Bikes on trains in Southern Spain

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xilios

Veteran
Location
Maastricht, NL
Anyone here have any experience with bicycles on trains in Spain?
My wife and I are looking into taking one from Almeria to Benidorm.
Thanks
 

andym

Über Member
My experience is from a few years ago, but I did take a train out of Almeria. On local and medium-distance trains you shouldn't have any difficulty. For some trains you may need a reservation.

Someone may know how to do it, but that particular journey looks extremely difficult to me. I'm guessing that it involves a detour inland and then coming back out to somewhere like Murcia and then getting a cercanias train to Alicante. Unfortunately the RENFE site is really unhelpful in that it will only tell you the direct trains. So you need to know your route and then get the train times for each link.

If it's any help the line between Alicante and Benidorm is operated by Tram Alicante who do have a helpful website. so at least that bit is feasible.

http://www.tramalicante.es/wordpress_en/?page_id=23
 
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xilios

xilios

Veteran
Location
Maastricht, NL
Thank you for the reply, I will check out the link.
We're still in the planning stages of our tour next month, Porto to Benidorm.
Plan A is from Porto to Benidorm cycling inland in a straight line.
Plan B is to cycle Porto Lisbon than Benidorm. Easier but a bit boring (long empty roads in the middle of nowhere) and difficult to find camping's inland.
Plan C is to hug the coastline all the way to Gibraltar continuing along the coast until we run out of time and take the train the rest of the way. We fear the coastal road in Southern Spain would not be pleasant to ride on.
Plan D, hug the coastline to Seville than on to Granada, Murcia and finally Benidorm. A bit more challenging but we feel it's the best option so far.
 

andym

Über Member
Plan C is to hug the coastline all the way to Gibraltar continuing along the coast until we run out of time and take the train the rest of the way. We fear the coastal road in Southern Spain would not be pleasant to ride on.
Plan D, hug the coastline to Seville than on to Granada, Murcia and finally Benidorm. A bit more challenging but we feel it's the best option so far.

The TransAndalus is an excellent and well-documented route.

I meant to upload a map of the RENFE network for Andalucía.

Oh and I wouldn't plan the route on the basis of the availability of campsites. You'd be better off leaving your camping kit at home: away from the tourist areas there are plenty of cheap hotels and pensiones where you can get a room for 20 euros or so. (I know that for a Dutch person this is tantamount to suggesting that the Pope isn't Catholic :smile:).
 

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xilios

xilios

Veteran
Location
Maastricht, NL
Thanks for the replies. We plan to cycle along the Portuguese coast from Porto to Faro so we will take our camping gear along. We like cycling along the Ocean (we don't have one near Maastricht :-) besides we just love camping.
The problem is/was camping inland of Spain, but if you are right (€20 a night) wow! we shouldn't have to worry much.
We'll also look into Warmshowers and Airbnb.
Was just wandering that if we run out of time if it was possible to take the train.
Oh I've checked Feve trains, seems they are specialized narrow gauge and only in Northern Spain, we are only interested in the South this time.
 

MarkF

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
Feve local trains take bikes.

That's a beautiful rail line, I did Gijon to Bilbao on it, wonderful.

I've used trains with a bike all over Spain and without a problem, metro, local short/medium distance. But I've never used the Talgo train (fast long distance) and I think that is where bike problems lie. The trains are very cycle friendly, some lines have lower floors in the cycle carriage and an automatic step than lowers on arrival to that you can just wheel in and out, nice.:smile:

Agree with Andy, no point in camping in Spain unless you really want to, rooms are very cheap, especially above bars where they may not be visibly advertised, ask.
 
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albal

Guru
Location
Dorset
Currently in Gibraltar, heading up to Cadiz. I camped in Ronda,Antequera if that helps.
Slightly off topic but anyone have experience of turning up at Pto Santa Maria port to take ferry to Tenerife? Their web page is not helpful.
 
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xilios

xilios

Veteran
Location
Maastricht, NL
That's a beautiful rail line, I did Gijon to Bilbao on it, wonderful.

I've used trains with a bike all over Spain and without a problem, metro, local short/medium distance. But I've never used the Talgo train (fast long distance) and I think that is where bike problems lie. The trains are very cycle friendly, some lines have lower floors in the cycle carriage and an automatic step than lowers on arrival to that you can just wheel in and out, nice.:smile:

Agree with Andy, no point in camping in Spain unless you really want to, rooms are very cheap, especially above bars where they may not be visibly advertised, ask.

Thanks for the tips Mark.
 

MarkF

Guru
Location
Yorkshire
Thanks for the tips Mark.

No problem, I am sure you;ll be fine on any train but the Talgo's.

Route A & B look good to me and don't write off Extremadura as "nowhere", that area has provided the highlights of my Spanish tours. Those routes will provide very relaxing cycling, often on largely empty roads.
 
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