Besides Motorail Europe, are there any cheaper operators that allow train travel with your bike onboard?
Thanking you!
Don’t worry what it quotes online, ring the guy up cos he does some gooood deals. 
Carfull Afro, I herd your bike bike suffers from travel sickness, or is that just on the road :D:)
Also try the website of The Man in Seat 61 (google it). EXCELLENT resource for train travel all over the world, with a small feature on motorrail (which routes there are, who operates them, where to get tickets, etc).
Having said which, I think the only routes in France are already covered on the link in the prev post.
“We’re currently restructuring our business and as a result our offices are closed, please leave message”
Maybe they’ve gone bust…Angie what kind of price am I looking at (lowest) to get my bike on a train around France. I think you told me you and your bloke did this kind of trip.
Cheers luv.
Have a look on here www.snfc.com French guy that works in me office recons they will be able to help
I’ve just clicked another of their company links and it says in administration uho found this also…
- A D Rosler & K Lucas of Ideal Corporate Solutions, Lakeside House, Waterside Business Park, Smiths Road, Bolton, BL3 2QJ (Telephone Number 01204 663 000) were appointed Joint Administrators of Fleur Holidays and Railsavers on
29 November 2007
Oh well Afro, you’ll have to get on ya bike and ride it lol … We’ve never used them but a good friend of ours has alot.
http://www.seat61.com/Motorail.htm might help you
“French motorail trains run from May to September on certain days of the week (usually including Friday nights) from Calais to St Raphael, Nice, Narbonne, Avignon, Toulouse and Brive - see www.raileurope.co.uk for times, dates and prices. There are also motorail services starting in Paris. Most French Motorail trains run overnight, with passengers sleeping in couchettes. 1- & 2-bed sleepers were withdrawn from French Motorail trains in January 2006, but each group of passengers travelling together gets exclusive use of a whole 6-bunk or 4-bunk couchette compartment. The price covers car plus occupancy of a whole couchette compartment, however many people there are. A one-way trip from Calais to Brive for a car and passengers starts at £305 one-way depending on the date of travel. For Calais to Nice, fares range from £390 to £545 one-way. French motorail carries both normal cars and many 4X4 and MPVs. Pets not carried. There are now no Motorail services from Calais or Paris to Italy or Spain. For times, fares and online booking see www.raileurope.co.uk (select ‘French Motorail’) or call Rail Europe’s Motorail line on 0870 2 415 415 or call UK motorail specialist www.railsavers.com on 01253 59 55 55, lines open 09:00-17:00 Monday-Saturday, 10:00-16:00 Sunday.”
FFS, ride it down!
Mate I’ve got 5 days to cover over 1600 miles and have a short holiday in between .Most of those miles are motorway to make up time and that’s about a day and a half, so would be a waste of a holiday really. Would definitely ride if I had more time.
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Mate I’ve got 5 days to cover over 1600 miles and have a short holiday in between 
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We did 2,500miles France/Spain in 6 days!!(home, back to home) This time we will be doing far less per day, more like 200 max in a day
Things are looking up…
I was looking into using the Motorail train to get me to the south of France from Calais, but then discovered the prices start from £300 and the service only runs during the summer
After much Google searching and Google translation, I have found that the French national railway service SNCF run Autotrains (automobiles on trains).
It works like this…
You buy a ticket, they load your vehicle on the train and send it to your required destination.
You follow on another train overnight or during the day to meet your vehicle upon arrival. Probably a good thing that you can pay for extra insurance for the vehicle and accessories, just incase it doesn’t look quite the same when you next see it :laugh: 
They run this service throughout the winter and summer, and if I’m reading correctly, a single ticket from Paris to Lyon, with my bike in transit (with me following) costs just 73 Euro :crazy:
I need to call and double check this though as it seems too cheap.
This service is not well publicised in the UK (I couldn’t find any non French website) so my conspiracy theories point to Motorail trying to sew up the market…Hmmm :hehe:
I had to Google translate the pages, but here are links to the details
Price guide (bikes called Motos)
Booking tickets
Will call tomorrow…Need to brush up my French now :rolleyes:
+1 - I fail to see the problem, ride it, that is what a bike is for. If worried about the amount of time you have available then why not do the following:1. Take more time off2. Forget the south of France and instead go to Ardennes, Spa, Nurburgring and Black Forest.
Yeah is definitely doable mate, but if things work out with the Autotrain then it’ll not only be cheaper but I’ll have more time riding the nicer roads too.We’ll see.
- Can’t, no more time off.2. I want some decent(ish) weather
Check it out for NiceThursday
Sunrise 07:48 (CET)
Sunset 16:54 (CET)
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Friday
Sunrise 07:49 (CET)
Sunset 16:54 (CET)
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17°C
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12 very good 1012 64
1.’); return false;">Saturday
Sunrise 07:50 (CET)
Sunset 16:54 (CET)
sunny.’); return false;">
17°C
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1.’); return false;">Sunday
Sunrise 07:51 (CET)
Sunset 16:54 (CET)
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17°C
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17 good 1001 91
1.’); return false;">Monday
Sunrise 07:52 (CET)
Sunset 16:54 (CET)
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You can ride to Nice in one day, and back in one day. Done it. On a scooter to boot! It’s only 800 miles, takes about 15 hours with a decent pee/fag/petrol/coffee/food/dump stop every hour for 10 mins or so. Start at 05:00, arrive at 22:00 local. Actually best to start earlier, you then get the decent southern roads with some daylight left.
You have a bike, use it!
I’m sure thats wot I said :DHave a look on here www.snfc.com French guy that works in me office recons they will be able to help 
If you insist on taking your bike, and also insist on NOT taking help when offered :P, then you won’t be interested to follow this link http://www.raileurope.co.uk/frenchmotorrail/autotrain/default.asp (which is the English link to what you’re describing, reached in 2 seconds, after 3 clicks, using the maninseat61 link I gave you days ago:P:P, with no need for French translations).
If you insist on not reading then you will continue to fail to notice that I’ve examined the Motorail option and deemed it too expensive, hence the first post that says…
You will also fail to notice that the Motorail service runs in the summer only, hence my other post…
Now go away! 
:laugh:
Just joking. B.boy