Originally Posted by
tourer78
The train companies have alot to answer for in my opinion. As I remember from my 2010 trip you pay a hefty surcharge (especially in Switzerland and Austria) to take a bike on a train, yet people can get on with as much luggage as they want, and it is usually stuffed in the bike spaces (where people also like to hang around). I never could quite understand this, especially in Austria where you get a spoke card and a reserved spot for your bike, only to hop on and find your space full of luggage which you would either have to move or locate the disgruntled owners (too bad I used to tell them, I paid for this space!)
We are in europe at the moment (croatia, heading back to Italy today) but this time we have bought bike fridays in the travelcases and we can get on any and all forms of transport with no penalties, even though our total luggage would be not that much less in overall dimensions to a regular bicycle. I still dont get the policies, but fwiw I will keep my cases well away from the bike areas whenever I travel (this is why trains have luggage racks). Hope you are feeling better soon Machka.
Oh you are sooooo right about that premium to carry bikes on Swiss trains. Like the equivalent of $18 for
each bike on the fateful trip that lasted a total of around 3-1/2 hours.
We truly have been suffering sticker shock since we got here. Transport, restaurant food and accommodation can be a real killer to any budget. But apart from being the banking country for the world's despots, it's also the playground for the rich and famous, so we are probably out of our league.
We stayed in a nice Ibis hotel in the French city of Metz (which was a nice surprise as a city, by the way) for around 64 euro, or converted to $75, and stayed in a virtually identical room in an Ibis in Basel for 157 Swiss francs, which is around $157.
Try McDonald's for cheap? A medium double cheeseburger meal will set you back 12 Swiss francs ($12)
each!
And you'd think the service would be top-notch and the facilities the greatest. Well, the service sometimes is, but if the public toilets at Lausanne station are any indication... well, the toilets in the heaviest populated areas of Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong that we used were many times cleaner!
Fortunately, we have found a nice little campground with dormitories at Sarvaz, almost right next to the upper reaches of the Rhone River and near Martigny, and we have taken a room there for 60 Swiss francs a night as a base for from hub-and-spoke day rides in the region.
At least fresh food is at a reasonable price.
And definitely, Bike Fridays certainly are on our wish list for any future overseas touring we will do.