Europe 2022

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)
pal
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Re: Europe 2022

Post by pal »

When I did this last month, I took the TER from Calais to Paris: this was fine, and there are loads of bike spaces; it's just a bit slow and steady. (Coming back, because it was a lovely sunny day and I had a little bit of time to spare, I got off at Boulogne and cycled the last bit to Calais: very nice, apart from the ginormous hill to get out of Boulogne!)
ANTONISH
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Re: Europe 2022

Post by ANTONISH »

bohrsatom wrote: 29 May 2022, 5:23pm
ANTONISH wrote: 29 May 2022, 9:17am
bohrsatom wrote: 28 May 2022, 4:33pm I wouldn’t be surprised (but would be seriously disappointed) if this “coming soon” continues for a while longer, then Eurostar stop carrying bikes altogether
There is the option of south east train to Ashford and get the channel tunnel cycle shuttle service to Calais - then ter to Lille.
Some of the TGV's have bookable bike space.
I realise that this may be a slower option.
I’ve been researching this route for an upcoming trip and I’ve not found any Lille-Paris TGVs with bike spaces for reservation

The only route options seem to be:
TER Calais - Amiens - Paris (every day)
Or take one of the two daily Lille - Paris TERs which operate at weekends only
I have travelled on the TGV from Paris to Lille with my assembled touring bike but that was about 2015 - things may have changed.
The ter to Paris from Calais via Amiens is infrequent and slow but it will get you there.
Around 2015 I wanted to travel to Hendaye using a sleeper service and return from Perpignan also sleeper - also the aforementioned Paris to Lille TGV.
I was having trouble booking online and went to the SNCF office in Picadilly I think..
The chap there was very helpful and knew the system well - oddly enough he didn't consider the ter Paris to Calais to be an option but found the TGV to Lille
So with everything booked I went to Calais to find there was a train strike.
My son kindly brought my car over on the ferry and we drove to Hendaye - the strike was over by the time I got to Perpignan.
It's rare that things go entirely to plan.

BTW - where is your eventual destination?
bohrsatom
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Re: Europe 2022

Post by bohrsatom »

ANTONISH wrote: 30 May 2022, 4:27pm It's rare that things go entirely to plan.

BTW - where is your eventual destination?
Also my experience - reckon about half my attempts to take my bike on SNCF have been thwarted by a strike

My final destination is Bordeaux: TER Calais - Amiens (overnight) - Paris, then TGV to Bordeaux
ANTONISH
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Re: Europe 2022

Post by ANTONISH »

bohrsatom wrote: 30 May 2022, 7:51pm
ANTONISH wrote: 30 May 2022, 4:27pm It's rare that things go entirely to plan.

BTW - where is your eventual destination?
Also my experience - reckon about half my attempts to take my bike on SNCF have been thwarted by a strike

My final destination is Bordeaux: TER Calais - Amiens (overnight) - Paris, then TGV to Bordeaux
That seems OK. - I take it you have checked the bike space availability from Amiens to Paris?
At one time this appeared to an "intercite" (accent lacking) and there didn't appear to be bike provision - which may be why the SNCF chap couldn't book me a ter to from Paris to Calais. However upthread someone has already made the Calais to Paris ter journey so I think you are OK.
I take it you are riding across Paris to Montparnasse - my one recent experience of this was that the cycle provision was quite good but in places the path was narrow and I had people moaning at me for going too slow.
bohrsatom
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Re: Europe 2022

Post by bohrsatom »

ANTONISH wrote: 31 May 2022, 9:24am That seems OK. - I take it you have checked the bike space availability from Amiens to Paris?
Yeah I have - the TER from Calais to Paris stops midway in Amiens. An overnight in Amiens means the bulk of the journey to Paris is done the evening before, and it's only 90mins or so to reach Paris the next day. Added benefit: not having to spend the night in Calais :D

Not too worried about the Paris riding, I was there earlier in the year and there are lots of new cycle lanes. Easy to get from Gare du Nord to the Seine along Boulevard Sebastopol using a new protected cycle lane, and sure there's one on the other side of the river to continue to Montparnasse.
On my last trip to Montparnasse I couldn't find a lift big enough to fit my bike - taking bike and luggage up the stairs was not fun so I need to research that more before I leave
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MrsHJ
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Re: Europe 2022

Post by MrsHJ »

bohrsatom wrote: 31 May 2022, 6:10pm
ANTONISH wrote: 31 May 2022, 9:24am That seems OK. - I take it you have checked the bike space availability from Amiens to Paris?
Yeah I have - the TER from Calais to Paris stops midway in Amiens. An overnight in Amiens means the bulk of the journey to Paris is done the evening before, and it's only 90mins or so to reach Paris the next day. Added benefit: not having to spend the night in Calais :D

Not too worried about the Paris riding, I was there earlier in the year and there are lots of new cycle lanes. Easy to get from Gare du Nord to the Seine along Boulevard Sebastopol using a new protected cycle lane, and sure there's one on the other side of the river to continue to Montparnasse.
On my last trip to Montparnasse I couldn't find a lift big enough to fit my bike - taking bike and luggage up the stairs was not fun so I need to research that more before I leave
Let us know the solution (if there is one, speaking as a veteran of quite a few bike/luggage portage exercises- this one would be a tricky one as it’s such a big station). I think SNCF have detailed plans of the big stations on their website so hopefully there is a bigger lift somewhere.
zerkalo
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Re: Europe 2022

Post by zerkalo »

Hi everyone. This is my fist post on this forum – I’m hoping for some advice on my cycling trip to France at the end of August.

I’m planning to ride the Velo Francette route from Caen all the way to La Rochelle and then back to the UK via Paris. I have already booked the TGV InOui service from La Rochelle to Paris and reserved a space for my bike. I also have bought the Eurostar ticket from Paris to London knowing that the bike service is not currently available but hoping, as per the information on their website, that it would have resumed by the time of my trip. As this now looks very unlikely, I am wondering what my options are. I could change my plans and do another cycling trip (the Eurostar ticket is flexible but the TGV one probably not). I have not yet bought the ferry ticket. If I decided to go ahead with this - is there a reliable bike courier service to use in Paris if Eurostar still don’t accept bikes on trains at that time? Or perhaps I could come back to London from La Rochelle by ferry avoiding Paris altogether? Any ideas would be much appreciated! Stelios
Jdsk
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Re: Europe 2022

Post by Jdsk »

zerkalo wrote: 9 Jun 2022, 9:13amOr perhaps I could come back to London from La Rochelle by ferry avoiding Paris altogether? Any ideas would be much appreciated!
Welcome.

On bikes or by car we usually choose to cross the Channel using the overnight long crossings from Caen or Le Havre to Portsmouth. But we used Saint-Malo for the France en Velo route.

There's a summary of ferries on the Cycling UK site:
https://www.cyclinguk.org/article/guide ... bike-ferry

Jonathan
simonhill
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Re: Europe 2022

Post by simonhill »

Keep the La Rochelle to Paris ticket, then take slow train (called TER, bikes OK) to Dieppe or Calais. Then any ferry to the UK.
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horizon
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Re: Europe 2022

Post by horizon »

I have some experience (but not a huge amount) of travelling to France with a bicycle - some from years ago, some more recent. Two questions pop up (some of this might have been discussed on a another thread):

1. Why do people bother with the TGVs (and other services such as Ouigo) or indeed Eurostar? I talked to a family at a main raiilway station (Bordeaux) struggling with getting on and off TGV trains and they were converted (not by me, they already were!) - no more TGVs, too much hassle. And there is the excellent hassle-free TER network. What am I missing?

2. What's wrong with Eurotunnel for bikes? Genuine question, we just don't seem to hear it discussed much. I prefer ferries but still, how does Eurotunnel stack up?
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
Jdsk
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Re: Europe 2022

Post by Jdsk »

horizon wrote: 9 Jun 2022, 10:39am1. Why do people bother with the TGVs (and other services such as Ouigo) or indeed Eurostar? I talked to a family at a main raiilway station (Bordeaux) struggling with getting on and off TGV trains and they were converted (not by me, they already were!) - no more TGVs, too much hassle. And there is the excellent hassle-free TER network. What am I missing?
I think that it's about different questions.

Q1: Those TGVs are fast and get me to where I want to be. Will they take my bike? Oh... that's disappointing.

Q2: Is the regional non-TGV system a good way of getting there with my bike? Yes.

And Q1 won't go away because it's very easy to imagine that the TGVs could take bikes.

Jonathan
Jdsk
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Re: Europe 2022

Post by Jdsk »

horizon wrote: 9 Jun 2022, 10:39am2. What's wrong with Eurotunnel for bikes? Genuine question, we just don't seem to hear it discussed much. I prefer ferries but still, how does Eurotunnel stack up?
The shuttle service for bikes isn't operating at the moment:
https://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/travellin ... /bicycles/

Jonathan
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horizon
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Re: Europe 2022

Post by horizon »

My impression (and that's coming from the sceptical side of me) is that people (present company excluded) choose TGVs because that is what is stuffed in your face by websites and marketing. It is easy to believe as a foreigner that the TGVs are now the only means of travelling long distance by train in France.

AIUI, the TGVs are an overlaid service - the modern, fast TER network still exists but the TGV lines are newly built. So as opposed to slow trains and well, modern trains, we actually have good, fast trains and stupidly fast trains.

As a cyclist, I reckon I have a different sense of speed.
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
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horizon
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Re: Europe 2022

Post by horizon »

Jdsk wrote: 9 Jun 2022, 10:45am
horizon wrote: 9 Jun 2022, 10:39am2. What's wrong with Eurotunnel for bikes? Genuine question, we just don't seem to hear it discussed much. I prefer ferries but still, how does Eurotunnel stack up?
The shuttle service for bikes isn't operating at the moment:
https://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/travellin ... /bicycles/

Jonathan
Due to current travel restrictions put in place by the UK and French authorities, we are currently unable to provide the Cycle Service.
Do you happen to know what these restrictions are about?
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
Jdsk
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Re: Europe 2022

Post by Jdsk »

horizon wrote: 9 Jun 2022, 10:52am
Jdsk wrote: 9 Jun 2022, 10:45am
horizon wrote: 9 Jun 2022, 10:39am2. What's wrong with Eurotunnel for bikes? Genuine question, we just don't seem to hear it discussed much. I prefer ferries but still, how does Eurotunnel stack up?
The shuttle service for bikes isn't operating at the moment:
https://www.eurotunnel.com/uk/travellin ... /bicycles/
Due to current travel restrictions put in place by the UK and French authorities, we are currently unable to provide the Cycle Service.
Do you happen to know what these restrictions are about?
Nothing more than that statement in the banner on the website.

: - (

Jonathan
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