After doing some research for Ironman Austria,it seems like a car/van is out of the question for 3 bike boxes. (too small) The train websites make the bike boxes out to be almost a problem. Has anyone traveled with a box on eurotain?
No answers to your questions, but I’m headed there too. Still shopping for decent flights. Curious to see what people say about the bike box issue.
I have never attempted to travel with a bike box on a European train. However, I live in Germany and have travelled a fair bit by train. Austria should not be much different.
If you try to carry the box onto the train as you would your laptop you might have a problem. Especially if it is a modern, high speed long distance train. The older ones between remoter places are seldom full and seem to have more space.
That said, I´ve seen people with very bulky objects in trains. Maybe the regulations were not enforced on those occasions, but might be on others.
Check out the possibility of checking your baggage. Most trains have this option and have a separate baggage car. Again, I´m not sure if this applies to the high speed trains, but others do. You would have to give up your baggage/bike box earlier, not at the last second.
J
I just phoned the Deutsche Bahn and asked about bike boxes. The answer was that there is no separate baggage car on the high speed trains (ICE). However, you are entitled to 3 pieces of baggage per person.
I was told that there would be no problem with a bike box. I gave the dimensions as 40cm x 130cm x 150cm. Don´t actually know how big they are, but I had to say something. I was also told that if you inform them in advance, that you can get objects up to 3m long on the ICE. This is for Germany, but I imagine that Austria is similar.
I assume that you are travelling with one bike box per person.
good luck in Austria.
J
Thanks for taking the time to research that for me. Very thoughtful.
I rode the train and they would put it in a car and it made me nervous as hell. I pictured it going one way and me another. Trains there are way to slick, but cars come and go and get decoupled at different stations. I guess it’s too good to be true, and I never did loose my bike.
I’m Austrian and concur with what JimD has said. You do want to make sure that your bike is in a hard shell case if possible. Write “Zerbrechlich” (fragile) all over it.
I haven’t lived in Austria for 6 years, but here’s what I remember: Local trains (Lokalzug) sometimes have a designated bike car. Faster trains (ECs, ICs) often have a luggage car attached. You used to be able to just go in there and check on your (and everybody else’s) stuff. In some instances, you may have to ship it in advance, it depends on the train and the connection I think. Just ask in advance. They will hold your bike at the train station for you, or you can have it delivered for an extra fee. Just give it a day or two to arrive. www.oebb.at is the Austrian version of Amtrak. If you can’t find there what you need, feel free to let me know.
In general, Austria is very well set up for tourism.
Hi, I did Duathlon Long Course Worlds in Weyer, Austria, in 2002. I recall that I had to pay extra on the train from Vienna to Weyer. It wasn’t a major charge. It did get space on the separate rail car that is half freight/half pax.
Just check with the agent when you buy your ticket and it won’t be a problem.
Happy traveling,
Mark
thanks for all of the responses. was I correct in that a vehicle is out of the question for 3 boxes? or is there “real” vans, stationwagons etc.?
Imanbri,
did Austria in 2002. Great race by the way! you will truly love it there. Anyway, I rented a van… well, a eurovan that is and it ended up working out well. I flew into Vienna where my dad picked me up and from there we drove to Klagenfurt (about 2.5 hours?). we stayed at the Hotel Wathersee (man, I know i just murdered the spelling of that one so don’t crucify me for it all you german speakers out there!) with another few friends of mine. After the race, we packed up the van with two bike boxes, three very large suit cases and three backpacks, albeit smaller versions of the backpacks you would see on many travellers backs. we drove from there to Salsburg then off to Vienna and then flew back home. I knew of a group from Atlanta who had their bikes shipped back to the states and spent approximately $110 U.S. to do so. I think that when I do in fact travel to Austria again for IM I will ship my bike and not worry about it. As long as you have a hard shell case and you insure it I would not worry. Good luck and enjoy!
Sure there are station wagons and vans in Europe. In German a station wagon is called a “Kombi”. Ask the car rental people about it.
J
If you are flying into Klagenfurt get a taxi. When two of us did it in 2000, we got a taxi (estate) each and headed straight to hotel, no problem and not too expensive. Alternatively, checkout a search engine for taxi firms in Klagenfurt for companies that have a van, we got the only one in Frankfurt for IM Germany and I still have the card around somewhere.
Did Austria in 2000…
I have a Trico-IronCase and didn’t have any trouble putting it in overhead luggage on the standard trains between Linz, Austria and Klagenfurt. It was a bit of a pain to manuever around the stations, especially the stairs, but it worked.
I should also add that I remember watching the box out of the corner of my eye for a good portion of the trip. The box fit on the overhead shelf which was slightly angled (imagine a gutter running the length of the car), but the shelf extended to just past halfway down the side of the box. I was worried it was going to teeter the other way and fall, but it never budged during any of the trips. I don’t recall having to pay any extra for it either, but if I did it was only slightly more.
Like others, I wasn’t too comfortable losing sight of my bike during the trip, so it was nice to be able to have it right with me. If I was to go back again I would be less paranoid about things as I am now more comfortable with overcoming the communication barrier. I’d probably pay to allow the train to tote the bike for a slightly extra fee (out of my sight).