Getting back from Barcelona

[patheticshark]

I can't drive, unfortunately.

Sending the bike back and flying is an option, but I think I'd rather ride back up the coast - I might actually be able to get on the Bike Express now I've got a few extra days.

 

[andym]

When you say 'rather not fly' does that mean 'with the bike' or just rather not fly at all ?

I'd suggest flying back and send the bike as freight.
or
Training back using the TGV's and sending the bike as freight

TGV is the way to travel, but they will not permit bikes unless you can get it into a normal sized suitcase.
If you have a decent touring bike and you intend on doing regular 'bike in normal suitcase' travel then it's worh looking at getting S&S couplings fitted to the frame.

It simply isn't true that you can only take a bike on a TGV in a normal size suitcase. I have travelled across France on TGVs with bike bags more than half a dozen times. My Ground Effect Tardis fits perfectly in the luggage racks on TGVs (hence my advice to patheticshark). People also carry larger bags (although it could make it more difficult to find spaces) there are spaces where you can put them without them blocking the aisles. There are aslo luggage compartments (at least on some designs of TGVs) which the train manager may let you use. (and it's important to emphasis that there are bike carriage facilities on most trains on the TGV Est, Nord and Ouest. The only branch that presents a problem is the original Sud-Est line down to Avignon and Marseille etc.

patheticshark - SFAIK (it's been a long time since I've travelled on it). There is a Corail (ie non-TGV service) from Toulouse to Paris. I don't know whether it has . It might be worth checking out: although in all honesty riding back to Toulouse or Bordeaux seems like an awful lot of time and trouble simply to avoid buying a bike bag.


PS And if anyone does know of a way to send a bike back from France etc without it costing an arm and a leg, please do pass on the information.

 

[patheticshark]

Now considering using regional trains from Barcelona to Santander to get the ferry as it's quite cheap. But I'm struggling with working where regional trains go from and to - can't find a rail map that's not just high speed anywhere. Anyone have any advice?

edit: ignore me, being an idiot, routes are on the Renfe site. Still, any tips appreciated.

 

[patheticshark]

Just in case anyone else ever needs to go from Barcelona to Santander on bike friendly trains, here's a way I think will work. Though I expect there is a way of doing it in less than 3 days!

Day 1: Barcelona to Zaragoza: 8.47 to 14.23 on R Express

Day 2: Zaragoza to Logrono: 6.30 to 8.38 on R Express

Logrono to Burgos – 16.06 to 17.50 on a Talgo

Burgos to Palencia – 20.20 to 21.14 on R express

Day 3: Palencia to Santander – 10.26 to 13.34 on Regional

 

[delport]

Just in case anyone else ever needs to go from Barcelona to Santander on bike friendly trains, here's a way I think will work. Though I expect there is a way of doing it in less than 3 days!

Day 1: Barcelona to Zaragoza: 8.47 to 14.23 on R Express

Day 2: Zaragoza to Logrono: 6.30 to 8.38 on R Express

Logrono to Burgos – 16.06 to 17.50 on a Talgo

Burgos to Palencia – 20.20 to 21.14 on R express

Day 3: Palencia to Santander – 10.26 to 13.34 on Regional

I think that just looks a bit too slow, is there any guarantee you'll even get the bike on all of those regional trains?
If not may'be look at tgv again.
To travel from the bottom of France to the top can be done in a day, barcelona up to the french border is something like 100+ miles.
As i said you can do the whole lot in a single day but it would be a long day with a very early start.

Die bahn is still the best website i can think of for european train travel.I Have done around 25 000 to 30 000 miles on european trains ,so had to do a lot of searching on die bahn.

barcelona to zaragoza is quicker than that i think, using the quick service, 2 hours or something.

I'll have to go through this type of thinking for my Gibraltar trip as i have no plans to cycle portsmouth-gibraltar and all the way back to portsmouth.

You should also be able to get the train right along the basque coast, i stayed in Biarritz, southern France, the spanish border isn't that far away [30 miles i think], a train goes to Irun from Biarritz, then other trains [including a train that looks like the ones on london underground] go along to san sebastian, which has amazing beaches, after that you have Bilbao where the guggenheim is.
Bilbao to santander [around 58 miles apart] must be possible, hugging the coastline.
The services in this area aren't all that fast mind you, it's still not a 3 day tour though.

 

[patheticshark]

I've bitten the bullet and bought a ferry ticket from Santander to Plymouth - my parents don't live far from Plymouth, so it's a good reason to go visit them and get a decent meal once I get back in the country (and hopefully a lift from the ferry terminal, heh) and the ticket's only 80 quid, and I felt like I should just make a decision at least about what country I was leaving from...

You're right about the trains being long and risky though; the internet reckons bikes on them are fine but it may well be wrong (hence picking ones with big gaps between). I'm still experimenting with options, though; the only thing I'm kind of committed to now is getting to Santander, but I've got a couple of days to get there from Barcelona.

I really like the idea of going to Bilbao - in fact I was thinking on the way down of getting the train to Bordeaux and then riding down through Biarritz and San Sebastian to Bilbao, before I realised the train complications would mean I don't think I'll have time to do that.

I'll keep playing with Die Bahn, if it could actually tell me how to get to places on trains that carry bikes without giving me an error message that would be magnificent.

 

[andym]

I think that just looks a bit too slow, is there any guarantee you'll even get the bike on all of those regional trains?
If not may'be look at tgv again.
To travel from the bottom of France to the top can be done in a day, barcelona up to the french border is something like 100+ miles.
As i said you can do the whole lot in a single day but it would be a long day with a very early start.

Die bahn is still the best website i can think of for european train travel.I Have done around 25 000 to 30 000 miles on european trains ,so had to do a lot of searching on die bahn.

barcelona to zaragoza is quicker than that i think, using the quick service, 2 hours or something.
The services in this area aren't all that fast mind you, it's still not a 3 day tour though.

The fast Barcelona-Zaragoza train is less than an hour and a half, but it's an AVE - so no bikes even in a bag (at least that's the official rule). 5 hours plus.


No it's not a t3-day journey - this is probably the longest and most time-consuming option you could possibly contrive - but there's nothing wrong with taking the scenic route.


I've set off from Marseille at 8am and been in London before four that afternoon. But to do that you need a bag

You're right about the trains being long and risky though; the internet reckons bikes on them are fine but it may well be wrong (hence picking ones with big gaps between).

I'll keep playing with Die Bahn, if it could actually tell me how to get to places on trains that carry bikes without giving me an error message that would be magnificent.

Taking the regional trains is longer but there's nothing particularly risky about them. Just make sure that you get a ticket for your bike (in most cases you will need one).

IME the Deutsche Bahn site doesn't work for Spain - I think this is because RENFE's own site doesn't identify which trains have bike carriage facilities. So I wouldn't waste your time.

 

[delport]

If you want a bit of tourist enjoyment out of the process i would do san sebastian, and bilbao, there are other beaches in the basque region.

Bilbao is mainly known for the guggenheim, it looks like an ordinary town apart from that.

I went to san sebastian for the afternoon on the train, and i stayed in Bilbao for a few days, i went to the guggenheim as i'm interested in that type of stuff.Bilbao is a less radical place than i thought it would be, i thought it would look nothing like the rest of Spain.

To poster andym ,that is pretty impressive getting from Marseille to london in 8 hours.

 

[ChrisBailey]

I know you may not want to fly but at the end of May you can get a flight with Easyjet for 70 Euros including bike and baggage.

I've got the identical issue. I'm cycling from Bayonne (Bike Express drop off) to Barcelona in September and have decided to find a bike shop in Barcelona to box my bike up. I booked the Easyjet flight back to Gatwick + Bike for €85.

Chris

 

[dellzeqq]

http://www.sncf.com/en_EN/html/medi...cle-touring/MD0705_20070613-Read-article.html

http://www.sncf.com/en_EN/html/medi...cle-touring/MD0705_20070613-Read-article.html

You can take the bike on TEOZ trains. These are slow, but cheap. You can make your way back to Paris from Perpignan http://www.corailteoz.com/ which is about 200km from Barcelona - and I imagine that you could take the bike on a local train from Barcelona Sants to Girona or even Figueres, or even the border (I've take a train from Argeles to Barcelona, changing at the border.

This all takes a bit of finding out, and I don't think Rail Europe are going to be much use. You could try the SNCF office in Piccadilly

 

[andym]

This all takes a bit of finding out, and I don't think Rail Europe are going to be much use. You could try the SNCF office in Piccadilly

They're actually the same people (OK maybe not literally the same people but Rail Europe are SNCF in the UK by another name). I've found them helpful and knowledgeable - you have to pay a booking fee (£5???) if you want to use their operators rather than booking on the website, but their expertise/knowledge may well be worth paying for if you're journey isn't straightforward.