two nights in one place and do a city trip by bus or train for a break, or sometimes I just want to cut the distance. I'll sometimes travel somewhere and ride home, if for some reason I don't ride all the way I'd rather skip the last bit which I'm more likely to be familiar with. Derby is pretty well served for trains, I've never failed to get home even without any prior planning, including twice on bus replacements, but then I'm pretty familiar with system.

[Oldjohnw]

The connection between post industrial conurbations, c/w significant sections of society being affected by ill health, smoking, low levels of educational achievement and benefit based lifestyles is well attested. And it's absurd to suggest that you have to be in a pub to be affected by such people.

I was in Newcastle last night waiting for a bus, the only person not smoking amongst perhasp 70-80 in the station. And walking down to the gym this morning, the fag smoke in the air, coarse, grey faced, deformed people lurching down the road with their dogs. The coarse language and behavioural types they exhibit may be interesting to observe, but not at all pleasant when one's obliged to remain in close proximity to such people.

Having been brought up, lived and worked throughout most of my life in more advanced parts of the country, it's impossible not to note how unpleasant post industrial areas and substantial parts of the population they contain are. And from a cycling perspective, it's absurd to suggest that cycling in such areas doesn't affect the pleasure of a ride

This elderly Geordie feels really uplifted now!

Yes, but like me you had the sense to get out . Suppose I haven't been in Berwick Upon Tweed since Monday, but obvioulsy in terms of landscape, hisory and people, it's very different to the North East Wastelands

I left in the 1980s. I grew up seeing bomb damage all around and he terrible decline of traditional industry. Then the dreadful 1960s and 1060s urban development. You are right: I escaped to the country. I haven't been in Berwick though apart from the station, the butcher - and I sing evensong in the parish church - for a few weeks.

[mercalia]

The Guardain does it the easy ( expensive , cheat?) way

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2020/jan/11/family-cycling-holiday-train-london-to-italy-south-tirol-lake-garda?utm_term=RWRpdG9yaWFsX0d1YXJkaWFuVG9kYXlVS19XZWVrZW5kLTIwMDExMQ%3D%3D&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUK_email&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUK

[Slowroad]

The Guardain does it the easy ( expensive , cheat?) way

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2020 ... ianTodayUK
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Having spent hours the last few days planning a really quite short trip not nearly that far, I do have sympathy with people who go for that organised option! Although I'd not want to do it even if I could afford it (I don't think...?)

[PH]

I've never planned a bike & train tour, other than using the train to the start or getting back, all my other in tour train trips have been unplanned. However the revamped Interrail Pass has tempted me to start looking at some possibilities and they're probably endless...
https://www.interrail.eu/en/interrail-p ... fbe7e42263

[nirakaro]

Certainly endless possibilities. Herself and I Interrailed from Leeds to Italy and back last summer, and had a great time. It did involve humping two loaded bikes on and off thirty-six trains – some easier than others – but you get used to it.
TIP: If you don't want to cycle over the Alps, you can take your bike on local trains through the tunnel between Modane and Bardonecchia (takes about twenty minutes), but they only run at weekends. Ticket office closed, ticket machines can't do international tickets, no conductor on the train, so it was free. Both ways. About three other people on the train – you can see why it doesn't run on weekdays.

[Sweep]

Certainly endless possibilities. Herself and I Interrailed from Leeds to Italy and back last summer, and had a great time. It did involve humping two loaded bikes on and off thirty-six trains – some easier than others – but you get used to it.
TIP: If you don't want to cycle over the Alps, you can take your bike on local trains through the tunnel between Modane and Bardonecchia (takes about twenty minutes), but they only run at weekends. Ticket office closed, ticket machines can't do international tickets, no conductor on the train, so it was free. Both ways. About three other people on the train – you can see why it doesn't run on weekdays.

The older adult version of interail I assume?

Interesting - never thought of doing that - have fond memories of interailing as a student decades ago.

How long was your ticket for,how did the split beween cycling and trainng it work?

[nirakaro]

Yes, it was the adult version of Interrail, gave us fifteen days on trains over two months. Cost about £400 each IIRC – we could easily have spent half that just getting to the Channel and back.
It was a hybrid kind of trip – she was on a course in Italy, so a mix of cycling, ten days in one place, food n wine n cafes. We did most of the distance on trains – she's no long-distance cyclist – and did relatively gentle days' cycling – Canal de Bourgogne, Val di Susa, Valsugana, Sudtirol, Veneto, Saone etc., maybe 500 miles over six weeks. Worked very nicely.

[PH]

It was a hybrid kind of trip – she was on a course in Italy, so a mix of cycling, ten days in one place, food n wine n cafes. We did most of the distance on trains – she's no long-distance cyclist – and did relatively gentle days' cycling – Canal de Bourgogne, Val di Susa, Valsugana, Sudtirol, Veneto, Saone etc., maybe 500 miles over six weeks. Worked very nicely.

That sounds great, I haven't long to wait for the 60+ discount, so I'm thinking along the same lines, maybe with my folder to cut down the restrictions.

[willem jongman]

You can mix even more... My wife and I were originally planning for a few weeks cycling in Albania when I unexpectedly had to be in Rome for work for a day, right in the middle of our planned holiday. So we decided on a round tour in central Italy. We drove to Sienna, left the car in the railway station's car park, and headed south on our bikes, via Lago di Trasimeno, Perugia, Assisi, and Spoleto. The cities were so interesting that we got behind our schedule, and had to take the train from Spoleto to be in Rome on time. Next we spent more days in Rome than we had planned (too much to see), so on the way back we took the train to Viterbo. It was all very convenient and allowed us to mix work and cultural visits with riding, all packed into a quite tight schedule. These days, Italian trains run on time and the Trenitalia website is very helpful.

[Cyril Haearn]

There are all sorts of national and regional rail passes, France Vacances, BritRail
It is great to be able to hop on a train without complicated reservations, often the price/km is good
(I won a rail pass once )

[Sweep]

There are all sorts of national and regional rail passes, France Vacances, BritRail
It is great to be able to hop on a train without complicated reservations, often the price/km is good
(I won a rail pass once )

Any britrail pass is likely to be incredibly bad value from all the ones I have seen.
And i pity any foreign tourist who bought one using northern rail's franchise.

[Sweep]

That sounds great, I haven't long to wait for the 60+ discount, so I'm thinking along the same lines, maybe with my folder to cut down the restrictions.

Yes i would be inclined to use a folder as otherwise you might get involved in complications which rather negate the sheer freedom of the pass.
Never toured on my brommie (5 speed) more research needed.
Checked out the senior discount - not wildly generous at 10 per cent.

[LithiumFan]

I took my electrified Airnimal folder to Slovenia last summer. It was a bit worrying at St Pancras as the tray for the X-ray machine was a tad small for the folded bike and it went through upside down in the end. I opted to travel via Salzberg to see the view through the alps in the day time so I had to spend the night in Munich the day before. It almost backfired when half the Austrian section was like being in Wales - low cloud. I did a couple of days in the Julian Alps (few views and very cold) but then took the train from Bohinj through the Alps and started cycling again southwards from near Tolmin in lovely weather. Slovenian trains have very generous bike areas. The train through the Alps had 16 hooks on one with only a few carriages, although with very low platforms you have to lift the bike up about 1.4m! Impossible without removing luggage, and some of the doors are very narrow too. I then cycled to Turin staying in hostels and got the train to Venice and from there back via Paris on the Thello sleeper. The bike just fitted under the bottom bunk. I only had difficulties with two guards: One in Germany was concerned because I hadn't folded my bike but when I explained, I didn't even have to fold it up so it went for free. It was enough for her to know it could be folded. The other was in Austria. I had decided not to fold the bike and had hung it up on a hook. The guard then took payment but then insisted I moved it to a different hook. I cannot think why. I then really struggled to hang it up as there were other bikes right next to this new hook and it took me about 10 attempts. The worst experience of the whole trip. All in all a great trip. I could not fly because my battery was 17Ah but not a problem on the trains.