Using Eurostar questions

[vernon]

I was at the point of booking ferries to and from Amsterdam as part of getting me and my bike to Passau when I decided to explore other land based options. It looks like a train to London then Paris then a city night line train to Munich and a regional train to Passau is much cheaper as faster. The downsides are that I won't have an opportunity to be reckless in Amsterdam and won't have access to the eat all you can buffets on the ferries.

Anyway to cut to the chase:

Question one. I intend to travel with my bike but booking tickets appear to be a lottery - purchase a train ticket first then contact another company to get the cycle ticket. What if there's no cycle spaces left - the cheap tickets that I want do do refunds?

Question two. How much time should I allow between arrival at Kings Cross Station and the Departure of Eurostar? Apparently I will have to check my bike in seperately and have my luggage checked.

Question three. Has anyone tried taking more than the two items of luggage on the train with out incurring surcharges? I will have a tent and four panniers to contend with.


BTW
I have looked at the London - Brussels - Amsterdam route by train but there's no cost advantage and might even be more expensive than the ferry option.

 

[Alberto]

If you're happy to remove the wheels off the bike, and put them in two big rubbish bags together with the frame, the bike can travel with you, unless you get on a rush hour train.

In response to your questions, when I travel with my bike from Paris to London, they could not guarantee that it would travel on the same train. They said to turn up two hours before departure. All these seem to inconvenient for me (on top of the fee) so I took the bike in two bags, plus two panniers, with me and no one asked any questions. So I do not think there will be any problems carrying four panniers and a tent.

Hope this helps

 

[Bodhbh]

I can't remember how I got around the chicken and the egg problem of the booking system. I think I just phoned the desk to check if there were bike spaces, then booked the ticket, then phoned right up again. The number they give is straight thru to the guys at physically at the dispach desk at SP, they might help you with the check-in time also.

If you book the first train in the morning, they ask you to bring the bike before they close the previous evening. This may or may not suit you better than checking it in immediately (there's a couple of hostels directly opposite the station, and not like there's a nothing to do in town). When you get to the other side, bike generally waiting for you with a handler on the platform.

I've never had any bother taking 4 panniers, a tent and a barbag on the train. PersonalIy don't think I'd risk doing it with that lot + the bike to avoid booking it. Not sure I'd be able to carry it anyhow - it would make nearly 35-40kg of pretty unmanagable load.

Other thing, I dunno if anyone else has had any bother, but you probably don't want to carry any Crocodile Dundee styles knifes. It's easy to forget they go thru security when mixed with all your other gear. I've had 1 taken off me b4 by Eurostar security.

 

[robgul]

Just ask Eurostar and/or Rail Europe (you'll pay a small premium to book on the phone rather than online - but at least you know where you are)

Other quick answers : Eurostar now has a "wheel your bike on" facility (rather than the previous "it may be on another train") and Kings X to St Pancras is about 3 minutes!

Rob

 

[Alun]

The man in seat 61 will have the answer! www.seat61.com/
I'm hoping to travel to Grenoble via Eurostar and TGV, taking the bike in a bike bag it just become another piece of luggage, I have not seen anything about restrictions the amount of luggage that can be taken, I'll be taking 2 panniers. Allow an extra 30 mins to board the Eurostar, apparently.

 

[psmiffy]

Ive used it the once – Took the first train out on a Saturday morning to Paris –plan was to tourist in Paris then head out south – The bike and panniers went as separate luggage –they had to be at the luggage place by 1930 the night before so that they could be loaded on the train – cost was about £50 but as I had a first class ticket for less than the price of the single that I had budgeted for it wasn’t an issue to me - bike just went as it was with a label and the panniers I taped together to make a couple of parcels.
The first night of my holiday was a wander around central London – something I had not done since living there years ago - then back to the train and a kip to Paris – Luggage place was easy to find and within 20minutes I was loaded and had found my first café in Paris for some decent coffee. A long morning’s touristing in Paris then South.

 

[vernon]

The man in seat 61 will have the answer! www.seat61.com/
I'm hoping to travel to Grenoble via Eurostar and TGV, taking the bike in a bike bag it just become another piece of luggage, I have not seen anything about restrictions the amount of luggage that can be taken, I'll be taking 2 panniers. Allow an extra 30 mins to board the Eurostar, apparently.

Other quick answers : Eurostar now has a "wheel your bike on" facility (rather than the previous "it may be on another train") and Kings X to St Pancras is about 3 minutes!
Rob

What might be a straight forward three minute walk might well turn out to be considerably longer when it appears that:
The bike has to be booked in and handed over
Bags have to be carried after stripping the bike of them.
Bags have to be checked/scanned
Train located and entered

The question becomes if the train leaves at a given time - how much time should I allow for the check in process?

I know about the wheel your bike on facility apart from the fact it isn't me that wheels the bike on - it has to be handed over to handlers.

The man in seat 61 will have the answer! www.seat61.com/
I'm hoping to travel to Grenoble via Eurostar and TGV, taking the bike in a bike bag it just become another piece of luggage, I have not seen anything about restrictions the amount of luggage that can be taken, I'll be taking 2 panniers. Allow an extra 30 mins to board the Eurostar, apparently.

Believe me 'The man in seat 61' has had a thorough interrogation.

The Eurostar site lists the baggage allowance and also lists prohibited items. Two panniers and a bike are within the limits. Four panniers and a tent are outside of the published limits.

 

[TheDoctor]

It's not as hard as all that.
Bag the bike - that's both wheels off, saddle down and bars twisted.
Check in at St Pancreas at least 30 minutes before the train goes. Luggage is scanned after you've checked in, so you don't need to allow extra time for it.
Stick all the gear on a luggage rack.
Kings Cross to St P is a bugger of a walk if you're carrying a bike in a bag though.
Locating the train is no problem - you get told which platform it's on, and the staff won't let you on the wrong one. Minimum check in time is on the ticket - but it's 30 mins, except for ski trains (where it's longer) or full-price first class (ie business class) tickets, where it's shorter.
As has been said - seat61.com has the full info. Mark Smith knows his stuff.

 

[rich p]

Are you taking the bike to StP already bagged or do they accept built bikes? If the former, then geting from there to Kings Cross is going to be a bit tricky, Vernon.
I've had panniers clingfilmed together at airports for a few quid and they make a clingfilm handle which means they're a lot easier to carry. Then you're only carrying 2 items plus a tent. I'm not sure if that's available but possibly a DIY solution.
One year, to circumvent the Easyjet One bag rule, I put all the panniers into a cheap (£10) nylon holdall for the trip.

 

[TheDoctor]

Luggage trolley. Even if you lose the pound deposit it'll save a shedload of cursing.
Even a 9kg carbon roadbike suddenly weighs as much as a small baby elephant once it's bagged up, for some reason...

 

[rich p]

Luggage trolley. Even if you lose the pound deposit it'll save a shedload of cursing.
Even a 9kg carbon roadbike suddenly weighs as much as a small baby elephant once it's bagged up, for some reason...

Will they let you traipse around the streets with a trolley between the 2 stations?

 

[TheDoctor]

I've just spotted that you'll be taking panniers and camping gear
I'd be tempted to book it on as-is, which will cost £30 each way. I'd allow rather more than 30 minutes - more like a couple of hours, to allow for your train being late into Kings Cross and that sort of thing. I suspect the Eurostar luggage people can tell you if the train you're thinking of booking has space - you can't be the first person to have had this problem.
The German sleeper trains can accomodate bikes as-is. I've been on one (to Berlin, not Munich, but it's the same rolling stock) and the bike carraige was clearly marked.
One warning - the food on the sleeper wasn't great. Eat in Paris if you can. There's a nice brasserie at the Gare De l'Est.

 

[TheDoctor]

Will they let you traipse around the streets with a trolley between the 2 stations?

Yes. I've done it. There's a way out of KX near platforms 9,10,and 11, walk across the concrete, cross over a road and into St P. Don't go along the Euston Road, as this will be a pain in the bottom.

 

[vernon]

Thanks for all of the advice folks this is my plan.

• I'll be catching a train to London with bike and panniers + tent.
• Something will happen between Kings Cross and St Pancras - could be an overnight stay could be a gentle walk I don't want it to be a 45 minute trial of my panic glands.
• I intend to have the bike wheeled on and off the train that I travel on - £30 each way is worth the hassle saved of partial stripping and bagging up and the reverse process at Paris.
• Something will happen between getting off at Paris and catching the CityNight line train - could be an overnight stay or a bit of sight seeing.
• Catch the citynightline to Munich
• Catch a regional train between Munich and Passau or Ulm -yet to be decided.

The only stage that is new to me is catching Eurostar and all that entails.

Thanks Rich P for the tip for 'double bagging' I have a large holdall that will hold the tent and the front panniers. I'll tape the rear panniers together to make a single bag. Problem solved.

Doctor - I intend to eat in Paris before departure. It would be criminal not to. I didn't eat on the sleeper from Munich to Amsterdam last year - the food was less than appealing.

 

[TheDoctor]

If you're on / wheeling the bike then KX - St P is a 5 minute amble. Gare du Nord - Gare De l'Est is hardly any further. It took me under ten minutes, and I had to get the Brommie out of its bag and unfold it.