Transporting your bike for a tour: a simple guide

You’ve decided to actually do it and organise it yourself. Great. But what do you do about the bike? Below, I look at the different options open to you. None of them are particularly straightforward…

Renting at your destination
Train
Bus
Flight
Car
Send it

1. Renting at your destination

This has a number of advantages. It avoids all the hassle and extra costs of getting your bike to your destination. Allowing for all these costs alone, it can work out being the cheapest option, especially for shorter trips. If you do not have a bike that is suitable for/ adaptable to bike touring, or if your bike is not in a great shape, you can end up with a decent model. It can even be a great way of deciding whether you want to buy a touring or gravel bike.

That said, you will still have to get all your bags to your destination. A bit like renting a car, there is no guarantee that you will get a bike that you will enjoy riding and that is fitted for you. If you want to take your GPS and other bike mounts such as for lights and handlebar bags, there is no guarantee that these will fit or be allowed. Insurance might be an issue. And if you are going on a longer trip, it could end up being quite expensive. It also means that you will have to return your bike to your starting point (and at a time when the bike shop or bike rental is open, which might limit you.)

So… It is definitely worth considering.

2. Train

This should be easy right? And if you are travelling within the same country, it usually is. And it is more environmentally friendly than flying.

However… my experience with trains – and what I have seen from bike chat forums – is that it can be really tricky.

For a start, there are specific rules in every country and within that, rules will differ according to operator and type of train and can be subject to the whims of conductors. I was once threatened with a massive fine and being thrown off the train by a French conductor only for her to get off at the next stop and be replaced by a Belgian conductor who saw no problem at all. The rules change regularly.

For some international trains such as ICE to/from Germany, it is even impossible to take a bike. Some trains such as in Belgium and France will allow you to take the bike as it is, either in dedicated bike spaces or compartments. Some will require you to check in ahead of time. Others will oblige you to remove the front wheel and wrap in a bag.

My advice is to Google it/ ask on a bike forum. Check the train company website and print out the rules both in your language and the language of the country. [link to Wobbly Ride] has good information but she does not have the time or resources to keep it all up to date.

My own experience has been travelling on TGV from Brussels to different parts of France and back. This has meant turning up on the platform, turning the bike upside down, removing the front wheel (and pedals so that they don’t stick out), fixing the front wheel to the frame, and then wrapping the whole lot in a bike bag with some bungee cords.

Then finding a safe space on the train next to your compartment and if possible, using a further bungee cord to attach the bike to part of the train. There is a constant risk of your bike being kicked and mangled by another passenger. Whenever possible, I find the conductor and talk with them and ask them what they would prefer.

Not easy, not fun. It shouldn’t be like this.

A trick that I have discovered and now use: often the difference in cost between second class and first class is not that much. But in first class, there tends to be a bit more space for luggage, and conductors tend to be a lot less sniffy about someone taking a disassembled bike in a bag… Just saying…

One consideration can be whether you have to change trains and whether the different trains have the same rules, which they frequently don’t. In 2024, I arranged to meet up with an acquaintance in Amiens for a weekend’s riding around World War One battle sites.

It meant:

Cycling across Brussels to the Gare du Midi;
Removing the bike bags, turning the bell and mounts, removing the front wheel and pedals of my bike and wrapping them in a bike bag;
Taking the train to Lille Europe;
Putting the bike back together.
Riding 500m to Lille Flandres station.
Loading the bike onto a regional train where mercifully I could simply remove the bags and hang the bike on a dedicated hook.

And doing the reverse on the way back, all the while under a certain time pressure. It wasn’t fun.

In 2020, coming back to Brussels from Rennes, I was able to take my bike ordinarily on the regional train, but then had to ride across central Paris from Montparnasse to Nord before dismantling my bike on the platform, putting it on the train and then having to lug it and my bags to another train on another platform because the train broke down. (And being 2020, all this while wearing a face mask). Luckily some kind souls helped me carry my bags.

This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t do it, only to warn you of the complications and potential stress. I will continue to do it but long for the day when it becomes much easier.

If you do it, I strongly advise you to take a print out of the rules that you found – ideally in both your language and that of the train conductor – and be ready to politely argue your point. I also take a small roll of tape measure with me in case I get into an argument about the exact dimensions of the bike, which I once did…

3. Bus

A lot of the bike touring/ bikepacking community swears by taking the bus and in particular Flixbus and BlaBlaCar. It can be much cheaper, and many of the buses have dedicated bike racks. Even on those that do not, it is often possible to reserve a space as ‘Special Luggage’ in the baggage compartment, providing that you remove the front wheel.

But I have also heard that there are some buses or conductors who refuse even this, there can be problems of space, and there can be a risk of damage to the bike or even it being stolen. There is also the consideration that the bus can take an awful lot longer and bus seats might not be that comfortable or the bus equipped with toilets.

My only experience with Flixbus was taking my bike in the baggage compartment from Lisbon to the Algarve. It worked fine and the bus driver was helpful.

I have also had experience with taking a bike on Norwegian buses when illness forced me to stay off the bike. There, I had a nice word with the driver, there were few other passengers and it all worked very well.

My conclusion: do your research and ask bike communities.

4. Flight

I have now taken my bike on over 30 flights. Aside from the environmental impact, the big downside is that it can be a lot more expensive, not just the travel in the first place but the cost and hassle of getting your bike to and from the airport. Oddly enough, the cheapest part is usually adding it to the flight where it counts as special luggage and can cost between 40-80 Euro per flight.

And then there is the fact that to protect it, you will have to dismantle the bike and put it back together at your destination. Once or twice, I put it in a plastic bag with pedals removed and front tire removed and secured to the frame of the bike. The last time I did this was on a flight to Sofia. When I picked it up at the other end, the derailleur was badly damaged and had to be replaced. From then on, I have packed in a cardboard box.

This takes a bit of time and preparation, but is not too difficult. I have set out how to do this here

Many cyclists put their bikes together at the airport and cycle from there/ take the bike on a train. This can be fine as long as everything arrives in a good state, you have plenty of time, can work undisturbed and you do not need the bike box again.

For sheer convenience, I have tended to take a taxi from the airport and quietly unpack at my starting hotel. With both options, be aware that the choice of arrival airport can make a big difference to the cost/viability. Modern airports tend to be far away from the city and with only fast roads around them, which can make setting off by bike an unnerving proposition.

Equally, some airports are over an hour’s drive from the city centre, which makes for a very expensive taxi and might have poor or non-existent public transport. I made this mistake going out to Milan, flying to Malpensa when I should have found a flight to the much more central Linate. It cost me a whopping 95 Euros compared to 25 to go to Linate on the way back. It might be worth paying more to fly to a closer and more convenient airport.

For a trip to Oslo in 2023, I found out that taxis are ruinously expensive and that the best way is to take a direct train. Given that I needed the bike box for the return flight, unpacking at the airport was not an option. So I stored a lightweight and easily portable trolley in my suitcase and used it when navigating from Oslo Central station to my hotel 10 minutes away. It was a bit clunky with both the bike box and the suitcase but it just about worked.

Before you pay for the ticket, check that the airline that you propose to fly with is OK with bikes and what their rules are. Most are fine, but some have some awkward rules. I usually reserve beforehand either by phone or by email, usually paying in advance. Be ready to answer questions on the weight of your bike and dimensions of the bike/box that you are taking it in. You do not need to be ultra-precise on the former – I quoted 12kg but when checking in, it was closer to 19 and they did not care – and on the latter, unless you have a specially big bike, I would tend to quote 135x75x20cm, which is the standard size of a bike box. Don’t worry: they are unlikely to check.

Next, book your starting accommodation. One factor in my choice is that the place is reasonably close to a bike shop, just in case anything has gone wrong.

If I am doing a round trip, I book the same place for the return, getting a room with free cancellation. I then contact the hotel and ask whether it would be possible to leave the bike box (and possibly suitcase) with them until their return. I have had mixed experiences with this. Some hotels/ apartments – in Milan, Seville, Lisbon – have been really great about it. Others – in Oslo and Bergen – took a bit of persuasion, agreeing that if I flattened the box to save space, they would look after it. All this meant was using an extra bit of duct tape. If they really object, cancel your reservation and find another hotel…

5. Car

My friend O does this, loading bikes on the back of a car and then leaving the car for a week at his destination. It just about works for him and his friends, but you need somewhere safe to leave the car and then you have to get back to it.

6. Send it ahead

I haven’t tried this though I have looked at the feasibility. There are dedicated bike transport services. This can make your life easier but it can be expensive. For me, the prohibiting factor was that when I looked at the logistics for a number of companies, all of them said that you have to get the bike picked up a few days beforehand and might have to wait a few days to receive it at the other end. I am guessing that most hotels would refuse to act as a delivery address.

Interested in reading more about other aspects of bike touring? Check out these other pages: