One way + pickup home leg? (aka Bike Express alternatives)

[ActiveCampers]

Hi

We like cycling somewhere, but not so much the cycle home. So used Bike Express a few years ago when we cycled to the med (via the French canals & rivers) and will be using them again this year when we go more direct to the med.

But, BE only seem to pick up in France and sometimes Spain. OK some pickups are on the eastern French borders.

Are there any other companies or alternatives that do similar pickups and return to the UK from other countries? We'd love to cycle to Berlin/Dresden or Prague, or Venice etc and get driven home afterwards.

Don't really want to faff with packing bikes for planes, or squeeze on overbooked trains

Thanks

 

[snorri]

Don't really want to faff with packing bikes for planes, or squeeze on overbooked trains

I don't think you should write off the train option.
I've used the train from Prague to Dresden, (Vienna-Hamburg service) and it was wunderbar, both bicycle and I travelled in comfort, there was no squeezing, I just went to the station ticket office in Prague and booked tickets on the next available train, 'twas a joy.

 

[rich p]

It's asking a lot for there to be such a service. It would be hard to make money from such a random selection of possible cities which is why BE trimmed back their own services.
You could fly to wherever you choose and ride back.
I've managed to cope with the faff of flying back although, I agree, that it's not always easy.

 

[ActiveCampers]

lol - no - not asking for anything that specific.

Seeing if there is a pickup company pretty much anywhere else other than France. Anywhere in Italy or eastern Europe.

So a route can be set to go where we want to the pick up point.

No desire at all to bother flying, and the train is more about getting back to UK rather than internal - and the French trains can be hit n miss, and don't get me started on UK trains where despite booking we've almost been booted off as other people were in the bike space!

Bike express, guaranteed seat, safe/secure bike transport, and hassle free.

So looking for similar easy way home!

 

[robgul]

Other than Bike Express ( and a chap who does coach + trailer hire on a group/bespoke basis) I don't think there's anyone else in the business.

Trains aren't that much hassle in Europe - you just have to identify those that carry bikes and make bookings. Captain Train (sadly now part of Trainline, but still an excellent service) is your friend here . . . a lot of Europe's railways are covered and bike bookings are online. The Man in Seat 61 website has some information . . . but I have found a lot of the stuff relating to bikes to be out of date (perhaps he'd left his seat to go the buffet car!)

I would agree that BE is excellent for the reasons you give . . . it's not something I'd like to do too often but when needs must - to me it was like sitting in a turbo-prop airliner that starts along the runway at enormous revs but never takes off.

Rob

 

[reppans]

A Brompton has rekindled my interest in touring again - spontaneous one-way/multi-modal public transport being one of the major reasons. Love the total versatility, flexibility, and security of ultra-compact bicycle travel - being nearly the equivalent of a 2-item, wheeled-carry-on air traveler gives you lots of options.

 

[steveindenmark]

Just wondered about your comment about having no desire at all to fly. We fly often with Ryanair with our bikes. It is a total doddle and so much easier than trying to get across europe by train. As well as being cheaper and faster.

 

[ActiveCampers]

Brompton is a novel solution!

Why no desire to fly? When I looked at it, the hassle of getting a box/bag, then high risk of damage to bike were the main reasons. We'd not have capacity to carry bags etc.

If I'm wrong on that, I'd love to hear more!

 

[ActiveCampers]

Well done for being reluctant to fly if there are alternatives. Flying is very bad news for the planet.

We make up flying to SE Asia backpacking and driving a diesel camper van 1000s of miles around Europe as well.

The environment has nothing to do with it I'm afraid.

 

[Brains]

We have toured in Germany many times.
The train is the solution. fast, easy, cheap(ish)
(We always use the Harwich/Hook ferry, it means you can be in Germany in time for a late breakfast

 

[ActiveCampers]

We have toured in Germany many times.
The train is the solution. fast, easy, cheap(ish)
(We always use the Harwich/Hook ferry, it means you can be in Germany in time for a late breakfast

Thanks

So cycling to, say, Berlin or Dresden (from UK) - its easy to get back to the Hook by train? Or Amsterdam - any excuse for a few more days there

Our only experience of bikes on train is UK where the 125s are f***ing awful - no time to get bikes on and secured before being shouted at, then when getting the bikes off finding 20 bikes thrown in on top. And the other smaller trains with people sitting/standing in the bike areas refusing to move, or even other bikes in there. Each time being booked. And that's not including cancellations and being stranded !

 

[ActiveCampers]

Nope. Last couple of years.
Last time we cycled to the med we got train from Westbury (or Trowbridge) to Portsmouth. Was commute type train but not rush hour. Had to argue with guard who wanted to evict us as we were blocking walk way, despite having reservations and our places being blocked by others

Cycled around Brittany, way back the trains all cancelled from Portsmouth - eventually got one but it was a saga.

Westbury to Penzance we were told the bike storage was the wrong end of the train, cue running to correct side and we were being shouted at before bikes were even put in engine area. Then we still had to get our bags and on the train. Was a f***ing nightmare. Getting out bikes, one was on the floor and one was under a pile of other bikes.

Last time back from London after being droppef off by bike express, the 125s from Paddington to Bristol were all cancelled. Then one ticket guy said "you could've taken that train" that had just left, despite being told we could not as our pre booked ticket wasn't valid. 2-3hrs at Paddington trying to get a decent answer and eventually got a train, bikes had to be piled on, and standing all the way back.

That was last 3 years, all pre booked with bikes.

Hence this year, we are cycling to the ferry port and back from London - both +2 days to the trip, but quicker than the train!

Can't risk the train to get somewhere for the ferry, and can't face the hassle when trying to get home.

PS - I'm normally not *that* unlucky!

 

[ActiveCampers]

lol.
I actually stand corrected by my memory, had to look at my own blog for the train back from Portsmouth. It was strike action.

"The biggest nightmare was the journey back. 10:30 ferry, docked 18:30, and then we got to the station to get the train back – and the FGW gits were on strike. I mean – we’re used to the French going on strike, but this really was unexpected and caused us grief. Meaning a nightmare train journey via Basingstoke and Salisbury on a full train without enough space for bikes – was a ****** nightmare. Having limped on the last train back – we then had to cycle 7 miles home without lights along the canal… Suffice to say we didn’t get wet – but reiterates the home-France and France-home bits are the worst. "​

So yeah - blotted from mind. And yeah - put us off UK trains as part of a holiday.

 

[Bodhbh]

I don't drive and the OH/family are 200 miles away so are alway taking bikes on the train. I've never had all these problems! In fact only twice I haven't got a bike on a train - cos it was so full it physically wasn't possible. First was Newark to Grimsby on Christmas Eve. The train was at 5pm and there was 1 carriage. The other time was a similar deal one of the Bank Hols along the N Wales coast.

Last time we cycled to the med we got train from Westbury (or Trowbridge) to Portsmouth. Was commute type train but not rush hour. Had to argue with guard who wanted to evict us as we were blocking walk way, despite having reservations and our places being blocked by others...

That service is a fekkin disgrace. It links Cardiff-Bristol-Bath-Salisbury-Southampton-Portsmouth.... so the capital of Wales and the biggest cities in the South, bar London. And it's a 3 carriage clapped out piece of crap. The last time I was on it it wasn't even a modern train, some period piece that belonged on the Metropolitan line circa 1973 with no loos and the seats facing each other.

 

[Brains]

Do not confuse the Train system of most of the rest of northern Europe with the 'service' we get in the UK

Everyone else has a better, faster, cheaper service that is actually designed to be bike friendly (excluding the TGV/ICE express trains)