Bikes on trains ... Belgium to Southern France

[Zebedee]

A bit of advice from you experienced European travellers please.

We are off to Europe in the near future and for one reason and another, we need to cover some ground pretty quickly if we are going to see all of the folks we want to in the time we have available.

So the question is, is it practical (or even possible) to load the bike up onto a train in Belgium and off load it towards the South of France?

In advance, Ta

 

[Rod Souter]

I did it a couple of years ago on my GS with Belgian Motorrail. Left Denderleuw at 7pm arrived in Narbonne at 8.00 am next morning. I booked through a firm in Lancashire but I believe it can be done direct.

Rod

 

[Deleted Member I]

does this help?

 

[Mike Werner]

I think they only run in the summer. And you can't travel with your bike.

 

[Zebedee]

Cheers guys

All info gratefully recieved.

 

[Sherringford Hovis]

Does SNCB still run motorail services? I used them two years ago to Narbonne but this year had an email to say they had packed up.... when I couldn't find the timetables on the website.

I used SNCF (booked through Rail Europe) last month. More expensive than the Belgians, but you can go from Calais in summer, although you pay the sames as cars.... many services from Paris are all-year. From Calais, Denderleeuw was about 100 miles as opposed to Paris and 190 odd.

Rail Europe like to sell the Calais route, persevere for Paris routes! If you can get into London it is easier to book face to face at the office in Piccadilly.

I've done Paris-Narbonne six or seven times including a February trip to deliver a bike to a friend in Murcia! In winter it is excellent and cuts out 600 miles of freezing frogland.

 

[Kropotkin]

We looked at the same sort of issue, travelling from Holland to the South of France with the GS on the train.

Quoting from memory, we had several options:

1. A number of companies run freight transport between here and Spain, but you have to arrange transport for yourselves between Belgium / Holland and Spain.

2. The Dutch Railways run a train transport between Holland (Den Bosch aka 's Hertogenbosch) and Southern France, but that only runs between June and September (I think), so it's only a summer thing. And every year, they talk about cancelling it, but every year, they put it on.

3. The best bet is Germany. The German Rail Service run car trains from all over Germany to Southern France, Italy, and Switzerland. You can get your bike on there, and have accommodation in a couchette (or sleeping carriage). I seem to remember it being reasonably pricy, but the trains usually run 2x a week, leaving Germany in the afternoon, and arriving in the south the next morning.

In the end, we decided to ride down to Spain from Holland, taking our time. After all, it's the journey, not the destination, right?

David

 

[Sherringford Hovis]

We looked at the same sort of issue, travelling from Holland to the South of France with the GS on the train.

Quoting from memory, we had several options:

1. A number of companies run freight transport between here and Spain, but you have to arrange transport for yourselves between Belgium / Holland and Spain.

2. The Dutch Railways run a train transport between Holland (Den Bosch aka 's Hertogenbosch) and Southern France, but that only runs between June and September (I think), so it's only a summer thing. And every year, they talk about cancelling it, but every year, they put it on.

3. The best bet is Germany. The German Rail Service run car trains from all over Germany to Southern France, Italy, and Switzerland. You can get your bike on there, and have accommodation in a couchette (or sleeping carriage). I seem to remember it being reasonably pricy, but the trains usually run 2x a week, leaving Germany in the afternoon, and arriving in the south the next morning.

In the end, we decided to ride down to Spain from Holland, taking our time. After all, it's the journey, not the destination, right?

David

David, I forgot about DB. I think the nearest "autozug" to UK is Dusseldorf. Was Koln but I think that one has closed.

Do you have a url for the Dutch service? I used it many years ago from 's Hertogenbosch to Villach in Austria.

As for journey, it may be true, but when you have ridden the same roads over and over to get somewhre and your destination is the goal, then the quick way is often best... but perhaps not everytime.

 

[Kropotkin]

David, I forgot about DB. I think the nearest "autozug" to UK is Dusseldorf. Was Koln but I think that one has closed.

Do you have a url for the Dutch service? I used it many years ago from 's Hertogenbosch to Villach in Austria.

As for journey, it may be true, but when you have ridden the same roads over and over to get somewhre and your destination is the goal, then the quick way is often best... but perhaps not everytime.

The Dutch service can be found at http://www.autoslaaptrein.nl/ . However, the site is all in Dutch. You can see what it would cost by clicking on Tarief Retour shows prices for the return journey, and Tarief Enkel is a single. Vertrektijden shows you departure dates and times. The trains run from early June to 3rd of September, so you would have to be quick.

There is a phone number you can call in Holland +31(0)15 - 213 36 36, in the unlikely case that your Dutch is anything other than perfect .

As for the journey, as I was saying, that is what we decided worked for us in our situation. I can well imagine that riding is less of an option if you don't have 3 weeks like we do. iYMMV.

David

 

[Sherringford Hovis]

The Dutch service can be found at http://www.autoslaaptrein.nl/ . However, the site is all in Dutch. You can see what it would cost by clicking on Tarief Retour shows prices for the return journey, and Tarief Enkel is a single. Vertrektijden shows you departure dates and times. The trains run from early June to 3rd of September, so you would have to be quick.

There is a phone number you can call in Holland +31(0)15 - 213 36 36, in the unlikely case that your Dutch is anything other than perfect .

As for the journey, as I was saying, that is what we decided worked for us in our situation. I can well imagine that riding is less of an option if you don't have 3 weeks like we do. iYMMV.

David

I thought the Cloggies all spoke perfect English?

 

[Kropotkin]

I thought the Cloggies all spoke perfect English?

They do. But that won't help you read the information on the website. But if you call the phone number, I'm sure someone can help you.

 

[Zebedee]

Cheers guys,

Looking at the options, it looks like a quick blat into Germany may do the trick.

As for translating the Dutch website. Whilst I may struggle I know a man who can

 

[Sherringford Hovis]

They do. But that won't help you read the information on the website. But if you call the phone number, I'm sure someone can help you.

Babelfish can create pigeon English from Dutch.... just doesn't recognise the phlemy bits...

 

[Possu]

There is an autotrain that takes bikes & cars, that runs from Hamburg to somewhere near the French/Spanish border.