I'm cycling from Gibraltar to the UK this summer. I'm meeting a friend in Madrid and then we both want to go to Barcelona. The thing is I need to take my bike and Renfe doesn't seem to allow taking bikes on the fast AVE trains offered on that route. What are my options?
Transporting a bicycle between Barcelona and Madrid
月, 2015-06-29 16:32
#1
WS Member
Transporting a bicycle between Barcelona and Madrid
Hi
I have brougth my bicycle on AVE train a couble of years ago. You have to dismantle the bicycle and bring it in a box. Twice in Spain I just went to a big postoffice and they sell a cardboard box to pack bikes in. I payed 10 euros for the box.
You can read the rules here:
http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/info/index.html
with best regards
Julie
Spaniard here.
It´s true that AVE and other "luxury" trains won´t allow you to take your bike if you don´t pack it, but there are other trains, called "Regionales", that allow you to take your bike with you without packing it, and for free. The problem is most of those trains are usually short-distance trains, so you may or may not find one that goes from Madrid to Barcelona (Although you could take one "regional" Madrid-Zaragoza, and a 2nd one Zaragoza-Barcelona).
The easiest, most convenient way would actually be catching a bus with ALSA (the biggest bus company in Spain): you have a bazillion routes, and you can have your bike with you paying 10 euros per bike (You only need to remove the front wheel, and sometimes not even that, if the bus driver is nice enough). Please notice that you do require your bike to be completely covered, though, but you can purchase some kind of "tarp" they especifically sell for this purpose at the bus station (12 euros, I think). I bought one and I actually have it with me on my trips, in the event I want to catch a bus whenever I please to pretty much anywhere in Spain.
Best.
Hi Spain experts,
We plan on getting to Spain sometime in October (month 2 or so on our Europe tour). Any recommendations for maps, routes, etc.? We've read Spain isn't the most bike friendly country in terms of designated lanes or infrastructure.
Thanks!
I´d recommend that you open a separate thread if you want to get more answers, and facilitate other members to find those, but in any event, yes, it´s true that Spain is no "Canal du midi".
However, and if you´re not afraid of more or less bumpy gravel roads, you can pretty much circumnavigate most of the country without barely touching any main road, since there´s a bazillion gravel roads used mostly for agricultural purposes. That´s what I do, and I plan my routes using OSMcycle, which tends to be quite accurate.
In the very same light, you could also check the "GR" routes ("Gran Recorrido") which are basically long-distance, unpaved, mostly cyclable "natural" routes, that can go for several hundreds km at a time. The GR-99 is the most famous one, being more than 1200 Km long, so it should give you a couple of solid days of pedalling, at the very least... ;)