French Alps bus and train map

Here is a map of the train and bus network for the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It may be handy for planning cycling holidays with your bicycle.

The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region is a combination of the old Rhone-Alpes and Auvergne regions. The main city is Lyon, but the region also includes Grenoble, most major Alpine passes (Alpe d'Huez, Galibier, and other Tour de France cols), as well as Chambery, Annecy, Meribel and other road cycling and mountain biking hotspots. Clermont-Ferrand is the major city on the Auvergne side, which is home to the cycling routes around the Mont-Dore volcanic area.

If you are wanting to travel by train to these areas with a fully assembled bike, you will likely need to go via Lyon or Clermont-Ferrand on a local TER train or Intercites train as TGV fast trains on this side of France do not take fully assembled bikes.

Local TER trains in this region take bikes, but bike reservations are required on the following lines on weekends and on public holidays from May 1 to September 29. Bike reservations are free and can be booked here:

- Valence – Die – Gap
- Lyon - Genève
- Lyon – Avignon – Marseille
- Grenoble – Gap
- Lyon – Mâcon/Dijon (and on to Paris) (reservations via this page for this line only)

Again, see here for bike reservations on these lines on weekends and public holidays from May 1-September 29. At other times of year there is no need to reserve.

You can also search options on the SNCF site.

It's also worth considering the Flixbus service, which takes bikes.

On the map below, "cars" means autocars, which are state-run buses or coaches, usually regional services in areas where trains no longer operate. Bikes are allowed on these buses, as well as on all local TER train services and some Intercites train services. See here for more bike-train guidance.

You can click the map for a downloadable PDF.