LFGSS to Paris August 22-24th

I rather do the bus-train and spend the weekend in Paris than the ride to Paris.

I'm more for the bus/train to paris, then riding round paris, than riding to paris.
We could organise two groups, but I'm only going to have enough time off for a long weekend, friday to monday sort of thing.

lets keep the votes coming in as well as the journey ideas.

andyp posted a link, but here's what eurostar say about taking bikes on trains:

If you can fold or dismantle your bike and place it in a bike bag with the saddle, handlebars and wheels removed, you can carry it on board yourself as part of your luggage allowance as long as the overall size is no bigger than a normal suitcase.

Alternatively, you have 2 other options.

From 7 April you will be able to reserve a place for your bike on the same train that you are travelling on. (This is subject to space being available). This service operates on our London, Paris and Brussels routes only and will give you added assurance of knowing that your bike is travelling with you.

You can make a reservation or find out more about this service by calling us on 08705 850 850 or visit the EuroDespatch Centre in person at St Pancras International. Charges are £20 one way and it’s necessary to quote your Eurostar reference or show your ticket.

Or you may simply wish to use our registered baggage service which also operates between London, Paris and Brussels Eurostar terminals as well as Lille Europe but does not guarantee your bike travels on the same train as you. We will do our utmost to send your bike on the next available service, space permitting. However, our guarantee is that your bike will be available to collect at your Eurostar destination station within 24 hours after registration.

But this service also allows you to send your bike in advance of your journey and then it’ll be ready to collect when you arrive. If not, you can still turn up on the day. So if you are able to be that little bit more flexible, this can also be a useful option.

Charges are £20 and it’s necessary to show your Eurostar ticket or booking reference when you register.

For more details about our registered baggage service take a look at the baggage information or feel free to call us on 08705 850 850.

i'm going to switzerland in early July for a week, £122 return using eurostar and tgv :)

just chucking my bike in a bag with my clothes

i'm going to switzerland in early July for a week, £122 return using eurostar and tgv :)

just chucking my bike in a bag with my clothes

That good. Cheaper than the fast train to Manchester at peak time.

i was well surprised! kills a few birds in one stone. a) wanted to go to paris (got a couple hour stopover on one of the journeys); b) want to go on eurostar. Plus less hassle with transfers to airports etc :)

i'm going to switzerland in early July for a week, £122 return using eurostar and tgv :)

just chucking my bike in a bag with my clothes

Fixed wheel bikes are illegal in Switzerland ;-)

Been thinking about this for a while.
Reckon I'm gonna get the train to the coast. Ferry over. Ride up the East side of France. Tent on the beaches of Dunkirk and campsites for 3 days.
Though having loads of us hit Paris would be something.

so what about train to dover, ferry to calais
calais to paris in three days - 67 miles per day

or you could get train to newhaven, ferry to dieppe, and ride to paris from there. Takes about 70 miles off the journey.

sounds like a good idea. myself and a few others are cycling from Brighton to Paris in a day sometime in august. it's best to get the ferry from newhaven to dieppe, then it's 105 miles to paris. calais is a longer route.

i'm not 100% on this, but when you use eurostar, your bikes get shipped on a different train so you may have to wait a while to pick them up...

Fixed wheel bikes are illegal in Switzerland ;-)

Been thinking about this for a while.
Reckon I'm gonna get the train to the coast. Ferry over. Ride up the East side of France. Tent on the beaches of Dunkirk and campsites for 3 days.
Though having loads of us hit Paris would be something.
i'm going up to verbier in the mountains and taking my carbon roadie, although probably mtb'ing ;)

Very nice indeed!

I highly recommend the 3 ducks hostel from when I cycled L2P.

Make sure you do a loop round the Arc de Triompe at rush hour ;-)

£20 quid for bike eurostar to paris sounds ok to me.

how much for me ?

or how much in total ?

or you could get train to newhaven, ferry to dieppe, and ride to paris from there. Takes about 70 miles off the journey.

I'm kinda with dt on this - ferry would be a doss and can you imagine riding into Paris? that would be cool! I recall it being fairly flat on the way in though the last ten miles or so I would imagine are nuts traffic-wise..anyone gone on a coach? Nuts, like hanger lane etc...

TBH I'd be up for going on the train too...wicked idea Corny. Late late August / early Sept?

bus, train, boat, cycle, walk, crawl........im down.

Going in a under a couple of weeks, along with wayne, fatboyralph, ricky..
http://www.londres-paris.com/site/html/home/index.php

would be up for cycling to paris. down to the coast, ferry newhaven-dieppe and into paris. fast cheap and out of control

I'm down.

But I won't let my temperament hold me back from attending this :)

check out decathlon for bk bags, the ones i bought in France are €60 and fold down to an easily manageabke size, andare perfect for eurostar!

plus i could finally ride fixed with more people, getting kind of lonely in the south of france, with no-one to ride with, play polo with!

do we have a date for this?

as andy said ^^^ we're riding brighton to paris in a day at some point over the next month or two, and would love to hit paris the same time as the rest of the forum...

no date yet, still canvassing opinion, hopefully in the next couple of weeks we'll sort out a date.

Corny, take note that I'm planning the London-Canterbury ride for Sunday 31st August :0)

Corny this is a wicked idea man,
Lets get this shit sorted and DO IT!

when about are you realistically thinking about going?
lets start looking at price's asap......

If you go via Newhaven, it's a lot shorter, and the route is a LOT nicer than riding to Dover. Avoiding the A2 is a major pain, and adds around 30 miles. London to Newhaven is around 90k. It's an easy ride from Dieppe to Paris (not totally flat, but NOWHERE in France is totally flat, apart from the Crau and Camargue), and about 140k. I can't recall, but I think there is a night ferry (around 4 hours) so you can maybe ride down on Friday, overnight on the ferry, and the knock off the Frog leg on Saturday.