Something completely different - a French cycling holiday by train...
Posted: Fri Jul 31, 2026 8:17 pm
...just to put a bit o' different stuff in here alongside all the racing and TT news simply *because I'm getting old*! I wrote this for Flight Free UK but they wanted an edit which was more "joys of French countryside" and less "this is how you do it". Thought I'd post it here as while a lot of us do cycling trips, maybe not many do by train and there's some useful experience to pass on.
York to le Puy en Velay with my bike (in a bike box)
I’ve reached the stage of life where doing stuff I enjoy while I’m still able feels important, and so each summer I take myself and my bike somewhere in France where lovely countryside is crossed by quiet roads. In 2025 that was Le Puy en Velay in the Massif Central, with the Haute Loire, Auvergne and Monts de l’Ardeche to explore. Journey planning brightens dark winter days, and some planning is necessary – the biggest challenge being the Eurostar journey. Your boxed bike needs to travel on the same train as you, and there are limited spaces for bikes/boxes. When you book your ticket you need to ensure the "add extra luggage" option is available (and read/use it) and check that your booking makes reference to this - you don't get any additional paperwork for your luggage until you check it in. To be totally sure – given the limited spaces - I book really early (pre-Xmas) for the earliest available outward and latest practical return trains, assuming all other arrangements can then be made to fit with these.
The remaining travel bookings are straightforward and made as tickets become available – for my July dates this means sometime in March. Trains between York and London, TGV between Paris and the nearest TGV station to my destination (in this case St.Etienne) and TER regional trains for the remaining journeys. A bike box is treated simply as ordinary luggage on all of these, although over the years I’ve learned it’s worth checking the TGV compartment layouts to avoid being That Person who clogs up the aisle for half an hour attempting to stow the bike box among the luggage of others. If you fancy the view from the TGV upper deck, make sure you can reliably carry the bike box up stairs.
I also book an overnight stay in London on the outward leg to enable that early start – you have to drop the bike box into the luggage depot 90 minutes prior to departure, so it’s an early alarm, a brisk trundle and departure from St.Pancras around 8am. At Gare du Nord you’ll need to wait for your bike box to be delivered to the designated collection point – effectively making you the last passenger off the train. That’s worth bearing in mind when planning connection time across Paris – in my case two stops on the RER to Gare du Lyon. Parisien travellers have been unfailingly helpful, even when trains have been rammed full, so it shouldn’t be too stressful. But check you’re happy navigating escalators with the bike box, or check ahead where lifts can be found.
Fast train travel through France is wonderful – the gradual change in the landscape; the first vines, the plunge from the rolling hills into the Saone valley, the change in the intensity of the sunshine. TGVs are majestic things – there’s something about the power they embody at touching 300kph which I reckon gets a bigger “woooooooooo!” than a plane’s dash down the runway. If you fancy a little more elbow room then first class isn’t outrageously more expensive than standard. Okay – I’m a solo-travelling grumpy old man, but as a once-a-year treat, it makes me happy.
I’ve stayed in all sorts of hotels and B&Bs on these trips over the years but these days use one of the online booking services – in Le Puy my accommodation was a lovely simple apartment above an antiquarian bookshop at the foot of the final climb to the cathedral. There were local shops and dozens of restaurants within a short evening walk. I simply shouldered the bike on the stairs each day and it lived in a quiet corner of the main room.
A chunk of those earlier dark winter days was spent with the wonderful Outdooractive IGN mapping onscreen – exploring the region and plotting some 90-100km routes out into the surrounding landscape. The geology of Le Puy’s region makes the landscape really varied – there’s some pretty serious up and down but also long river valleys; there is pretty and there is bleak. Lots of quiet roads, and while French cars (like those in the UK) have bulked up a lot and drivers don’t have quite the reverence for cyclists that used to be common in France, it’s still a pretty safe place to travel by bike. Even in rural areas like this there’s still a good smattering of cafes and bakeries, and regular water fountains (although I resorted to a few that looked clean despite being labelled “eau non potable”- and survived).
Thankfully the body seems to respond okay to regular distance – I keep the pace steady and remind myself my racing days are long past. I always plan an easy ride out for a really nice Sunday lunch as a mid-holiday recovery day – from Le Puy this was a gentle 35km pedal to Le Chou et Chevre at Le Monastier and an even more gentle pedal back loaded with their Cochon de Haute-Loire and more. The sun shone throughout, as it did every day other than a Saturday evening’s warm rain. Le Puy itself was fascinating and photogenic – I took my film camera for walks and produced a photobook of the results*** when I got home.
My return journey, though tinged with the regret of leaving, was smooth and still very firmly part of my holiday – comfort, passing countryside, and a late lunch on the terrace of a Paris bistro – an early start got me back to York within one day. Doing this flight-free involves a little more work but gives me two travel days that are still a pleasure, rather than a grim procession through security checks and a couple of hours with a planeful of germs. It costs a little more but there are conveniences too – start and finish of my rail journeys were within 20mins walk of home and destination. A little more thought required, but a lot more pleasure in return.
*** That photobook:- https://constructive.smugmug.com/Phil-B ... ne-and-sun
York to le Puy en Velay with my bike (in a bike box)
I’ve reached the stage of life where doing stuff I enjoy while I’m still able feels important, and so each summer I take myself and my bike somewhere in France where lovely countryside is crossed by quiet roads. In 2025 that was Le Puy en Velay in the Massif Central, with the Haute Loire, Auvergne and Monts de l’Ardeche to explore. Journey planning brightens dark winter days, and some planning is necessary – the biggest challenge being the Eurostar journey. Your boxed bike needs to travel on the same train as you, and there are limited spaces for bikes/boxes. When you book your ticket you need to ensure the "add extra luggage" option is available (and read/use it) and check that your booking makes reference to this - you don't get any additional paperwork for your luggage until you check it in. To be totally sure – given the limited spaces - I book really early (pre-Xmas) for the earliest available outward and latest practical return trains, assuming all other arrangements can then be made to fit with these.
The remaining travel bookings are straightforward and made as tickets become available – for my July dates this means sometime in March. Trains between York and London, TGV between Paris and the nearest TGV station to my destination (in this case St.Etienne) and TER regional trains for the remaining journeys. A bike box is treated simply as ordinary luggage on all of these, although over the years I’ve learned it’s worth checking the TGV compartment layouts to avoid being That Person who clogs up the aisle for half an hour attempting to stow the bike box among the luggage of others. If you fancy the view from the TGV upper deck, make sure you can reliably carry the bike box up stairs.
I also book an overnight stay in London on the outward leg to enable that early start – you have to drop the bike box into the luggage depot 90 minutes prior to departure, so it’s an early alarm, a brisk trundle and departure from St.Pancras around 8am. At Gare du Nord you’ll need to wait for your bike box to be delivered to the designated collection point – effectively making you the last passenger off the train. That’s worth bearing in mind when planning connection time across Paris – in my case two stops on the RER to Gare du Lyon. Parisien travellers have been unfailingly helpful, even when trains have been rammed full, so it shouldn’t be too stressful. But check you’re happy navigating escalators with the bike box, or check ahead where lifts can be found.
Fast train travel through France is wonderful – the gradual change in the landscape; the first vines, the plunge from the rolling hills into the Saone valley, the change in the intensity of the sunshine. TGVs are majestic things – there’s something about the power they embody at touching 300kph which I reckon gets a bigger “woooooooooo!” than a plane’s dash down the runway. If you fancy a little more elbow room then first class isn’t outrageously more expensive than standard. Okay – I’m a solo-travelling grumpy old man, but as a once-a-year treat, it makes me happy.
I’ve stayed in all sorts of hotels and B&Bs on these trips over the years but these days use one of the online booking services – in Le Puy my accommodation was a lovely simple apartment above an antiquarian bookshop at the foot of the final climb to the cathedral. There were local shops and dozens of restaurants within a short evening walk. I simply shouldered the bike on the stairs each day and it lived in a quiet corner of the main room.
A chunk of those earlier dark winter days was spent with the wonderful Outdooractive IGN mapping onscreen – exploring the region and plotting some 90-100km routes out into the surrounding landscape. The geology of Le Puy’s region makes the landscape really varied – there’s some pretty serious up and down but also long river valleys; there is pretty and there is bleak. Lots of quiet roads, and while French cars (like those in the UK) have bulked up a lot and drivers don’t have quite the reverence for cyclists that used to be common in France, it’s still a pretty safe place to travel by bike. Even in rural areas like this there’s still a good smattering of cafes and bakeries, and regular water fountains (although I resorted to a few that looked clean despite being labelled “eau non potable”- and survived).
Thankfully the body seems to respond okay to regular distance – I keep the pace steady and remind myself my racing days are long past. I always plan an easy ride out for a really nice Sunday lunch as a mid-holiday recovery day – from Le Puy this was a gentle 35km pedal to Le Chou et Chevre at Le Monastier and an even more gentle pedal back loaded with their Cochon de Haute-Loire and more. The sun shone throughout, as it did every day other than a Saturday evening’s warm rain. Le Puy itself was fascinating and photogenic – I took my film camera for walks and produced a photobook of the results*** when I got home.
My return journey, though tinged with the regret of leaving, was smooth and still very firmly part of my holiday – comfort, passing countryside, and a late lunch on the terrace of a Paris bistro – an early start got me back to York within one day. Doing this flight-free involves a little more work but gives me two travel days that are still a pleasure, rather than a grim procession through security checks and a couple of hours with a planeful of germs. It costs a little more but there are conveniences too – start and finish of my rail journeys were within 20mins walk of home and destination. A little more thought required, but a lot more pleasure in return.
*** That photobook:- https://constructive.smugmug.com/Phil-B ... ne-and-sun