I got some good advice on an earlier thread - which I'm sure I'll be updating soon with more questions about kit for family touring. But now I'm trying to unravel the issues about taking a family of 4, 1 tandem, 2 bikes, a trailer and a load of panniers on trains!
I think we will be doing trains:
1. Home to London
2. London to Paris
3. Paris to Karlsruhe
4. Karlsruhe to Donaueschingen.
On the way back it will be:
1. Passau to Munich
2. Munich to Paris.
3. Paris to London.
4. London to Home.
(I checked out ferries, btw, but they were more expensive than Eurostar, and it's much more difficult for us to get from home to Harwich.)
I've checked out all the rules and I think our tandem (Hase Pino) will be treated like a normal bike if we remove the front boom, so that makes things a lot easier on the trains. BUT....
What do you do with all the other gear? The rules for Eurostar are 2 medium-sized pieces of luggage. Even without those rules, we are likely to have a bunch of panniers (6?) and a Bob trailer. And I'm trying to figure out how my husband and I will manage just carrying around that many pieces of luggage on and off trains etc. The children are 8 and 10, so they can help get a pannier or two on or off the train but not a great deal of use.
Does anyone have any amazing tips about how to handle this?
I think we will be doing trains:
1. Home to London
2. London to Paris
3. Paris to Karlsruhe
4. Karlsruhe to Donaueschingen.
On the way back it will be:
1. Passau to Munich
2. Munich to Paris.
3. Paris to London.
4. London to Home.
(I checked out ferries, btw, but they were more expensive than Eurostar, and it's much more difficult for us to get from home to Harwich.)
I've checked out all the rules and I think our tandem (Hase Pino) will be treated like a normal bike if we remove the front boom, so that makes things a lot easier on the trains. BUT....
What do you do with all the other gear? The rules for Eurostar are 2 medium-sized pieces of luggage. Even without those rules, we are likely to have a bunch of panniers (6?) and a Bob trailer. And I'm trying to figure out how my husband and I will manage just carrying around that many pieces of luggage on and off trains etc. The children are 8 and 10, so they can help get a pannier or two on or off the train but not a great deal of use.
Does anyone have any amazing tips about how to handle this?