Shipping your bike back home?

[Stev0]

Hi everyone , just wondering if any bicigrinos have sent their bikes back home using a freight/shipping service like FedEx etc, l have made enquiries but had no joy in getting to speak to the relevant dept, l think a single bike with panniers is a bit small fry for them.
Anyways l am planning on doing the camino in April and once l arrive in Santiago l want to get home (London) ASAP, if l take my bike on the train in Spain I'm not allowed on the fast service so it will be be a bit long haul back to the French border.
l can't collapse my bike and put it in a bag so the next best thing would be to try and get it shipped home non urgent. If anyone has had this experience l would be most greatful to hear about it , many thanks and buen camino.

 

[mspath]

There is a train which leaves 10:06 daily from Santiago to Irun/Hendaya. I have seen bicycles loaded on this train. See more here on the RENFE web.

https://venta.renfe.com/vol/search.do?c=_b8bK

Re bikes and RENFE have you seen this info page?

For bicycles on French trains from Hendaye to Paris to London see this link.

Happy planning and Buen camino!

 

[Jan_D]

I had an amazing experience sending some bulky items back to the UK with this company (not a bike in my case, but it seems they do offer a bike courier service): https://www.sendmybag.com/bike-shipping

You might need to call them as a bike will be too large for the standard online luggage quotes (which is around £30 for anything under 120cm and 30kg). I think max length they take is 220cm.

 

[chiapaschap]

I have shipped a bike back to the UK twice with Velocipedo on Santiago. Great service and really friendly guys in the shop. Can't recommend them highly enough. Bikes were back within a week of shipping. They also offer a packing service. Can't remember the exact price but somewhere in the region of €100. Buen Camino!

 

[Stev0]

Many thanks for all your replies

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

In July 2015 I noticed that the post office in Santiago would ship bicycles in boxes. I don't know anything about the service or its cost but it looks like you may be able to get a box for your bike. Maybe if your bike is in a box you can get it on a speedy train?

 

[Saint Mike II]

In July 2015 I noticed that the post office in Santiago would ship bicycles in boxes. I don't know anything about the service or its cost but it looks like you may be able to get a box for your bike. Maybe if your bike is in a box you can get it on a speedy train?

Hola Rick - taking a bike on Spanish trains is to say the least "difficult" (especially from Santiago to say Madrid) : on the AVE (Spanish TGV) no bikes; Media Distance - next speediest - it really depends upon how small the bike box is (I seem to recall the length has to be less than 1200 mm - my bike box was 1500mm). (I travelled on one from Madrid to Pamplona - lucky it was half empty and the conductor was friendly - I moved it into the seating area). I did hear that sometimes the Media Distance trains do have a space for larger items but was never able to confirm which particular train. The local commuter trains do allow bikes but I don't think they run all the way from SDC to Madrid. I eventually gave up and had Velocipedo arrange a carrier to transport it to my Madrid hotel. Cheers

 

[Darren.R]

http://www.elvelocipedo.com/
Apparently they box and ship your bike home for you

 

[Stev0]

I used the post office in the old part of town, near the Cathedral to send my bike home to London, it cost me €80 including a couple of light panniers and it arrived home in 4 days. It was easy to arrange .

 

[smover]

Hi everyone , just wondering if any bicigrinos have sent their bikes back home using a freight/shipping service like FedEx etc, l have made enquiries but had no joy in getting to speak to the relevant dept, l think a single bike with panniers is a bit small fry for them.
Anyways l am planning on doing the camino in April and once l arrive in Santiago l want to get home (London) ASAP, if l take my bike on the train in Spain I'm not allowed on the fast service so it will be be a bit long haul back to the French border.
l can't collapse my bike and put it in a bag so the next best thing would be to try and get it shipped home non urgent. If anyone has had this experience l would be most greatful to hear about it , many thanks and buen camino.

Steve,
Did you have any luck? We need to ship ours to Australia at the completion point.

 

[Stev0]

Steve,
Did you have any luck? We need to ship ours to Australia at the completion point.


I've done 3 caminos since then and used the post office each time , no problem.
Good luck mate and buen camino

 

[smover]

Steve,
Did you have any luck? We need to ship ours to Australia at the completion point.

 

[Marcus-UK]

Steve,
Did you have any luck? We need to ship ours to Australia at the completion point.

I recently asked the Spanish post office if they were still able to send a bike to the UK and they replied quickly that they could.

I suspect that they won't have a set price for Australia. But they will have a freight rate for a bike box of dimensions X and weight Z. You may have cusoms clearnce issues in Australia though!

If you send an enquiry to the email address below they should be able to help:

elcamino@correos.com

Estimado señor



El sitio web de Correos establece actualmente que el transporte de una bicicleta a un destino europeo es de 90 euros.



¿Es posible enviar una bicicleta desde la oficina de correos en Santiago de Compostella a mi domicilio en el Australia?



Esto será en el mes de MONTH de 2019.



Atentamente, Insert Name Here!

 

[smover]

Hey everyone,

Thanks so much for this info. I really appreciated the link above. Upon enquiry, this is the response I got. Thank goodness, I won’t get an awful surprise at the completion.

Correos is not allowed to ship Bikes to Australia. We have this service arround Europe and Spain only .
Sorry about that and if we can help you with sometning else we more are pleased to help you .

Kind Regards y Buen Camino

 

[Kat Kostrzewska]

Hola Bicigrinos!

Shipping your bicycle to the Camino and back is easy....I lied, it is nerve-wrecking. I did it so many times and it is always an issue of some sort.

Anyway - instruction how to get to the Camino and come back with your bike you will find here https://caminodesantiagobybike.co.uk/essencials/how-to-get-there/

And as for you Smover and other Australian cyclists- it must be a way. I wrote to Velocipedo shop❤ ( a real gem), if they can organize it for you. Let's wait what they say. There is always a way.

 

[smover]

Thank you SO much for this info. Great post I will write to them and see if they know of a solution.
Worst case scenario, we travel onto our connecting flights to Rome and Israel with our bikes in tow.

 

[Kat Kostrzewska]

Velocipedo shop replied to my request and they do not sent bikes outside Europe. Shame. Anyway they can professionally pack your bike and order taxi to the airport as I wrote in the post (they recommend book it earlier in high season, September is high season). Taking bike on a plane is not perfect, but when it is really professionally packed then it is ok. Within Europe it is even cheaper to take your bike on plane than sent it by Spanish post or said bike shop.

Last but not least - some people rent bikes on the Camino to avoid the hassle. Then they spent next two days changing settings in rented bike. You see, rented bike is not your bike you know in and out. So it is still better to drag your own bike from the other side of the world.

Let us know if you have any other doubts or questions. Buen Camino! September is the best month of the year to do that route

 

[smover]

Kat you are AMAZING! Thank you so much for researching this on my behalf. That is incredibly generous of you.
I think we will just take our bikes all the way through at our various stopovers until we reach home. Not a bad option.
And btw, I had thought about renting a bike but like you said, your own bike is always far more comfortable and I could think of nothing worse than being uncomfortable for 1000km!

 

[Kat Kostrzewska]

No problem at all