Train from SDC to Bayonne with a tandem bicycle

[EvanandSue]

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

 

[mspath]

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

Sue and Evan,

There is a RENFE train which goes everyday from Santiago to Irun/Hendaye which is the Spanish/French border. This leaves Santiago about 9 am and arrives at the border about 9 pm. In Hendaye you can get the train to nearby Bayonne or, of course, a TGV to Paris.

The RENFE train needs reservations. It is easily booked directly at the rr station in Santiago. As long as you are NOT traveling at a peak time such as a holiday you should have no trouble booking this train two or three days before you wish to travel.

Buen Camino,

Margaret

 

[GomarbellaMike]

Hello Evan and Sue, I biked the Camino from SJPDP to Santiago in May this year. I live in the south of Spain and looked at all the possibilities of getting my bike to the starting point. On Renfe trains, no bikes are allowed unless you are travelling on overnight trains. (I'm not familiar with the FEVE trains) Travelling by bus one has to accompany the bike and bookings cannot be made online in advance. In the end I sent the bike with the MRW courier service to Roncesvalle, €40 to any point within Spain and got a lift down the hill the next day.

What I wanted to say was in the Pilgrims' Office in Santiago I picked up a brochure for a company called Galipita and at 4pm on my arrival day I spoke to a fellow called Javier and we arranged for him to pick up my bike from my hostal in the shadows of the cathedral at 7pm. He arrived on the dot, we had a beer together and by 7.30 I was watching my faithful companion being wheeled away. It felt strange! Four days later it arrived back in Marbella, well boxed up and in good shape.

They have a phone number for English speakers, it is 00 34 698 182 475. Deliveries to Zone 1 Germany, Belgium, Holland, France, Italy, United Kingdom, Portugal and Austria €95 Zone 2 Denmark, Ireland, Finland and Sweden €160. Zone 3 Norway and Switzerland €160.

I would think that if you phone them and explain your bike is a tandem, they will box it for you and for a slightly higher fee, send it safely home. I sent my saddlebags home inside the box and flew home the next day with a few things in a bag.

Did I refer to the climb from SJPDP to Roncesvalle as a hill? I drove down that "hill" in August this year on my way to Germany to show my wife that corner of Spain and was amazed that I got up it on a bike. Best wishes and I hope this helps in some way. Mike

 

[EvanandSue]

Thanks for the replies. The TGV will not take the tandem. It is over their size limit.
Regarding the other train, we have read somewhere that you need to book an overnight train as Mike has suggested and that your bike goes in the sleeper compartment with you. This won't work because the tandem won't fit.
We will keep investigating but if anyone can think of another idea it would be most appreciated.
Thanks
Sue and Evan

 

[EvanandSue]

It looks like Media Distancia is an option but we don't think we can go direct from Santiago to Irun. It looks like several train changes. Still looking.

 

[GomarbellaMike]

Hello Sue and Evan, it's me again. Accompanying my bike by bus from Marbella to SJPDP didn't work for me because of having to change bus terminals in Madrid and move a boxed bike 11 kms between the two stations. As I said, in my case, it was easier to send the bike by messenger service and travel independently.

But - I've just checked on http://www.gomarbella.com/marbella/onli ... -spain.htm and Santiago de Compostela to Bayonne is a direct journey, 14 hours costing €93. If that's not too long a journey, two of you would travel, paying for only one bike. The tandem does have a number of advantages..

The bodegas (underfloor compartments) of the international buses are big enough to take a tandem even from side to side and bubble wrapping with cardboard panels over the gearing will be sufficient. I can double check for you with the company if it helps.

If you would prefer to travel separately, a messenger/courier service seems to be the answer. Did you speak to Galipito? Would you like me to phone them?

It's not as easy to move a bike in Spain as I would like to think. I did the ride with my brother from the UK and he brought out his bike through Biarritz in a box which he left at the gite in SJPDP and he then had to reunite his bike with his box at the end of the ride! Glad to help in any way. Mike

PS if the pic uploads, I'm halfway up the climb to Roncesvalle from Sant Jean Pied de Port. It was a wet day!

 

[EvanandSue]

Dear Mike,
Thanks so much for your help. Regarding the courier service, this probably won't work for us because we need the bike with us as it is our transport. We are from Australia so once we land in Bayonne, we'll be back on the bike and making our way north.
The bus sounds like a really good option especially if it will fit in the baggage area. Changing trains with a loaded tandem is a real problem. If you have the time and don't mind, it would be great if you could phone them to check. We're sure we can find some cardboard and bubble wrap to keep the bike safe.
We love the picture! Although it does scare us a little. Last year we rode the Midi-Pyrenees and swore we'd never do hills again. This year we did the Rhine and added a Swiss pass in at the end, just to put a hill in! We can't figure ourselves out!
We are busy trying to reduce our weight, ie: lighter tent, sleeping bags etc.
Again, thanks for your help.
Cheers
Sue & Evan

 

[jim&sarah]

Hi,

Did you solve this problem ? I want to tandem the camino and are trying to sort thisout ?

thanks

 

[piogaw]

Hello evan and sue,

Welcome to the forum. Having worked in santiago as a volunteer, i know of at least 3-4 companies that will transport your bike for you. When you arrive at the oficina del peregrino, there is usually a guy in a yellow t-sheet looking for business. There is also a bike store in rua san pedro that will transport your bike. The other 2 transport companies you might have to ask the amigos for help. As a last resort you can ask the consigna office 4-5 doors from the oficina del peregrino. The rates for each company are more or less the same depending on the zones for delivery of your bike.

As to transport by bus, i was told by cyclists peregrinos who stayed in my albergue that the bus company will take a maximum of 2 bicycles on each bus. I believe you will have to be a passenger on the said bus.

Good luck and buen camino.

 

[obinjatoo@yahoo.com]

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

 

[jim&sarah]

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.

 

[Ian A]

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.

 

[EvanandSue]

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

We ride because I can't walk long distances due to issues with my feet. We've already done the Loire and the Rhine and the midi-Pyrenees and many other rides - about 20,000 kms in Europe.

 

[EvanandSue]

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

 

[jim182]

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

Sue and Evan,
We plan on using our road tandem on the Camino next May. We will fly into Spain and then take the train to Pomplano. Our tandem travels in 3 suitcases. We then have to figure out how to have the suitcases travel to Viva where we will depart Spain.

 

[jim&sarah]

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.

HI,
That's really helpful thanks, I hadnt thought of the one way car hire, but will probably go with sendyourbike.com. Did you document your travels, or do a blog of any kind, it's not that I want to copy but....

 

[jim&sarah]

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

That sounds perfect, many thanks.

 

[Ian A]

HI,
Did you document your travels, or do a blog of any kind, it's not that I want to copy but....

jim&sarah

Sorry but we have not got into blogging yet! I have a very brief daily 'log' on the ipad, although it would probably best not to post it on here, and the stoker kept a short journal. We would be more than happy to provide the log and any advice/information we can but perhaps off forum (not sure whether there is a direct message option or would need to post e-mail address?). Don't worry about copying, we trawled numerous sources of information, blogs etc but it is still your Camino.

IanA

 

[whariwharangi]

This is schedule for TER 62 ... the train that goes from Bayonne to SJPdP
http://telechargement.ter-sncf.com/...ion/62-AFFICHE-2013_25_11_13_tcm-11-67795.pdf

Note the information regarding bicycles in the bottom left corner. My French is not great but I think it says bikes go for free on all trains operated by TER. Note that TER trains are regional trains and do not include SNCF trains such as TGV ... for which I have not yet checked information.