Carrying bikes on trains in Germany and France
I recently took a train from Berlin to Toulouse (17h train ride!) with my bike, two panniers, and a backpack to do a bike trip across the south of France. Bringing a bike on trains can be a complicated business and there are a few things I’ve learned along the way.
Rules and fees regarding bikes on trains differ depending on the country, region, and the type of train you’re taking. Here are the ones I took:
- ICE (German fast train)
- RE (German regional train)
- TGV (French fast train)
- TER (French regional train)
The train ticket #
I had originally planned to fly to Toulouse instead of taking the train which would’ve been faster and cheaper. (KLM offered return tickets at 200 EUR for the next day and 55 EUR/one-way for an extra bike baggage option.) But for this additional baggage option, you have to reserve a space 48h in advance which would’ve been fine except for this time: I wanted to leave the next day. This left me with an option I had always been curious about but had been too lazy to take - the train.
Since it was a last-minute decision, booking a normal train ticket seemed rather expensive which made me opt for the Interrail Global Pass. This magic pass lets you travel on almost any public transport in Europe for a specific number of days within a certain period. (Interrail tickets are for European residents and for non-residents and tourists, the equivalent is a Eurail pass.) The caveat to Interrail tickets is that you can only use your pass for one outbound/inbound day each within the country of residence, something I found out only later.
I went for the 4-days/month Interrail Global Pass and indulged myself in the first-class seat option (a whooping 328 EUR!) because a colleague of mine told me that it’s very worth it. I come to regret this later on. The ticket costs vary according to your age and it was a bummer to find out that I was no longer eligible for the ‘Youth’ pass (- 27 years old) since a month ago.
It took me minutes to buy the pass, download the app Rail Planner and plan my trip on the app. Buying the pass doesn’t require using it immediately and it can be activated anytime in the proceeding 11 months after purchase. So I suggest buying the pass when on sale which seems to happen frequently.
Baggage #
One thing I’ve learned from my past experiences carrying a bike on a train is that it’s always best to carry stuff in one bigger backpack instead of in multiple panniers. Paniers are difficult to carry, especially if you also have to disassemble a bike and carry it on top of all that.
The route #
Here’s what the train schedule looked like:
Berlin Hbf (6:31) – ICE 277 – (12:31) Offenburg
Offenburg (13:05) – RE 87432 – (13:36) Strasbourg
Strasbourg (14:20) – TGV 5454 – (20:05) Bordeaux St Jean
Bordeaux St Jean (21:23) – TGV 8519 – (23:33) Toulouse Matabiau
ICE 277
I rode my bike to Berlin Hbf with my two panniers and my backpack and arrived at the station at 6am. I liked that the station has elevators to all platforms and the shops are open early in the morning and there’s enough space in front of the shop to buy some coffee and bakery with my bike on my side. ICE 277 was a long train and it took me a while to realize that my bike carriage is all the way at the front (or back?) of the platform when the train arrived. When you book a ticket, you get a reservation number for your bike rack where you’re supposed to put your bike. For more info, see here.
I really loved ICE 277. Very clean, not too crowded and the cafeteria was really quite nice. One thing that I realized quickly was that the 1st class carriage was on the opposite end of the train and ended up sitting in 2nd class closer to my bike. But honestly, I found 2nd class very comfortable with good Wifi and a functioning electric plug.
RE 87432
At Offenburg, I had about half an hour to change platforms. This regional train was very small with only two carriages and there was some space with folded seats for bike carriers. Since it was a weekday and the train wasn’t too crowded, this was a nice experience. Great view as well. That said, if this had been on the weekend with more people, I don’t know if I had managed to get on the train at all.
Overall, the German train experience has exceeded my expectations and I’m really looking forward to taking more train rides for bike trips within Germany!
TGV 5454
Now, things got a little more stressful once I crossed the border into France. For French trains, you need a separate reservation ticket on top of your Interrail Pass. For some reason, I wasn’t able to book these reservation tickets through the app (probably because it was too last minute). When I consulted the ticket office in Germany on the day before (you have to go to Berlin Hbf) they told me I had to go to a ticket office somewhere in France.
The first stop in France for me was Strasbourg. I went out of the station, locked my bike outside, and carried all my baggage with me to the ticket office. There was a queue. I explained my issues in broken French and the person at the office started looking for available tickets for me.
“Ah, it’s too last minute. There are no tickets available.”
That was his initial answer but he managed to find me a ticket somehow. It was already 14:00 and I had 20 minutes to find my platform, carry my bike and my baggage there (where are the elevators?), and disassemble my bike.
Most TGV trains don’t have a bike carriage (some do have tiny spaces for 2-3 bikes) and normally you have to disassemble your bike, pack it into a bag and carry it on as normal baggage. The issue was that I couldn’t find a space big enough to fit my bike in the baggage storage space near my seat (yes, you’re also assigned a specific seat number too).
I finally found a space to cram my bike and hoped for the best so that it didn’t fall on anyone. This whole process has been quite stressful. Not a fan of TGVs.
TGV 8519
My initial excitement for a train trip had already worn off and I was ready to reach my final destination. I was also very hungry because I hadn’t been able to find a shop or a time where I could easily grab something to eat without having to lock my bike somewhere else (always pack lots of food!) I got off at Bordeaux, reassembled my bike, and decided to take a stroll while waiting for my next connection in an hour. I managed to grab a mediocre-tasting croissant on the way out.
In France, they only seem to announce the platforms 20 minutes before the train’s departure time. This was stressful because I had to wait for the announcement, find my way to the platform and carry my big bike and baggage, repack my bike into a bag and then board the train and find space for my bike all within the 20 minutes.
I also found out that not all TGV trains are the same. This one had two floors and these kinds usually have smaller baggage storage space. When I asked where I could put my bike on the train, they told me to carry it up to the second floor and put it along with one of the corridors. This was a nightmare. The train ride itself was comfortable and I was just happy that I managed to arrive safely in Toulouse.
* TER (from another day)
TGVs are the fast trains in France but there are also regional trains called TER. During the past week, I also carried my bike into a few of these so here are some memos from those experiences.
First and foremost, rules differ depending on which TER you’re taking. Some trains require you to book a separate bike reservation ticket (free of charge) in advance due to limited space while some don’t. For those that do require a reservation, you can do so via the SNCF website and you get your own place to hang your bike vertically. For the latter, there’s usually a space to stack the bikes horizontally but if there are multiple bikes, the order in which you place your bike matters. You may have to move your bike if another bike owner has to get off at the station before you.
Notes to future-self #
- Get a better bike bag (advice from a random stranger on a platform)
- Book train spots in advance (like waaaay in advance especially in France)
- France charges seat reservation fees which can amount to quite a bit (for me, +30EUR)
- Pack lots of snacks and food
- Don’t book 1st class when carrying your bike
- Other ticket options could’ve been cheaper
I can’t believe I wrote so much about carrying bikes onto trains. I’m really excited about the 9-Euro ticket that allows me to travel on any regional trains in Germany for the 3 summer months starting June 1st and do more bike trips in combination with trains though.