What to Know About Spain’s Long Distance Trains and Bikes

Unfortunately the train travel in Spain is super stressful for cyclists. Having Bromptons is brilliant and even still it seems like it was kind of stressful for you. Like it’s totally possible that you’ll board the train only to realize there’s no space for your bike. I once had to load my bike in the dining car, super far from where I was sitting. Anyone could’ve taken my bike. If you have a full size bike, I have found taking the bus is the less stressful choice. Obviously much slower but guaranteed safe space to load your bike underneath. That part about not knowing where to stand on the platform is so true. It’s also like this in Taiwan.

Back in the 80s I did a bike tourthrough south of France, along Mediterranean then up to Seville and on to Granada. Shipped bike by train from Granada to Valencia and hitch hiked the same stretch to pick it up. Was no problem. Great trip.

I rode the Fung Wah from Boston to NYC with bike a couple time, that's about as adventurous as I ever got, although they were known to explode on occasion apparently.

France was pretty easy to load a full size bike on most trains throughout the country, I’m surprised that Spain wouldn’t have places to hang full sized bikes, seems ridiculous to need to fold and bag them, but I’m assuming that this is only the high speed trains?

is that girona station at the start?

EU regulation 2021/782 says all NEW and renovated train sets need at least 4 bike spaces, however trains easily last 10 years or more between renovation so change will be slow but coming.
Spain is the only EU country who does the security scanner because of terrorist attacks in the past. I feel like the information where the bike car or the one with your reservation is, is really crucial, but a lot of train companies do a great job providing that at the platform or in their app.
Travelling with a bagged aup full-size 29er in Spain, my shoulder was definitely sore from these laden 100m sprints you are talking about!

In Germany taking a (full size) bike on an intercity train can be a hustle. Taking a folding bike (of any type up to 20") however is easy IMHO, as far as I know (or did) I just hopped on the train and stored my bike somewhere without it being covered or in a bag. With a "full-size" bike however it's a different story. You have to make reservation beforehand (I think for 2 or 3 years now it's possible to buy a bike ticket online, however it still doesn't show you how many of the very few bike spots have been booked already and before that you HAD to go to a station and talk to a person to get your reservation/ticket well in advance). And if anything happens to your train, e.g. doesn't show up, has a technical defect and is being canceled, doesn't have the right carrier where your bike place is supposed to be, etc. you're out of luck. Usually in the spring and summer months and especially from Friday until Sunday all (3-6) bike spots are being booked so you usually just cannot hop on the next train (which happened to me several times before). Now I don't want to complain about the Deutsche Bahn always having problems while being fairly expensive (compared to the rail system for example in Italy) … I do love to take the train and I usually don't care too much about being late but I would love to see train carriers in Europe have dedicated train cars during the "bike season" from May until September, maybe it would be even enough to have it on the weekends. And I would definitely accept to pay a bit more for it than the 9 Euro (in Germany, no matter how far you go), as long as I can take my bike across the country more easily.

just came back from spain, and yup spain is not easy with the trains. But alsa (bus) was clearly easier, cheaper and just needed to dismount the front wheel, put a bag over the bicycle and its done !

In Sweden, bicycles are not allowed on high speed trains. But here in southern Sweden, the regional trains, like Öresundståg, allow bicycles if there is space. Öresundståg operates from Denmark, across the Öresund Strait and into Sweden. Travelling with your bicycle is permitted, but you share this dedicated space with prams and baby carriages. A maximum of 6 bicycles/carriages is allowed. But because these cars also accommodate travelers landing at Kastrup Airport in Copenhagen, depending on the time of day, you could have difficulty finding space for your bicycle due to the numbers of arrivals and huge amounts of luggage. The key for us is to choose the right time of day and we know that there are usually several cars dedicated to bicycles further along the platform, i.e. we don't have to choose the nearest car.

Maybe the Spain tourism board will see this vid; crazy you gotta wrap bikes in plastic

In Poland, you generally can travel with bicycles on trains, but it's an absolute mess in terms of rules that are different for each of the dozen+ train operators. For long distance trains you generally have to buy a special ticket, which means you have to prepare beforehand. On the plus side it's a guaranteed spot for the bike and you will immediately know if the train you want to go on allows bicycles on board in first place. Local trains often (but not always) just allow taking the bicycles on, but often the dedicated space for them is limited so you end up clogging the corridors and such. If the train is crowded, you might even be denied. All in all, I haven't seen any train operator that would require bagging the bikes tho.

As far as bike specific cars on trains – this is very rare, but it still does happen sometimes over here! Mostly on routes that connect big cities with popular recreational cycling areas.

I've done some long distance travel and while not super common, various cycling specific accommodations exist even if they are rare. For example my hotel had a small part of its underground garage dedicated to bicycles.

There's a guy called Tom Cheshire who wrote a book called "Slow Trains Around Spain" that you might wanna check out. He visits lots of obsure locations by train. Afaik the bike bag/cover thing is mostly for folding bikes so they don't damage other travellers fancy suit cases. I carry a dimpa bag but I mostly just use the Brompton cover (which is open at the bottom and the saddle sticks out) and I've not had a problem even on eurostar. In the UK you are supposed to get a bike reservation ticket ahead of time for full sized bikes and most fast trains can only carry 2 bikes, which is partly what makes the brompton so convenient. I think the situation is getting better though. Cycle touring is becoming popular again. I guess the other trick is to try and avoid busy times.

Having taken long-distance trains in Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and France: they typically don't require a cover for a standard size bike but they absolutely require a reservation for the bike – typically it costs between 10 and 15 Euros. They have racks for the bikes, with each having a "seat number" that corresponds to the reservation. If you can't secure a reservation for the bike (and I'm talking standard, non-Brompton bike here) you won't be able to take it on the train – full stop. Also: many other countries spell out which class of car will hit certain points of a train platform, as well as where the bike accommodation will be on the train – not sure why Spain doesn't do this on the info screens on the platform.

Come to Denmark❤
It will be a breeze compared to this 😂

RailJet is king in "travel by bike" in Europe! Of course it can't cover all countries but it's pretty good in Central Eurpe.

That's kind of crazy the difference between this and what I experienced in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, France, and Switzerland. Speaking specifically about Germany because it's what I experienced most: there is very little, if any, security other than roaming officers. Most of the local and regional trains you can just roll onto and the long distance (ICE: Intercity express) usually have a bike specific car with hooks. No covers needed, but it does cost extra to take a bike and locking up to the bike hook/rack is recommended for obvious reasons. There is no extra charge for a bike on most local and regional trains and there are always kinda open spaces for wheelchairs, bikes, etc. they even have nifty little seatbelt things to hold your bike up. They also tell you where each car will stop at the platform using signage at the platform and the DeutscheBahn app. Almost all of this applies in Austria and Belgium as well, but I'm less familiar with the other countries I mentioned above as I only traveled there via train once or twice.

The Netherlands, Denmark and Germany are mostly, to varying degree, bike friendly EU countries. Train travel in Spain is generally a bit strange, especially on the long distance high-speed trains.

I’ve travelled with bikes in a couple different counties. Italy and Netherlands: doors at the front and back of each local and regional train have areas for full size bikes. In Italy you are supposed to pay 5 euro ticket for your bike. Austria: Bike car on the train and I think it was 5 or 10 euro. No real security checks.

Here in Austria you don't have to cover your folding bike and we have no "airport" security😮.
For normal bicycles, enough space on regional trains, only 5 to 7 on longdistance trains😑.

The high speed trains 250kmph+ (Ave, Avril and Alvia) also sometimes called 'long distance' are positioned as alternatives to airlines and have airline security. In such, they do not have many amenities for bikes, although, that depends on the class of train – the new Avril trains are much larger, and faster (300kmph), and have more space for even full sized (bagged) bikes (free), but these run on limited lines (Madrid to Asturias, to Galicia, to Valencia). The MD (or media distancia trains, most often have hooks for the bikes in separate coaches (usually by the vending machines), and those do go long distances, but they have far more stops and are slower (max 200kmph I believe) – this would be "standard" long distance in the rest of the world or countries that don't have high speed. And then of course there are regional trains, cercanias (commuter trains) and feve where bikes are allowed but usually just where there is space at the end of cars. This follows much of Europe, the slower 'long distance' trains have hooks for bikes in France, Italy and Germany, but the high speed (or alta velocidad) is much more restrictive (like the TGV and Frecciarossa etc). The video you site at the beginning is pre-high speed. Those trains still exist in Spain and elsewhere in the EU, and still have bike hooks, just those lines/services are being cut in favor of high speed 250kmph+. On those trains you can almost always box them like on a plane, or bag them and find space but it's a hassle. Just like on a plane. MD is the ticket… even if you have to use it for long distances… or the Avril if you have it.

In the past me and my partner did bike trip through spain, more specifically through Andaluzia.

Reading all about trains we discovered this limitations that the long distance trains had. We then only looked at the media distancia trains which I assume all have some space and hooks to carry fully mounted bikes. But the network of the media distancia is quite limited.

In the end of the journey we went back home to portugal by Alsa bus. Over there you can pay 15 euro and carry the bike mounted with just some soft cover that alsa also sells.

Are liquids like chain lubes allowed through such train security checks?

I’d love to explore Europe by train with my bike . It just isn’t practical if it’s full size. I’m now planning to travel without and then hire a bike when I get there.

england still has bike specific cars!

Seating on the French TGV high-speed trains is reserved only. There are information panels on the platform to indicate where to stand for the rail car corresponding to the reservation.