Travelling by train with a racing bike: Cycling to your holiday in a climate-friendly way

Travelling by train with a road bike - can it be stress-free?

Markus Vogt always takes an extra day off for travelling by train and bike. The cycling blogger and gravel biker from Tübingen almost always travels to his cycling holiday by train. "But you always have to reckon with delays. If you're not flexible and have everything sewn up in terms of time, you'll be left behind in the truest sense of the word," is his experience.

David Koßmann, editor-in-chief of "fahrstil" magazine, takes a similar view: "I never take the last train when I have my bike with me." And Koßmann actually always has a bike with him on the train: "Without it, I feel like I've forgotten something. I've never had a car, but I've had a Bahncard 50 for more than two decades."

Taking bikes on the train: book in good time

Despite some horror stories, such as mega-delays, roadworks, surly conductors or even fellow travellers who have no understanding for people who take their bikes with them on the train (Berlin S-Bahn passenger: "I've heard that you can also ride on the road with these things.") - the bottom line is that taking a bike on the train within Germany and in neighbouring countries always works better if you stick to three basic rules: plan well, take your time for the journey, book in good time!

Rail transport companies in the EU are even forced to cater for travellers with bicycles, which is enshrined in law: according to a new EU regulation from 2020 on the rights and obligations of rail passengers, travellers will in future have the right to take bicycles on long-distance and regional trains.

Bicycle transport - Proud DB

Deutsche Bahn (DB) is proud that bicycle transport is now being used more and more: according to its own figures, DB transported more than 570,000 bicycles on long-distance services in 2022, eleven per cent more than in 2021. You can now also take your bike with you on some ICE connections - provided there is still space in the bike compartment. However, a reservation with a train reservation and bike ticket is mandatory.

But bewareThe holders on the wall in the bike compartment only hold relatively narrow tyres. Racing bikes fit easily, but the tyres of mountain bikes or e-bikes often do not - and if the conductor is stubborn, the bike is not allowed on board.

And the safety of the bike in the compartment? The railway recommends locking bikes during the journey and reserving a seat directly in the bike compartment. "I always try to stay close to my bike and secure it with a good lock on the grab rail," says bike blogger Vogt. He is particularly careful in stations such as Frankfurt am Main or Cologne, where the train is stationary for longer and there is a lot of traffic.

Taking bikes on the train - Flexible Switzerland

There are different rules for taking bicycles on local trains: You need a bike ticket for six euros, but you can't reserve a space. The rule there is: full is full. The Swiss Federal Railway (SBB) is more flexible. When demand is high, SBB opens its luggage compartments for "bikes", as bicycles are called in Switzerland. SBB employees store the bikes there and hand them back to travellers at their destination station.

That's how much flexibility you want from Deutsche Bahn. But because DB isn't that flexible, it has to be the travellers. Like David Koßmann. His tip: "I remove the wheels, turn the handlebars 90 degrees and stow the bike in a large pannier." Koßmann puts the wheels in an extra bag that he can place between the seats. To prevent the pannier from falling over, he attaches it to the handrail in the aisle with a strap. "That usually works," says Koßmann - he also travels outside Germany with the bike dismantled in this way.

>> Transporting bikes by car: Which bike rack is right for me?

Although there are maximum dimensions for items of luggage, which vary from country to country, the rule of thumb is that you must be able to transport the bike yourself if it is packed as small as possible. David Koßmann has always been lucky with his method so far: "Only once did an eager junior conductor want to throw me off, but the next stop was mine anyway."

Dres Balmer, TOUR travel reporter from Bern and, by his own account, always travelling everywhere by bike and train, always takes his bike with him in his pannier. Especially when he is travelling to France or back home to Switzerland from France.

His tip"There's only one thing to do: bike in the bag!" He was only in the south of France in autumn 2022 and had to cycle the Route des Grandes Alpes again. He wanted to take the train back to Switzerland from Nice. So he dismantled the bike slightly, removed the wheels and put them in the pannier - so he could even travel back to Bern at high speed on the French TGV.

Taking bikes on the train - tips for Germany and Europe

Germany

To take your bike on Deutsche Bahn local trains, you need a bike ticket (6 euros), available online or at the ticket counter. This means you are on the safe side in all transport associations (with different pricing policies).

Info: www.bahn.de - there under "Info & Service"/"Individual journey".

On long-distance services, bikes can be taken on IC, EC and many ICE trains. If you want to travel with a bike on the ICE, you need a free reservation in addition to the 9 euro bike ticket. Bike tickets and reservations can now be booked online when purchasing a ticket and, if there are still bike spaces available, shortly before the train departs via the "DB Navigator" app or online.

Cross-border bicycle transport in Germany also costs nine euros (exception: via the Brenner Pass to Italy is 12 euros) - bookings can only be made at DB travel centres, DB agencies or by calling the service number 030/2970.

Connection examples

There are daily two-hourly connections to Switzerland between Hamburg-Frankfurt-Zurich-(Chur) and Berlin-Frankfurt-Interlaken with long ICE 4 trains, each with eight bicycle stands. Swiss ETR 610 "Astoro" high-speed trains with four bicycle stands run on the Munich-Bregenz-Zurich route.

On the Stuttgart-Singen-Zurich route, Intercity trains made up of Swiss carriages with ten bicycle stands each and a pair of Intercity 2K trains with eight bicycle stands run every two hours.

>> To Italy there is the Munich-Brenner-Bolzano-Verona connection with up to 26 bicycle stands.

>> IC trains with seven to 16 bicycle stands travel to Austria on the Frankfurt am Main or Dortmund or Saarbrücken-Stuttgart-Ulm-Lindau/

Innsbruck and Munich-Klagenfurt-Graz. ÖBB Railjets with five bicycle stands will be used on the new Frankfurt-Stuttgart-Ulm-Friedrichshafen-Innsbruck-Vienna route.

Bicycle transport in Switzerland

For - as the Swiss call it - self-loading bicycles from Germany to Switzerland, you need an international bicycle ticket (20 francs) plus a reservation for bicycle transport - the ticket is valid from departure to destination and can be ordered by telephone on 0041/(0)848446688; those travelling on from Switzerland, for example to Italy or Austria, can also obtain information and tickets on this number.

On local transport within Switzerland, it's worth buying a day pass for bikes for CHF 14, for which you don't need a reservation (it is valid on almost all train and bus companies and even on some boats and mountain railways).

For more information on cycle tickets within Switzerland, visit www.sbb.ch - under "Help & Contact"/"Tickets"/"Cycle tickets Switzerland".

Tip for bicycle transport

The "SBB Mobile" app is a good companion for travelling in Switzerland because, as well as making it easy to book trains in real time, it also provides information about delays and disruptions and contains the timetable for all Swiss public transport.

Info: www.sbb.ch/de/fahrplan/reisehinweise/velos.html

Bicycle transport in France

A little complicated: If you are travelling from Germany by ICE, TGV or Thalys, you are not allowed to take a bike with you. Therefore: Travel by local train (bikes are allowed here) via Strasbourg or Luxembourg, then continue by TGV (reservation required, costs 10 euros) or Intercite. Bikes can travel free of charge on the TER regional train, but only outside peak times (Monday to Friday before 6.30 am and between 9.30 am and 4.30 pm and after 7.30 pm) and not on all routes.

Info: www.france.fr/de/nuetzliche-tipps/fahrradtransport-im-zug

Bicycle transport in Austria

Sounds convenient: travelling by Nightjet from Germany to destinations outside Austria. You need a bike ticket for the Nightjet (the Biking International ticket costs 12 euros for cross-border journeys), you have to reserve a space for your bike and the number of spaces on most trains is limited to just three.

Info: www.nightjet.com/de/angebote/fahrradmitnahme

Within Austria, it is possible to take bicycles with you, but the ticket costs vary from province to province and from route to route.

InfoÖBB customer service (phone 0043/(0)51717) and at ÖBB ticket counters.