Category: Cycling

Taking your bicycle on the train through France

From Paris to Nice

The night train south through France is one of Europe’s last true travel pleasures.  Boarding in the cool evening, in a bustling city still in “work mode”, and then effortlessly the world just gradually tilts. The lights fade. The carriage hums. The long black windows become mirrors. You fall asleep and when morning comes you’re in a different place! Your train is taking you along the Côte d’Azur, the French Riviera dressed in sunlight. A series of bays and headlands overlook the beautiful blue sea. The hills are dotted with old pastel coloured villages and bougainvillea climbs sandy coloured walls. No wonder artists like Matisse, Monet, and Renoir made it their home. 

No, I wasn’t travelling in style like Hercule Poirot on board  “Le Train Bleu” as described by Agatha Christie, in the book The Mystery of the Blue Train but just 2nd Class and no sleeping compartment. All the same there is a sense of adventure and magic about a night train.

Planning a long train journey with bikes that are ‘fully assembled’ is quite a challenge whether in the UK or in Europe especially with the heavier electric bikes. Generally, you can’t go on TGV as they require you to disassemble the bike and, and have it packed away.

The journey I had planned was to go from the south of France to the north of France by bicycle. Many people said, why don’t you just cycle down and then you’ve got the wonderful Mediterranean when you arrive there. But I didn’t want to have the train journey before me after I’d done the cycling. I knew I would be tired, so I wanted to be near home at the end of my journey by bike.

The other reason I decided to get the train journey out of the way before I started cycling was that I didn’t know how difficult it would be to travel via the French Intercités de Nuit train. They advertise the service as taking fully assembled bikes, but most of these trains are the old style with very narrow doorways into the carriage. If there were difficulties, I wanted to have plenty of time to get my bike on the train by arriving early so I could fiddle around and even possibly twist the handlebars around to get the bike on board.

You might say this is all a lot of faffing around, just to get to the start of a journey and is just too much hassle. But to me, it’s part of the holiday and it’s cheap, especially if you have a Carte Avantage Senior (for over 60’s) offering 30% off. The crossing from Newhaven to Dieppe was cheap too with 20% off for seniors!  

The journey from the UK Nice to Mediterranean coast

The journey down to the south of France by train and ferry was remarkably easy. The total journey time was about 48 hours with two stopovers, –  one in Paris and one on the night train south. The journey splits into 3 stages:

England to France

I left home about 7 am, crossed by ferry to Dieppe from Newhaven and took the train to Paris arriving about 6:30 pm.

Taking your bike on the train to Paris, changin at Rouen on the TER trains is relatively easy, –  no need to book at most times throughout the year. No ‘hook’ your bike up. If you were travelling from Portsmouth to Le Havre you have the advantage of a direct train to Paris.

At Paris 

As I arrived in Paris by 6:30 pm I could have taken the chance and crossed to the Gare d’Austerlitz, where the night train leaves for Nice at about 8:30 pm, but If anything had delayed me on route to Paris I would have missed a train south. The safer option was to stay the night in Paris and become a tourist for the day taking the night train the next day. The Ibis hotel near the Gare Lazare kindly stored my bike for the whole day. Hotels in France are generally very helpful with bicycles.

Crossing Paris is a lot easier now as the route alongside the River Seine is car-free. Leave the hotel following the cycle path down to the River Seine and then a very pleasant cycle ride all the way past Notre Dame to the Gare d’Austerlitz, (near the Gare de Lyon). 

The night train south to the mediterranean coast via the Intercités de Nuit

Even though I had a booking, I wanted to arrive early for the night train to make sure I could get my bike on the old-style French train. There were three steps up to the train from the platform, (more difficult with the heavier electric bike). Being an old-style train, there were narrow doorways but with help we ‘wriggled’ the bike through. Unfortunately, to get the bike into the actual bike compartment required passing through another bi-fold door, a very awkward narrow gap, but I managed it with the help of others. The reserved cycle compartment took only four bikes to be hung on hooks. Not easy with the heavier electric bikes but again with the help of others the bike was finally put in position. Actually, I needn’t have worried about putting the bike on the hook because when others joined the train they just parked the bike in the space that was available rather than go to the trouble of hanging on the hook! 

The train leaves Paris about 9:30 pm and arrives in Nice the next morning at just after 8 am. 

I recommend having a meal before you depart. You can then settle in and get some sleep overnight. I travelled second class and didn’t choose a sleeping compartment. Ear muffs so that you can get some sleep.

We could have got off the train at Cannes to commence our journey north, but the stopping time was only two or three minutes and we had a lot of luggage and it was difficult to get the bikes in and out of the train. So by going to the end of the line at Nice we had plenty of time to get the bikes and our luggage off the train. Yes, it meant cycling along the coast to Cannes to start our journey, but I foresaw that wasn’t going to be a hardship. It was only a short distance and added to the enjoyment of the trip. 

Train & ferry journey costs:

From the UK to the South of France the total cost was  €72 plus the hotel cost in Paris:

• £35 for the ferry crossing (including the 20% seniors discount, only available by phone booking or at the port). 
• Less than €17 to Paris with my SNCF Carte Avantage Senior travel card. Other cards are available such as the Carte Avantage Jeune for 12 to 27 year olds or with 20% off Interrail in most cases.
• €25 from Paris to Nice via the Intercité de Nuit. Prices start from €19 per single journey. 

Planning a journey by train with your bicycle

Planning a train journey with bikes that are fully assembled can be a challenge. Hopefully the following will make in easier:

TER Trains

In previous trips I have learned to look out for the regional trains, – ‘TER’ (Transport Express Régional).  You can travel quite a long way on TER trains. Normally you don’t need to book a place for your bike but in peak season it may be necessary. Check when you book your advance ticket.  

Here are examples of TER train bike compartments:

‘Intercités’ and ‘Intercités de Nuit’ trains 

The ‘Intercités’ trains also allow fully assembled bikes for a fee. Check out the French national railways (SNCF) website for more info and the INTERCITÉS train website

For night trains check out the SNCF web site for night trains to the Hautes-Alpes, the Pyrenees or the Occitanie region.

TGV trains

While a few TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) trains will now carry fully assembled bikes, on most TGV trains your bike has to be packed in a bag no larger than 90 by 130 cm.

However if you book ahead you might be able to take your fully assembled bike on either the INOUI TGV or OUIGO Train Classique trains.  Checkout the SNCF website. 

Europe by bike

Finally, check out the website ‘The Man in Seat 61‘ for a guide to taking your bike by train from the UK through mainland Europe

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