Trains FROM Narbonne to Cherbourg

[airnimalangie]

My husband & I plan to cycle from St. Malo to Narbonne in July. Does anyone know how easy it is to get a train(s) with the bikes back to Cherbourg for our return sailing?

[jamesgilbert]

In a word (well, two words): very difficult! It's got to be one of the most awkward train journeys in France, especially as the Montpellier-Paris TGV doesn't accept bikes.

Your best bet is to use the "further search options" on http://www.bahn.de/i/view/DEU/en/index.shtml with the bicycle option for the date you're interested in. There are lots of ways of getting to Cherbourg, but most involve at least 4 changes and over 15 hours travel time.

It would probably be easier and less stressful to do the journey over two or three days.

[patpalloon]

Bike express pick up from Narbonne. They don't go to Cherbourg, they cross Calais to Dover but they do have a lot of UK drop off points up the M1.

[ernest]

Ok so you could go from Narbonne to Carcassonne and on to Nantes. This would mean you use none TGV trains that will take bikes. I imagine that you would also be ok going from Nantes to Rennes and onto Cherbourg as this isn't a TGV line. Travelling by train with bikes is ok as long as you avoid TGV trains which is a bit of a pain because the journey time is longer. I have used the train on different occasions from Perpignan, Montpellier, Toulouse and Bordeaux (two weeks ago) all back to Brittany and have used the train from Nantes to Rennes on other occasions.

I would break the journey as someone suggested. I am not sure you could do it in one go anyway.

You could also go the other way via Lyon and Paris but you would have to take a few short journeys avoiding TGVs. I have taken the train from Auxerre to Paris and back to Cherbourg on various occasions.

[jamesgilbert]

Travelling by train with bikes is ok as long as you avoid TGV trains

Unfortunately this isn't quite true. Not all slower trains accept bikes, and some TGVs do (for a 10 euro fee). The best way to make sure is really to use the bahn.de journey planner as I mentioned above, it's very reliable.

Or you can use the SNCF website, but you'll spend a lot of time looking for the little symbols that show that bikes are allowed - there's no way of searching on the SNCF journey planner for a bike-friendly route.

[simonineaston]

Ooo, I'm liking that journey planner, Mr G - I'll be using that for some trip planning from now on
(Q. oodles of jolly jokes about Teutonic efficiency. )

[jamesgilbert]

Yep I know

By the way, it works well for journeys in one country but the results aren't as good when travelling between different countries.