Published by Andrew on 7 July 2017
We received the following enquiry about taking fully assembled bikes on the train from Bordeaux to the Spanish border.
TER trains have velo sections to hang your bike. (The actual solution varies depending on the train).
Taking bikes on the Paris-Bordeaux fast trains
Question: Me and a friend would like to take the train from Bordeaux to Irun (or anywhere close) but won't have access to bike bags. Do we have any option to do that route with unfolded bikes?
Lyn's wrote back: You can simply take a local TER train from Bordeaux to Hendaye station on the French side of the borer with Spain. Just buy your ticket at Bordeaux station and walk your bike onto the train.
There is also a fast TGV train operating on that line, but it requires bikes to be reserved in advance (€10 surcharge for the bike). If time is of the essence then that's an option, but otherwise I would recommend simply taking the slower TER regional train down the coast. It will also be cheaper. There are several TER trains a day (roughly every 1-2 hours).
You don't need to book a ticket for the TER (just buy one at the station), but you can check times on the OUI.sncf website where you can also buy a ticket for the TGV and reserve a space for your bike if you choose the faster train (instructions here on how to do that in French). You can also use the excellent Trainline from anywhere in the world.
