Motorail.

[wreck diver]

Hi,I am thinking of a trip to southern Austria/Italy/Slovenia,in June.
Possibly using motorail from Germany to Villach,Austria to save a bit of time.
Any tips etc on the Motorail or the venue appreciated.
Do you need to book the Motorail of is it poss tp turn up and get a place?
many thanks

 

[The Grey One]

Good Choice

Hi There-you have picked a great place to come on a bike.

We are only 40 mins from Villach so get quite a few people staying with us using the route. Even in June it is probably best to book-the trains fill up quickly and they started taking bookings on November 1st. Here is a link to the website http://www.dbautozug.de/site/dbautozug/en/start.html Not the best of sites, you can't see all routes together for instance but it is in English. I have a friend who always comes on the train but only as far as Munich (2 5 hours from us) He always books on the phone to their London office. He is away at the moment but I can call him in a few days time and get the number for you. He says he gets a better price that way.

Trains also run as I mentioned to Munich and also to Salzburg ( the terminal is a long way south of the city. All a good for our region, leaving only good roads to ride to get here.

Another tip is that trains north are often cheaper so if you are thinking of train one way, consider going home on the train.

I ride the roads in this area as often as I can, do most of them several times each summer so if you want any advice on where and what please ask- Happy to give what help I can even if you are not staying at our place!

John

 

[araspitfire]

I agree about booking both ways... Took the train to Verona last fall and rode around to france , then back up the motorways... really wished we'd booked the train back and spent that extra day riding in the twisties.

Al...

 

[Andy B]

I've done Paris to Nice on the overnight train. Not an experience I'd rush to repeat! You travel on a different train to the bike, which I didn't realise when I booked it. There were thieves on the train as well - ones that had keys! Could only assume they were railway staff! If I was doing France again I'd drop the bike off early, catch a TGV to Nice and stay the night in a hotel before getting the bike next morning.

German railways look altogether better run. Looks as if you are on the same train as the bike. I didn't sleep well. Keep your earplugs with you! We've been thinking about doing something similar in the autumn so I'll look on with interest!

 

[Hopper]

Used the train last May from Dusseldorf to Verona with my mate
Best bits. Let the train take the strain and wake up in the morning in Italy. Extending your time in Italy has to be good
Worst bits. Sharing a small five bed cabin with 3 Germans two where were perfectly pleasant but didn't stop eating boiled eggs (I'm not kidding and imagine the affect on them) with the other a drunken slob who given an opportunity would of been pushed off the train. Loading the bikes was eventful and still have the scratches on my lid from very low train roof. Expensive for what you get.

This year will save money and leave early to blitz across France from the ferry and be a long way down by nightfall. Cost of fuel and hotel plus freedom will outweigh the problems I experienced with train

No doubt if the Germans had been good company and we could of had a good conversation I would have a different view I'm sure.

Sort very soon if you want to use it as as I was told it soon gets booked with only one train a week?

Good luck

 

[paintman]

I've done Paris to Nice on the overnight train. Not an experience I'd rush to repeat! You travel on a different train to the bike, which I didn't realise when I booked it. There were thieves on the train as well - ones that had keys! Could only assume they were railway staff! If I was doing France again I'd drop the bike off early, catch a TGV to Nice and stay the night in a hotel before getting the bike next morning.

Thats exactly what we did and it works well, a night in Paris or Nice the choice is yours. The old overnight train that followed the Motorail has been cancelled anyway, not before time in my view, no refreshments were available and I found sleeping was impossable anyway.

One tip though, headroom is very limited on the motorail trains anyone with a highish screen would be well advised to lower it to prevent damage.

 

[The Grey One]

Autozug number

Here is the number my friend uses for the German railways motorail service , says he gets super cheap deals 02083394701

John

 

[ebbo]

Here is the number my friend uses for the German railways motorail service , says he gets super cheap deals 02083394701

John

That number is I belive Deutsche Bahn UK

 

[wreck diver]

Thanks John, just looking at the pro,s and con,s road or rail.
Shame its only one a week to Villach. I pressume there is a buffet car on the train.
many thanks for all info so far

 

[The Grey One]

That number is I belive Deutsche Bahn UK

Would be really - the Autozug service is run by the German railways (DB)

Just passing on info given to me by a friend who, being from Yorkshire, is good a getting a deal. He says he can get a better price using the number than by booking on line. I can't confirm that, never used the service myself, but he believes it does save him money over the on line price.

If that's the case then it needs publicising. If not I expect some of you will tell us all about it!

John

 

[wreck diver]

This might seem a daft question,but will a GSA fit on the bike deck?
The booking form list tarrif for"motorcycles under 1.56 mtrs",My GSA on centre stand is 1.6mtrs

 

[The Grey One]

Choice is the thing

This might seem a daft question,but will a GSA fit on the bike deck?
The booking form list tarrif for"motorcycles under 1.56 mtrs",My GSA on centre stand is 1.6mtrs

Not heard of any problems getting a bike to fit but headroom is very limited when you load your bike. I'm not sure that many GSA riders will come forward to tell us and confess to using the train-some seem to think it's not quite the done thing!

Personally I think the train makes a lot of sense and the argument about it somehow not being proper biking is just so much nonsense. What you end up with is more days riding on the roads you came to ride on and less days on other not so exciting roads. Maybe the first few times you go abroad riding the whole way is an adventure but after a while it can become a chore. And if you only have a few days holiday the train may be the only way to have a decent amount of time at your chosen destination.

Remember-nobody is forcing anyone to either use the train or not. It's a choice and as such will suit some and not others.

Whatever you do ride safe and enjoy.

John

 

[Hopper]

Does this photo help showing my 2010 RT loaded last year from Dusseldorf to Verona? I can't measure the height as bike gone now but i know i had to have the screen set to low. There is of course more room than you can see but its much easier on a sports bike.

Should give you an idea of what its like though!

PM me if photo doesn't show as I'm rubbish at this attachment thing.

 

[bladerunner]

Not heard of any problems getting a bike to fit but headroom is very limited when you load your bike. I'm not sure that many GSA riders will come forward to tell us and confess to using the train-some seem to think it's not quite the done thing!


John

You'll find loading the bike interesting! A fully loaded GSA is a challenge - the bikes go onto the lower deck and the metal roof clouted my helmet many times - it became particularly interesting when the bikes in front came to a halt when I was in the middle of the carriage - my feet were a good 6" off the floor and down I went, much to the amusement of others. "They all do that, sir!"

Best advice is make sure you take off your tank bag (if present) so you can lean right forward and reduce your height.

I rode Dusseldorf to Salzburg - it was fairly pricy (although I had sole use of cabin), comfy enough and it's great to wake up with the Alpine foothills rolling by.

I would not do the same again as Dusseldorf is a fair distance East, so time may be best spent riding South, I just wanted to give it a try.

 

[rodsharp]

Just been on to railsavers (4 Feb ) Service to Livorno in Italy starts 1st June and is fully booked, 2 places left on 8th June ,now 1 as I have the other. We just thought we may try it one way this summer as it will make it much easier to tour round all of Italy and then just have one long haul back. Done the long haul many times, been there done that so think we shall appreciate the train ride and time saved by trying it out. I guess we shall know by July whether it was the best thing to do.

 

[ZED 1000]

Moto-rail

We chose to take the over night train from Dusseldorf to Alessandria
For our 2010 trip to Tuscany on the 1200GS, booked in January through the web site for early May travel, I think the return cost for the two of us with the bike was £750 including paying extra for having a sleeper compartment to ourselves.
The GS was fitted with a GSA screen and with the screen dropped down went on to the train fine however I still have the scratches on the top of my then new lid from the overhead steel deck.
We found the service to be very good, loading and off loading was very efficient as you would expect with a German service.

We decided on Andermatt and Lake Como for 2011, I priced various ways to travel including the overnight train again but with the distance from Calais to Düsseldorf and the cost in both time and £, and the fact that I hate motorway riding we decided to take the bike down in a rental van, the van we used was only slightly larger than a large people carrier, plenty of cheap rental deals to be had, slightly more expensive through the Euro-pipe, fuel consumption/ cost equated to £70 extra over the 2000 miles, we could share the driving carry both winter and summer riding gear plenty of room for any amount of luggage everything kept dry, no tyre ware or increase of miles on the bike, no worries if the van broke down all covered by the rental, I used the van as a garage for security every night in Italy.

We are going to use the same format again this summer it worked so well for us, planning to go the Black Forest and the Austrian Alps.


Good luck with your trip

 

[The Grey One]

A fine idea!

We chose to take the over night train from Dusseldorf to Alessandria
For our 2010 trip to Tuscany on the 1200GS, booked in January through the web site for early May travel, I think the return cost for the two of us with the bike was £750 including paying extra for having a sleeper compartment to ourselves.
The GS was fitted with a GSA screen and with the screen dropped down went on to the train fine however I still have the scratches on the top of my then new lid from the overhead steel deck.
We found the service to be very good, loading and off loading was very efficient as you would expect with a German service.

We decided on Andermatt and Lake Como for 2011, I priced various ways to travel including the overnight train again but with the distance from Calais to Düsseldorf and the cost in both time and £, and the fact that I hate motorway riding we decided to take the bike down in a rental van, the van we used was only slightly larger than a large people carrier, plenty of cheap rental deals to be had, slightly more expensive through the Euro-pipe, fuel consumption/ cost equated to £70 extra over the 2000 miles, we could share the driving carry both winter and summer riding gear plenty of room for any amount of luggage everything kept dry, no tyre ware or increase of miles on the bike, no worries if the van broke down all covered by the rental, I used the van as a garage for security every night in Italy.

We are going to use the same format again this summer it worked so well for us, planning to go the Black Forest and the Austrian Alps.


Good luck with your trip

Bikes in a van, good idea if there is two or more travelling, we had two guys who left home in Kent and were at our place early evening-share the driving and it makes a lot of sense. Many of our Dutch bikers guests use vans or trailers - saves time and wear and tear -do all your riding here on proper roads!

John

 

[jamieg7762]

Interesting to read everybodies comments about the motorail. will have to remember to duck, shouldn't be too bad as I have the ohlins shocks that have lowered the bike.
One of the guys has the touratech screen extender, so must remeber to tell him to take it off.

3 of us have booked a one way ticket from Alessandria to Den-Bosch, 3 bikes + sleeper cabin for 3 so wont have to share with anybody else.
All in for £206 per person.

We are planning on zig zagging across europe stopping where we fancy and when we fancy. Only deadline is Alessandria on the 26th May to catch the train back.

Still working on the rough route to ensure that we dont miss the opportunity of seeing something good.