Trains/coaches back from Italy
Trains/coaches back from Italy
Having cycled from Le Havre to Rome, I am looking to find and easy way back by coach or train with bike. Keen to avoid the hassle of boxing the bike and flying back. Any suggestions? I am currently near Perugia and aiming to leave at the end of this week. There seems to be no way of booking a train all the way through and coaches don't seem to take bikes. From my experience on Italian rail, only some of the trains seem to take bikes.
Re: Trains/coaches back from Italy
If you could get a train to France, you could try the European Bike Express. I've never used it myself, but I keep hearing about it.
Cynic? No, an optimist tempered by experience.
Re: Trains/coaches back from Italy
By train: City Night Line service from Italy (doesn't go via Perugia, but stops in Rome, Orvieto, Chiusi and Florence) to Munich; day in Munich (lovely at this time of year...); another City Night Line to Paris; local train to a ferry port of your choice; boat home? Not the quickest way back, but nicer than flying. Timetables and other details here
http://www.citynightline.de/nachtzugrei ... o_en.shtml (But bike reservations have to be made by phone, I think: 0049 (0)1805 151415)
http://www.citynightline.de/nachtzugrei ... o_en.shtml (But bike reservations have to be made by phone, I think: 0049 (0)1805 151415)
Re: Trains/coaches back from Italy
(ps: actually, I see that the daytime TGVs from Munich to Paris also now take bikes. So you wouldn't even have to spend a day in the Hofbrauhaus -- unless you really wanted to...)
Re: Trains/coaches back from Italy
Good luck!
A colleague recently had place for her bike booked on a night train from Rome to Paris, where she had the Eurostar lined up too. But when she got to the station that evening, the attendant demanded an extra bike fee (or bribe) that was more than the Euros she had left. After arguing for a while she went in search of a cashpoint but the train left before she could get back.
She spent an extra night in Rome and flew home the next day, no trouble, for less than half the money she'd previously spent.
Here's the deal: I'll happily get to cycling holidays by train provided they don't come out worse in ALL THREE possible ways: by taking more of my money, my time and my trouble. It's too much to expect people to make the switch from flying without at least ONE of those factors coming out in favour of the train. EXPENSIVE and SLOW I will tolerate for the sake of human life on this planet, but to also make it more DIFFICULT to travel with my bike is the last straw. And yes, I do still have an environmental conscience, in spite of being taken for a fool for it these past 30 years!
For proof, I'm going to Spain this year by ship. It's expensive and so SLOOOW one gets only eleven days there out of a fortnight's leave, but its a doddle to take bikes. The only bit I worry about is whether they'll get on the train to Portsmouth, in which space is not bookable, so that a stroppy guard could sink the whole trip. So we'll travel an hour earlier. That would take two stroppy guards!
A colleague recently had place for her bike booked on a night train from Rome to Paris, where she had the Eurostar lined up too. But when she got to the station that evening, the attendant demanded an extra bike fee (or bribe) that was more than the Euros she had left. After arguing for a while she went in search of a cashpoint but the train left before she could get back.
She spent an extra night in Rome and flew home the next day, no trouble, for less than half the money she'd previously spent.
Here's the deal: I'll happily get to cycling holidays by train provided they don't come out worse in ALL THREE possible ways: by taking more of my money, my time and my trouble. It's too much to expect people to make the switch from flying without at least ONE of those factors coming out in favour of the train. EXPENSIVE and SLOW I will tolerate for the sake of human life on this planet, but to also make it more DIFFICULT to travel with my bike is the last straw. And yes, I do still have an environmental conscience, in spite of being taken for a fool for it these past 30 years!
For proof, I'm going to Spain this year by ship. It's expensive and so SLOOOW one gets only eleven days there out of a fortnight's leave, but its a doddle to take bikes. The only bit I worry about is whether they'll get on the train to Portsmouth, in which space is not bookable, so that a stroppy guard could sink the whole trip. So we'll travel an hour earlier. That would take two stroppy guards!
Chris Juden
One lady owner, never raced or jumped.
One lady owner, never raced or jumped.
Re: Trains/coaches back from Italy
I went to Spain by ship this year, shoulder season prices. One reason we chose to go by ship was that it actually worked out cheaper than flying, (super-cheap flight prices being unavailable for our desired dates). Admittedly I got an advantage that my 3 year old travels a cheaper by ship than an adult which isn't true by air: we were allowed to book a 2-berth and put her on the floor.
By going P&O one way and BF the other way, we only spent 2 days +3 nights on the boat, and we didn't have to go via Plymouth (BF ship is rather faster than P&O, and goes to Portsmouth alternate sailings these days), got full 2 weeks in Spain, though it required 12 days off work with the Mon-Tues return sailing from Santander.
By going P&O one way and BF the other way, we only spent 2 days +3 nights on the boat, and we didn't have to go via Plymouth (BF ship is rather faster than P&O, and goes to Portsmouth alternate sailings these days), got full 2 weeks in Spain, though it required 12 days off work with the Mon-Tues return sailing from Santander.
Re: Trains/coaches back from Italy
Look at http://www.seat61.com/ for alternatives to flying. According to the pages about carrying your bike by train, you can take your bike on the Milan-Amsterdam overnight train, then you could hop on the Harwich ferry. Well, ride/train it to the Hook and hop on the ferry.
We caught the night train from Amserdam to Munich (sans velo), and it was pretty good. I spoke to an English couple who were going around the Alps with their bikes, and they said that booking and carrying their bikes was very easy. There was an entire carriage for bikes.
On the other hand, I spoke to a Dutch couple on the return ferry who said that, in order to carry their bikes from Rome to Amsterdam, they had to catch seven different trains, since the express service refused to take bikes unless packed away as luggage. That was a few years ago, so hopefully this has now changed!
Edit: this is all very useful for someone travelling back to the UK
We caught the night train from Amserdam to Munich (sans velo), and it was pretty good. I spoke to an English couple who were going around the Alps with their bikes, and they said that booking and carrying their bikes was very easy. There was an entire carriage for bikes.
On the other hand, I spoke to a Dutch couple on the return ferry who said that, in order to carry their bikes from Rome to Amsterdam, they had to catch seven different trains, since the express service refused to take bikes unless packed away as luggage. That was a few years ago, so hopefully this has now changed!
Edit: this is all very useful for someone travelling back to the UK
Re: Trains/coaches back from Italy
Milan-Amsterdam is a very good idea: that's another of the City Night Line trains (I realise I'm starting to sound like I work for them, but I don't...), which, in my experience, are pretty much trouble-free when it comes to taking a bike. As Dean says, they have a big bike space (with proper racks) -- often a bit of Deutsche Bahn rolling stock; the only fiddly bit (if you're trying to book from the UK) is booking the bike reservation, but I suspect that's actually much easier to do when you can just sort it out at a station ticket office.
Bikes are allowed on Italian local and regional trains, but not allowed on most Intercity services. Regional trains in fact cover fairly long distances -- they just do it quite slowly (so you could, for e.g., get from Perugia to Milan by train, with bike; it would just take about twice as long as doing the journey without a bike).
Bikes are allowed on Italian local and regional trains, but not allowed on most Intercity services. Regional trains in fact cover fairly long distances -- they just do it quite slowly (so you could, for e.g., get from Perugia to Milan by train, with bike; it would just take about twice as long as doing the journey without a bike).
Re: Trains/coaches back from Italy
CJ wrote:For proof, I'm going to Spain this year by ship. It's expensive and so SLOOOW one gets only eleven days there out of a fortnight's leave, but its a doddle to take bikes. The only bit I worry about is whether they'll get on the train to Portsmouth, in which space is not bookable, so that a stroppy guard could sink the whole trip. So we'll travel an hour earlier. That would take two stroppy guards!
I had to take that gamble when going to Portsmouth. My heart sank when I saw two bike already in the bike bay them spotted the max capacity - three bikes sign. Even so all three bikes were fully loaded touring bikes and they prevented the free passage of the catering trolley. The poor operative was having a strop but the guard - bless him told her that we were within our rights to be there.
Re: Trains/coaches back from Italy
Thanks for all the responses. European Bike Express full until the 6th, although seems a good option next time. Opting for Milan to Amsterdam train and then ferry from the Hoek to Harwich. Trains more complicated to book online if cross border, so need to do it at Milan station and seems quite a bit more expensive if you take the direct train so may change at Dusseldorf.