2 + bikes, from South Wales to Hook of Holland - HOW ?

[Paul Walters]

Thinking of touring with CTC some time this year on one of their Dutch tours. Need to get me + 1 + bikes from South Wales to Hook of Holland for start of tour.

Any recommendations ? Preferably avoiding anything at all to do with trains. Nasty horrible things run by nasty horrible people.

 

[snorri]

Any recommendations ? Preferably avoiding anything at all to do with trains. Nasty horrible things run by nasty horrible people.

http://www.vipchauff...irsea-transfers

 

[rich p]

http://www.vipchauff...irsea-transfers

I'm not sure that link is of any use snorri! This may be taken in two ways maybe

 

[Paul Walters]

Can't open the link anyway, so it wasn't any use but thanks anyway, I am sure it would have been funny

 

[andym]

Any recommendations ? Preferably avoiding anything at all to do with trains. Nasty horrible things run by nasty horrible people.

Train. Sorry, but it's the simplest, most comfortable and most civilised alternative - quite probably the cheapest too if you book in advance. I'm sure the CTC would tell you the same.

The most complicated bit is getting across London from Paddington - my recommendation would be follo the London cycle network path route that runs sort of parallel with Baker Street and Euston Road, then goes through Bloomsbury - turn right onto Gray's Inn road and then left onto High Holborn and then along Cheapside).

If you want to buy all the tickets and bike space reservations all in one go, online, then i would advise using:

http://www.eastcoast.co.uk/

rather than GWR's own website.

 

[rich p]

You could hire a helicopter?

 

[HelenD123]

Drive to Harwich and find somewhere to leave the car?

One way hire car?

 

[andym]

[QUOTE 1289778"]There's a train from Birmingham New Street to Stanstead. Taxi from there.[/quote]

If he's going to the Hook of Holland he's presumably taking a ferry from Harwich.

EDIT: The penny's dropped: taxi from Stansted to Harwich presumably

 

[Bodhbh]

As andym said, struggling to think how you'd beat the train without cutting your nose off to spite your face. It's what, 2 - 2 1/2 hours to Paddington from S Wales, 1/2 hr across London on the bike to Liverpool Street, and another hour up to Harwich? I'm no great one for navigating heavy traffic but even the London crossing is okay, just over the top on the Euston Road and you pretty much follow it round.

 

[Paul Walters]

Problem I have is a very bitter experience of using rail to move a loaded touring bike :- trying to get my bike to Penzance from Port Talbot in 08 for a LEJOG I had the misfortune to come across the one "train manager" who was trained by the SS. It resulted in him verbally abusing my wife, a platform argument as to what end of the train the bike should be put, and then him literally screaming at me and my wife while we struggled to get the thing into the carriage...... a written complaint to First Great Western (the appropriately misnamed company) resulted in a curt and disinterested reply. So any way I can think of of moving the bike across the UK without giving any rail company any money is what I want.

 

[Bodhbh]

Well, you could go via Birmingham and avoid First Great Western, dunno if any other operators or routes are practially possible from where you are (South West Trains?). tbh tho, I've had the odd surly one one or jobsworth when I've not got a reservation and the bike carrage is clearly empty, but mostly they are fine or even helpful (letting me sit in 1st class so closer to the bike carriage).

 

[Ticktockmy]

Here is a site that might be handy for you, also posted to the sticky http://www.seat61.com/bike-by-train.htm

 

[Telemark]

Well, you could go via Birmingham and avoid First Great Western, dunno if any other operators or routes are practially possible from where you are (South West Trains?). tbh tho, I've had the odd surly one one or jobsworth when I've not got a reservation and the bike carrage is clearly empty, but mostly they are fine or even helpful (letting me sit in 1st class so closer to the bike carriage).

I'd second that, I've mostly had very good experiences, with staff sometimes going out of their way to be helpful.

Good luck with your tour!

T

 

[andym]

Problem I have is a very bitter experience of using rail to move a loaded touring bike :- trying to get my bike to Penzance from Port Talbot in 08 for a LEJOG I had the misfortune to come across the one "train manager" who was trained by the SS. It resulted in him verbally abusing my wife, a platform argument as to what end of the train the bike should be put, and then him literally screaming at me and my wife while we struggled to get the thing into the carriage...... a written complaint to First Great Western (the appropriately misnamed company) resulted in a curt and disinterested reply. So any way I can think of of moving the bike across the UK without giving any rail company any money is what I want.

Well as someone who has travelled over a hundred times with FGW on that route (a lot of these times with a bike), I think you were very unlucky: my normal experience is that train staff go out of their way to be helpful even when the bike carriage is full. But experience definitely helps: eg take the panniers etc off before trying to get on the train, and one of you get into the carriage while the other lifts the bike up.

IIRC (don't take this as gospel) going towards London, the bike carriage is almost always at the tail end of the train - occasionally it gets reversed - this can be a pain for you and also a pain for the train staff as they are under a lot of pressure to meet targets on punctuality (possibly why the person you encountered behave the way they did). My top tip would be to check with the platform staff, and if in doubt to position yourself in the middle of the platform then look out for the bike icon on the guards van as the train comes into the platform - this should give you enough time to get to the right end of the train before it stops. [EDIT: it just struck me that the bike carriage on these trains is at the end of the train with the standard class carriages - coach A - so if you hear an announcement that the first-class carriages are in a different position from the usual this will also mean that the guards van/bike compartment is at the wrong end].

Going via Birmingham - or worse, on an SWT route - would definitely be cutting off your nose etc.

 

[stephenjubb]

hire a van and drop it off in London/Near Harwich? then bike to ferry