How I Went Cycling Across Europe Without Flying

My friend Vicky and I had talked for years about going on a hiking trip together, of the sort that she used to love before she had kids. So when she suggested we meet in Mallorca in March, my first reaction was “at last!” and my second was “hmmm, I wonder if I can get there without flying?”

Technically, it was possible to do it in 24 hours, via a morning train from London to Lille, another change at Lyon, and an overnight ferry from Barcelona. But I preferred the thought of taking my time. As I'm no stranger to cycling across Europe over the years, slower, more sustainable travel is something that's always appealed to me.

I planned an itinerary that would take me two days and three nights, setting off from Sheffield after work, and sleeping in London before catching an early-morning Eurostar to Paris. There, I’d spend the afternoon enjoying the city and have dinner with friends, before another early morning train, this time to Barcelona.

An overnight ferry meant I’d have the afternoon to enjoy the city, with a Brompton to get me to all the places I wanted to go. And then, a night at sea, and a 6am arrival in Palma, where I’d meet Vicky off her flight.

I could return the same way, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to see some friends, and visit a couple of cities through which I had only ever travelled at high speed. So once off the ferry in Barcelona, I planned to travel north to Girona, where I’d spend a few days in one of Europe’s most popular cycling destinations before taking the train to Vitoria-Gasteiz, capital of the Basque region. From there I’d continue to Bilbao by bike, enjoy Northern Spain’s spectacular coastline, and take a ferry home from Santander.

Tips for planning a no-fly holiday

The cheapest way to travel Europe without flying is usually a four-day Interrail pass, and I always buy a couple when they reduce them by 25% in December. (They’re valid for 11 months.) A full-price pass costs €283, and also covers inbound and outbound travel in your home country – so if you’re based in the UK, it can often pay for itself before you even cross the Channel. If you’re relying on hotels or hostels, book early in peak season to avoid higher prices and limited availability.

In most countries, an Interrail pass means you can get on any train you like, but France and Spain are more complicated. As well as paying €35 each way for the Eurostar, I would need to buy additional reservations (usually around €10) on the high-speed trains to Barcelona and Vitoria-Gasteiz. You can book some reservations via Interrail’s Railplanner App, but I prefer to use:

SNCB-NMBS International for Eurostar reservations; you can check availability without an Interrail pass number – useful if you’re costing up your various options and haven’t bought a pass yet
Eurostar: your reservation will show up here automatically, even if you’ve booked it elsewhere
Rail Europe for reservations on French and Spanish high-speed trains
RENFE and SNCF, the Spanish and French national rail companies; not the best for booking reservations, but I use them to double-check timetables, and buy the occasional standalone ticket

I also lean heavily on Seat61 – a gem of a website, created by Mark Smith in 2001, which has all the information you’ll need for the daunting business of planning a European train travel itinerary. If you’re considering an overland trip, this is the place to start.

Multi-modal travel across Europe

Travelling by bike is wonderful; travelling with a bike can be a nightmare. I could tell you countless stories – like the times I was kicked off a train in Edinburgh, denied boarding in Bilbao, and almost had a nervous breakdown trying to get a last-minute bike reservation in Quimper.

Travelling with a Brompton, I had the best of both worlds. Once the bike was folded and zipped it into the Transport Bag, I was no different from any other foot passenger. Then as soon as I was off the train I’d unfold the bike, stash the bag, and magically transform into a cyclist, pedalling off through the city centre before most of my fellow train passengers had even figured out which Metro line they wanted.

The Brompton removed the constant headache of where to leave my bike when I nipped into shops, cafes and museums – because I could just bring it with me. I was initially nervous about this, but people seemed to greet my little folding bike with delight wherever I went. A Parisian waiter smiled as he carried it into the cloakroom. A Spanish gallery assistant escorted me to their dedicated Brompton lockers. An excited Mallorquín hotel receptionist asked me to demonstrate how it unfolded.

Having my P Line meant I could cover more ground, so I saw cities in more detail, and made all sorts of little discoveries in between the places I had planned to visit. Europe is enjoying a golden age of cycling infrastructure – all the cities I passed through had excellent bike paths, so I rarely had to ride with traffic, and I got to whizz along behind local commuters, feeling like I was part of it all.

Brompton bike in a travel bag outside of St Pancras station

My no-fly route from Sheffield to Mallorca and back

Sheffield to Paris

I got on the train at 19:00, relieved that I’d managed to pack everything I needed into my 28-litre Rolltop Bag, and enjoyed an M&S picnic as we sped down to London. The train got in at 21:08, and by 22:00 I was safely ensconced in a friend’s flat. There are hotels and hostels near St Pancras, where you can stay if you’re getting the first Eurostar, but they’re quite expensive, so I normally plan my itinerary to avoid them.

The next morning I rode through pre-dawn streets, and joined the queue for the 7:01 to Paris. A text arrived from Vicky as I waited – her husband had crashed his bike over the weekend, and she was going to have to cancel our hiking trip. I let my feelings settle as the train soared across Kent towards the tunnel. I was worried for him, sad for her, and disappointed that I wouldn’t get the holiday I had anticipated. But the only sensible solution was to treat this as an opportunity, I told myself, and started looking for hostels near GR221 hiking trail.

Within minutes of disembarking at Gare du Nord I was riding down Rue Saint-Denis in the spring sunshine, admiring the swirling patterns of the cobblestones and peering into the windows of cafés and boutiques. My visit had happily coincided with France’s first day of spring, and thousands of Parisians had flocked to the parks and café terraces, to enjoy the sunshine.

Person riding a Brompton bike along a cobbled street

Paris to Barcelona

I was up early again the following morning, and had Paris’ bike lanes to myself as I sped into the city under a blushing sky. Market traders were busily unloading pallets of fruit as I sped through Vincennes, and delicious smells emanating from the boulangeries told me that the city’s bakers had been up for hours.

The Brompton transformed back into an anonymous suitcase as I arrived at Gare de Lyon, and soon I was sitting in the café car of the 7:42 TGV to Barcelona, watching the suburbs fly past as we headed south. This double-decker train travels the length of France, and then follows the Mediterranean coastline. Sit on the left for views of Mont Ventoux and the sea, or the right to see the flamingos who live in the coastal lagoons, and the ethereal peak of Mont Canigou that dominates Catalunya’s skyline.

It was early afternoon when I disembarked into Barcelona’s warm salty air, and joined flocks of cyclists rolling along the bicivia. First stop was my favourite ice cream shop (delaCrem Creativa, since you ask), and then I admired the newly topped-out Sagrada Família, before following one of the city’s elegant avenues towards the seafront.

Realising I’d lost my wallet punctured my mood slightly. I quickly retraced my steps, glad to have a Brompton on which to do so, and then spent the remainder of my evening doing emergency admin in a hotel reception, before putting my lights on for the ride to the ferry terminal. I deposited the Brompton on one of my cabin’s twin beds, lay down on the other, and slept through the entire crossing.

Mallorca

We disembarked as dawn broke over Palma’s towering cathedral, and I pushed the Brompton through the medieval streets of the old town, glad not to have to carry my heavy bag. Too tired for sightseeing, I settled for a morning of crawling between cafes, then found the transport interchange hidden beneath a city park, and took a bus to Sóller.

The hostel that a friend had recommended turned out to be nicer than many hotels I’ve stayed in, and I spent the next few days exploring the area on foot, leaving the Brompton secured to my bunk with its café lock.

Later that week I pedalled over the hill to join my partner in Deià, and every single roadie waved at me. It turns out everyone’s pleased to see you when you’re on a Brompton.

Barcelona to Girona

Tired after my exertions on the island, I sat still for the entire seven-hour crossing back to Barcelona, Brompton safely on a shelf behind me, then followed the bike path to Sants station, and attempted to buy a ticket to Girona. I have never yet had a straightforward experience with Spanish trains, and this was no exception – the first agent I spoke to sold me the wrong ticket, and after I managed to obtain a refund, the next one handed me ticket and waved me away without paying. I later learned that RENFE had temporarily made local trains free, to encourage people to keep using them after some highly publicised incidents.

The Brompton came into its own in Girona, and I spent more time riding, pushing and carrying it round the city than I did out on the open road. Though I did spend one really excellent morning riding with a friend, admiring the snowy Pyrenees on the horizon as we sped past green fields and blossoming fruit trees. I was pleased to discover that my P Line handled the local greenways almost as well as her gravel bike, so perhaps next time we’ll go all the way to the coast.

Girona to Bilbao

My next leg was the trickiest. I could have taken the train straight to Bilbao, but I wanted to visit Vitoria-Gasteiz, a city I’ve passed through on long bike rides, but never had a chance to explore. In keeping with my chequered history with Spanish trains, it turned out reservations were sold out, so rather than change my itinerary, I ended up buying a full-price ticket (and wasting a day of my Interrail pass).

The journey went well though, especially after my friends warned me that high-speed trains leave Girona from a separate terminal. (It’s next-door to the main station, but you could easily miss a train before you worked that out.) I alighted in Barcelona alongside several Brompton commuters, and since I had an hour’s wait, I went to look for breakfast, forgetting that you need to leave more time for Sants’ airport-style security scanners.

Thankfully I made it onto the train just before it left, and settled down to enjoy a five-hour journey across the Spanish interior, watching mountains rise up and weather close in before stepping off into a raincloud at Vitoria-Gasteiz. Located on an inland plateau, this city has an impressive network of traffic-free paths, including the Anillo Verde, which loops the city like a ring road. Within minutes I was riding along under avenues of blossom, overlooked by nearby mountains, and my route took me past the Botanic Gardens, and via colourful Errekaleor, the Iberian Peninsula’s largest squatted settlement.

The next morning I set off into pouring rain, for my longest ride yet on the Brompton, from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Bilbao. I started out on one of the plateau’s excellent railway paths then switched to a mountain road that crossed the 700m Urkiola Pass, one of the day’s harder climbs, before descending through beautiful mountain scenery to Durango, and following the river Ibaizabal towards the coast through small towns. This region is great for cycling – as well as numerous greenways there is a proper bicycle highway along the valley to Amorebieta, and a recent change in the law means that drivers give cyclists a very wide berth.

Bilbao to Santander

Bilbao was another city I had passed through but never explored, and I spent a day putting that right, whizzing along the riverside on excellent bike paths, visiting the Casco Viejo (old town), and sampling local delicacies such as bollo de mantequilla (basically a brioche bun spread with buttercream).

My highlight was the magnificent Guggenheim Museum, which is gorgeous inside and out, and although I wasn’t able to bring the Brompton in with me, I easily found a nearby shopkeeper who’d look after it, thanks to the Radical Storage app.

Bilbao is surrounded by green hillsides, and I had hoped to take the Brompton up on the funicular, to enjoy the view. However, Easter weekend meant that the queue was hours long, so I decided to save this for a future visit, and pedalled off to the bus station.

I spent the next couple of days with a friend in the pretty seaside town of Castro-Urdiales, 40 minutes from Bilbao by bus, and just about managed to keep up with her road bike when she took me for a Saturday morning spin. The mountains climb straight out of the sea here, so we first followed a serpentine road up to a pass, serenaded by goat bells, then flew down towards the beach, and followed the coastline home, green peaks on one side, and crashing waves on the other.

Santander to Sheffield

My last day was supposed to be easy. I had booked myself onto the 14:00 ferry from Santander, and was looking forward to sleeping for most of the 29 hours it would take me to get to Portsmouth. My friend dropped me at Solares, from which regular trains and buses went straight to the port.

I had reckoned without Easter cancellations, and when none of the trains arrived, I realised the only way to catch my ferry was to cycle there. It was 23km away, so probably just over an hour’s ride. Shouldn’t be too bad, I thought. But crossing a city is never straightforward, and over the next hour I despaired as Google routed me up and down steps, over gravel and cobbles, through busy parks, and at one point down a sliproad towards a motorway. There was absolutely no way I’d make it in time, and I veered between blind panic and grim acceptance.

Against all the odds, I skidded into the departures hall with six minutes to spare, and soon found myself being shuttled to the ferry with a friendly Englishman on a Brittany Ferries ‘mini cruise’. With his encouragement I stayed awake for some of the journey home – we did a pub quiz, watched dolphins swimming by, and listened with delight as the karaoke session was hijacked by a professional opera singer.

The ferry docked in Portsmouth at 17:30, and although foot passengers are the last ones off, the train station is a 10-minute ride away, so there was plenty of time to get home.

How to pack for a no-fly cycling trip

I was initially worried I wouldn’t get everything into just one 28-litre bag, especially given how many different holidays I was squeezing into this trip (cycling, hiking, city breaks), but in the end I even had room for my laptop and waterproofs (both of which I was glad of), and riding with flat pedals meant I didn’t have to bring a change of footwear.

The two pouches on the outside of the bag were perfect for my water bottles, and meant that it sat comfortably on my hip when I was carrying it, and the other external pockets were sufficient for my other bits and pieces. It was a novelty, carrying only one bag after years of bikepacking, and much easier to keep track of my possessions.

Reflections – the challenges of long distance cycling routes across europe

I love planning a multi-modal adventure around Europe, but if you have a busy, stressful life, and need a holiday where you can completely switch off, then this style of trip might not be for you. Late spring or early autumn is usually the best time to explore Europe by bike, since you avoid the hottest part of summer in southern Europe.

If, however, you like DIY holidays, with a choose-your-own-adventure vibe, and thrive on planning and problem-solving, then you’ll probably love travelling round Europe by train and Brompton.

I probably wouldn’t attempt a trip like this as a family holiday – but I know people who have, so it depends on what sort of family you are.

One of the great things about travelling Europe without flying is that it gives you long periods of sitting comfortably, on trains and boats. So it’s especially good for people who have hobbies like knitting, reading, and sketching – and for digital nomads too, although I tend not to trust the internet speeds on trains, so try to do offline work when I’m in transit.

In some ways it would have been even easier not to have to carry a bike with me – but without the Brompton I’d have seen a lot less of places like Paris and Vitoria-Gasteiz, not to mention definitely missing my ferry home. So on reflection I wouldn’t be without it, and I’m already planning my next trip around Europe by bike and train.