EvanandSue
New Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- (2013)
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EvanandSue said:We are new to this forum so apologies if this question has been asked before. We have checked and couldn't find an answer.
We are planning to cycle the Camino in 2013 from Monflanquin, France to SJPP to SDC. Our question is how do we get back. We don't have time to cycle back and were hoping to get the train. We can't box the bike easily so would prefer a train that allows the bike to be wheeled on. Do the FEVE trains travel the route SDC to Bayonne or somewhere near?
Any advice would be most appreciated.
Cheers
Sue and Evan
Bikes on trains in Spain is a bit of a joke. Some of the world's best cyclists are Spanish and yet you cannot take a bike on a train in Spain. I've heard that you can on overnight trains but I would not bet my bike on this. You can take them on the bus depending on the bus driver and whether or not you buy a ticket. I had mixed responses.
Why do you want to cycle the Camino de Santiago? I did both and found that it is a much better walking route. If it's a beautiful bike ride you want, go for the Loire Valley in France or follow the Danube. I'm not saying NOT to cycle the French route but there is something about the walking that I found much more profound. Also there is a company out of the US called Luggage Forward that helped me retrieve my bike from London after my European adventure. It is door to door and great service.
Buen Camino
hi, interesting point, the answer is two fold, my wife is spanish but lives in UK and wants to explore northern spain, and i find walking very difficult (my legs are different lengths and i trip over easily but cycle everywhere,) we also dont have more than 3-4 weeks in total. i wanted to use a tandem so we could share the strain a bit more, the truth is Iam more keen than her to do it i think! we are 55 years old.
Jim, in the end we booked our bus tickets along with the tandem - we paid for two bikes but it didn't matter. We did this at the bus office near the pilgrims office. It was easy enough but be prepared to have to change the day you travel out if there isn't room for the tandem on the bus. You have to wrap your bike in plastic film to put it on the bus to protect other passengers baggage from damage. We just bought a role of cling film and wrapped the whole bike up. We ride the tandem because we always arrive at the same time and we love being together. We've done a lot of miles in Europe. Spain was probably the most challenging. We didn't always feel welcome by the locals. That said, the pilgrims and camaraderie was amazing.
Cheers
Sue & Evan
Jim and Sarah
I am not sure whether you are wanting specific information about getting back to Bayonne with a tandem, as in the original post, or more general info about getting back from Santiago with a tandem. We did the Camino by tandem earlier this year so can provide some general tandem related information. (we are also both 55 years old!)
We cycled directly from home in the UK, ferry to Cherbourg and across France, meeting up with the 'standard' route at St Jean Pied de Port. To get to St Jean with the tandem, but not cycling, you can probably use the French trains to Bayonne. I understand bikes are only allowed on TVGs if boxed and within certain size limits but you can probably use the slower trains. An alternative would be the 'bike bus' (European Bike Express) which is a coach service for cyclists and their bikes from the UK to France and they have a drop off at Bayonne and Lourdes.
Our intention had been to cycle to Santiago and return by ferry from Santander with the tandem, which we had booked before leaving. If we had time, and the strength/inclination, we could cycle back to Santander or get back by some other method. We had found from various sources that it was difficult, but possible, to take bikes on trains in Spain but it was almost certainly not possible to take a tandem and therefore this was ruled out. The main option was therefore to do a one way car hire from Santiago to Santander with the tandem in the back.
However, on arriving in Santiago we realised there was another option, of sending the bike home and returning without it. All the companies gave rates for solo bikes, about 90e to the UK, but no information on tandems. The first company we approached quoted double the solo rate, which I thought was a bit cheeky. The second quoted well over 200e. We next got in touch by e-mail with someone we were approached by at the pilgrim office and after some delay got a quote of the solo rate plus 20e, which seemed very reasonable. The web site is www.sendyourbike.com, which has other contact information on, and we dealt with Ismael Garcia who spoke good English. The company running it is Prodigal Transport and although I am not sure they had actually dealt with a tandem before they were very helpful and it was collected at our accommodation in Santiago and arrived back in the UK well boxed and handled by UPS. Another alternative would be to fly back and check the tandem in as luggage. This very much depends on the airline involved and would need careful packing/boxing in Santiago. We have done this a number of times in the past but also had the tandem damaged twice so now avoid it if possible.
Hope you get things sorted and I am sure you will have a great time.
Buen Camino.
That sounds perfect, many thanks.Jim, in the end we booked our bus tickets along with the tandem - we paid for two bikes but it didn't matter. We did this at the bus office near the pilgrims office. It was easy enough but be prepared to have to change the day you travel out if there isn't room for the tandem on the bus. You have to wrap your bike in plastic film to put it on the bus to protect other passengers baggage from damage. We just bought a role of cling film and wrapped the whole bike up. We ride the tandem because we always arrive at the same time and we love being together. We've done a lot of miles in Europe. Spain was probably the most challenging. We didn't always feel welcome by the locals. That said, the pilgrims and camaraderie was amazing.
Cheers
Sue & Evan
HI,
Did you document your travels, or do a blog of any kind, it's not that I want to copy but....
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