Munich to Venice cycle tour - post notes.

[glucas]

Hi,

I have just come back from my Munich to Venice tour, which on the whole went OK.

Just thought I would post a few comments for anybody currently planning a tour to Germany in-particular.

I went by train from Calais to Strasbourg and because of bike carrying issues, I took 4 local trains from Strasbourg into Germany. Strasbourg to Offenburg, Offenburg to Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe to Stuttgart and finally Stuttgart to Munich.

Unfortunately the overall journey from Strasbourg to Munich was not something I want to repeat. I had bike reservations for the last 3 legs, but the issue was that ALL the trains were completely full. On each train we were squashed in like sardines and I had to stand up the whole time holding the bike. The reason for the trains being packed was the 9 euro ticket available in Germany. To make matters worse, the Karlsruhe to Stuttgart train broke down and a 45 minute journey took 2 and a quarter hours. I missed my connecting train and had to take 2 local trains (in total it then came to 5 trains) via Ulm. Again, standing up on the train.

I had almost the same experience from Paris to Calais yesterday, whereby people were taking advantage of a 1 euro ticket, but the train was not quite as packed as the German trains.

Italy - masks are currently obligatory on trains and on the Vaporetti in Venice.

France - no obligation.

Germany - I seem to remember some people wearing masks.

Overall a good tour. Sadly I didn't meet many tourers. A lot of the cyclists on the alpine routes in-particular were locals or tourists with E-Bikes. The people became more animated and friendlier from Tyrol southwards into Italy, and the Italians were great!

Other lesson learned - need an insulated water bottle or cool bag as because of the heat, the water became warm after 15 minutes. I guess the experienced travellers will know that.!!

Graham

[mjr]

Thank you for reporting back. Hopefully the trains will settle down once the special offers are replaced with something more sustainable.

[Acasey]

Hi Graham, I am trying to find trains from Ulm to Paris (ultimately Calais) do you remember how/where you booked your trains, as I think it would be the traIn I need. Thanks Alison

[glucas]

Hi Alison,

Sorry for the late reply, have only just seen your question.

I used the sncf-connect website for trains within France. So from Calais to Paris and then Paris to Strasbourg.

For the trains from Strasbourg into Germany and then onwards to Munich, I used the Deutsche Bahn website.

I believe one can use Rail Europe or a UK based site to make these bookings but I'm unsure if they have the ability to book bikes, which is why I used the French and German sites.

Graham