Hi all,
I’m considering buying a Eurail pass to support my bikepacking trip next year when I need to go farther/faster on some legs on my journey. Reading through the forums, I see that every country/train is different when it comes to bike space and it will be a case by case basis. Is it still worth getting the Eurail pass and then work out the bike complications as I go? Thanks for your time!
Best answer by BrendanDB
There is a new European directive that states that every new train must have 8 bike places minimum. This doesn’t mean that every train has bike places, since directives usually come because there’s a lack of something ;) .
In General, in countries where you have a bike culture it’s quite easy. This is the case in the Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, but Switzerland and Austria most trains also have some bike places. Most regional trains in France have bikespaces as well. Long distance traffic -high speed traffic (TGV) is annoying to bring your bike, you almost always have to disassemble it (France-Eurostar).
The newer the train, the more easy it gets. Mostly your bike will have a place in the disabled area of the train.
In a lot of smaller stations, accessibility can be a problem. But usually bikepackers are fit enough for a bit of hassle up and down stairs.
These bike places are limited, and almost every country has different rules on bringing your bike. Mostly this comes with an extra cost, sometimes mandatory reservations, sometimes it’s forbidden to bring your bike on trains on rush hour, sometimes you need to ask it to the ticket inspector… Really dependent from country to country, operator to operator and type of train.
But without an exact idea of where you going, it’s difficult to give you concrete indications.
For Belgium: you can check your train-bike trips on this website: https://bikeontrain.belgiantrain.be/en?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=belgiantrain&utm_campaign=static&utm_content=cta_en_highlight
How long is a piece of string?
As you yourself state, impossible to answer with just these vague indications.
IN practice most bikers go to a certain area and tour around there-those who really want to carry the bike around all over EUR are extremely, extremely rare, so there will also be no reports. Except maybe perhaps who knows in some very specialist bikers-central sources.
IF you really want-get a bike that is easy to disassemble, as most likely you cannot escape the need to do so for long distance.
This question is impossible to answer without more details. Where do you plan to travel? What routes do you plan to use the train for?
You will probably get better info from the individual operators. They all have comprehensive FAQs.
+8There is a new European directive that states that every new train must have 8 bike places minimum. This doesn’t mean that every train has bike places, since directives usually come because there’s a lack of something ;) .
In General, in countries where you have a bike culture it’s quite easy. This is the case in the Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, but Switzerland and Austria most trains also have some bike places. Most regional trains in France have bikespaces as well. Long distance traffic -high speed traffic (TGV) is annoying to bring your bike, you almost always have to disassemble it (France-Eurostar).
The newer the train, the more easy it gets. Mostly your bike will have a place in the disabled area of the train.
In a lot of smaller stations, accessibility can be a problem. But usually bikepackers are fit enough for a bit of hassle up and down stairs.
These bike places are limited, and almost every country has different rules on bringing your bike. Mostly this comes with an extra cost, sometimes mandatory reservations, sometimes it’s forbidden to bring your bike on trains on rush hour, sometimes you need to ask it to the ticket inspector… Really dependent from country to country, operator to operator and type of train.
But without an exact idea of where you going, it’s difficult to give you concrete indications.
For Belgium: you can check your train-bike trips on this website: https://bikeontrain.belgiantrain.be/en?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=belgiantrain&utm_campaign=static&utm_content=cta_en_highlight
+8PS, some tips for your bike routing. If you want to plan your bikepacking route with .GPX, I usually start with this website: https://brouter.de/brouter-web/#map=6/50.451/11.667/standard
You can select your type of bike, and the planner guides you along pleasant streets and roads that are usually not infested with motorised traffic (in contrary to the suggestions of google maps).
Furhter more; you can always check https://www.warmshowers.org/ for accommodation. But that you might know already :)
In addition to this topic/question I was wondering if you guys could help me out by this very specific question regarding our idea of travelling to Italy (Naples) from The Netherlands (Rotterdam). I find it really difficult to find any FAQ or specific information about bringing your bike, which in our case is a unfoldable and loaded Bikepacking bike. We have travelled Europe before with an Eurail pass and that was quit easy but this ‘add on’ makes it a bit more challenging. Thanks for your help in advance!
Usually it is possible on the regional train and more seldom on the high speed trains. From what I could see you will need to stay over night somewhere unless you want to spend like 20 h sitting on different trains in a row.
+8In addition to this topic/question I was wondering if you guys could help me out by this very specific question regarding our idea of travelling to Italy (Naples) from The Netherlands (Rotterdam). I find it really difficult to find any FAQ or specific information about bringing your bike, which in our case is a unfoldable and loaded Bikepacking bike. We have travelled Europe before with an Eurail pass and that was quit easy but this ‘add on’ makes it a bit more challenging. Thanks for your help in advance!
Deze website heeft een degelijk en handig overzicht van wat je in Europa kunt verwachten / moet doen als je de fiets mee wil op de trein. https://showmethejourney.com/travel-info-and-tips/taking-a-bike-on-a-european-train/
Hoe dan ook is het ten zeerste aangeraden om via Duitsland, Zwitserland of Oostenrijk naar Italië te reizen, de spoorwegen zijn daar pakken fietsvriendelijker.
Al zul je wel af en toe gebonden blijven aan regionale treinen, toch zeker in Italië. Italiaanse hogesnelheidstreinen zijn niet zo fietsvriendelijk.
Thanks for your quick and usefull responses! Love the ideas and advices. Final question for me; Do you guys think this ticket would be sufficient for our needs? So can I make reservations through these apps / Rail operator services with the Eurrail pass in combination with our bikes?
Thanks again! Means the world :-D
+8Thanks for your quick and usefull responses! Love the ideas and advices. Final question for me; Do you guys think this ticket would be sufficient for our needs? So can I make reservations through these apps / Rail operator services with the Eurrail pass in combination with our bikes?
Thanks again! Means the world :-D
Of de Interrail pass voldoende is, bedoel je dan? (Eurail is enkel voor mensen die niet in Europa wonen).
Dat hangt af van jullie exacte reiswensen? Is het enkel H/T naar Napels? Dan zou je met een 4 dagen in een maand pas moeten toekomen.
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