# train travel



## Garywest12

Hi all, quick question - we are travelling with three large 23k bags and a couple of handbags between Bordeaux and Montpellier this week. Is there any problem with bringing such large baggage on French train apart from not blocking the way of other passengers?! Do you ever have to pay for larger baggage in advance? I can't see that we do but just wanted to be sure..Travelling second class on intercity train booked on SNCF app. Many thanks.


----------



## Bevdeforges

As far as I know, the only limitation on large baggage is whether or not you are capable of slinging the bag (or box) up into the train carriage, scramble up after it and find a spot on the baggage rack at the end of the car to stow it out of the way of the other passengers (while still allowing others to get on and off the train at the stop). Easier to do for a the originating point or termination point of the line. The stops in between can be amazingly brief in duration.


----------



## Garywest12

Bevdeforges said:


> As far as I know, the only limitation on large baggage is whether or not you are capable of slinging the bag (or box) up into the train carriage, scramble up after it and find a spot on the baggage rack at the end of the car to stow it out of the way of the other passengers (while still allowing others to get on and off the train at the stop). Easier to do for a the originating point or termination point of the line. The stops in between can be amazingly brief in duration.


Thanks for that - yes I have noticed the brief duration issue - seems slightly better in bigger places, cities etc but one to watch out for. Thanks again, hope you are well.


----------



## travertine

I recently travelled on the fast train from CDG to Rennes and my 2nd class ticket allowed 1 large bag but I had to pay for the second. That said, in previous trips and this one, no-one has ever checked my ticket against my baggage. The bigger challenge is finding space for such large bags. OK as mentioned if you are getting on at the originating station.


----------



## EuroTrash

Yes you have to hit the right balance between finding a luggage rack with space on it, but not too much space because if you're the first to put your bag on, then when you come to get off you'll be frantically trying to shift lots of other pieces of heavy luggage out of the way to get at yours out when it's time to get off.


----------



## Garywest12

travertine said:


> I recently travelled on the fast train from CDG to Rennes and my 2nd class ticket allowed 1 large bag but I had to pay for the second. That said, in previous trips and this one, no-one has ever checked my ticket against my baggage. The bigger challenge is finding space for such large bags. OK as mentioned if you are getting on at the originating station.


Very helpful thank you. Luggage storage does seem to be hard to find - hopefully we will find some available space, kind regards


----------



## Garywest12

EuroTrash said:


> Yes you have to hit the right balance between finding a luggage rack with space on it, but not too much space because if you're the first to put your bag on, then when you come to get off you'll be frantically trying to shift lots of other pieces of heavy luggage out of the way to get at yours out when it's time to get off.


Sounds like a challenge (as well as keeping an eye on everything during a long journey.) Thanks for helpful reply, kind regards, Gary


----------



## ToutesDirections

Available baggage facilities on French trains varies greatly according to the type of train. Between Bordeaux and Montpellier you'll be on an Intercités train. As others have pointed out, the main points are 1) being able to schlep your bags on and off the train within a small time window, and 2) making sure if you need to block access to the doors or WC that you are right there, ready to move your bag(s) out of the way (and back again).

The train folks want you to have a label on your baggage but I've never had them check the label or weigh anything.

A few months ago I shepherded a bulky 23kg bag plus large duffel on multiple trains, including a TGV. 1) was the most physically challenging, and 2) was a bit of an ongoing mental puzzle. The TGV trip coincided with a big holiday weekend - my car was completely full of holiday seekers and the vestibule was already packed with their large bags. Among the passengers, gallows humor prevailed... but regardless you still must be prepared to wrangle your bags out of the way at each stop. 

That particular train only stopped 2 places, which helped offset the fact that TGV trains have notoriously little space for baggage. (This limitation is in the process of being addressed.) At the major stop, the train platform was at the opposite side of where we boarded. To enable a herd of new passengers to board, I had to wrestle my bag onto the platform to get it out of their way and then replace it quickly after everyone was on. That was interesting...

Hopefully this gives an idea of an extreme scenario, as well as the sense that it can be done!


----------



## *Sunshine*

How many times do you have to change trains? Travelling with lots of luggage by train can be very tiring. I've done it when I was a student and having to take the metro between train stations in Paris was a nightmare.

You might want to consider packing everything you need for the first few days in one large bag and sending the other 2 bags with SNCF's delivery service. 



https://www.sncf.com/en/passenger-offer/travel-by-train/tgv-inoui/your-travel/luggage


----------



## EuroTrash

Oh for the days when you could stick your head out of the window as your train chuffa-chuffa'd into the station, shout "Porteur!" (is that what you would shout in French?) and a porter would magically appear, touch his cap, load your bags onto his trolley and whisk them of to wherever you needed to be, for a few francs.
Why don't they have railway porters any more?


----------



## ToutesDirections

*Sunshine* said:


> How many times do you have to change trains?


No changes required between Bordeaux and Montpellier, and 6 stops.



*Sunshine* said:


> Travelling with lots of luggage by train can be very tiring. I've done it when I was a student and having to take the metro between train stations in Paris was a nightmare.


The Metro w/large baggage is an Advanced Topic, (much) more complicated than the Bordeaux to Montpellier scenario. I'll take the RER with large baggage but avoid the Metro in Paris. Each Metro station is different.

Intercités w/no changes is one of the best scenarios w/large luggage.



*Sunshine* said:


> You might want to consider packing everything you need for the first few days in one large bag and sending the other 2 bags with SNCF's delivery service.
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.sncf.com/en/passenger-offer/travel-by-train/tgv-inoui/your-travel/luggage


This hopefully will become more of a thing. Right now it's kind of expensive and hard to find specifics online. If someone figures out how to do this, I'd like to read about it.


----------



## Garywest12

ToutesDirections said:


> Available baggage facilities on French trains varies greatly according to the type of train. Between Bordeaux and Montpellier you'll be on an Intercités train. As others have pointed out, the main points are 1) being able to schlep your bags on and off the train within a small time window, and 2) making sure if you need to block access to the doors or WC that you are right there, ready to move your bag(s) out of the way (and back again).
> 
> The train folks want you to have a label on your baggage but I've never had them check the label or weigh anything.
> 
> A few months ago I shepherded a bulky 23kg bag plus large duffel on multiple trains, including a TGV. 1) was the most physically challenging, and 2) was a bit of an ongoing mental puzzle. The TGV trip coincided with a big holiday weekend - my car was completely full of holiday seekers and the vestibule was already packed with their large bags. Among the passengers, gallows humor prevailed... but regardless you still must be prepared to wrangle your bags out of the way at each stop.
> 
> That particular train only stopped 2 places, which helped offset the fact that TGV trains have notoriously little space for baggage. (This limitation is in the process of being addressed.) At the major stop, the train platform was at the opposite side of where we boarded. To enable a herd of new passengers to board, I had to wrestle my bag onto the platform to get it out of their way and then replace it quickly after everyone was on. That was interesting...
> 
> Hopefully this gives an idea of an extreme scenario, as well as the sense that it can be done!


----------



## Garywest12

Thank you for such a full and helpful reply. I have a mental image in my head of you struggling on and off with a 23k bag. Our luggage is on the same scale x 3, over which I have some regrets (!), but hopefully we arrive intact. Thanks again and kind regards, Gary


----------



## saffron_gin

I schelped around two 23 kg suitcases and one large handbag with laptop/ipad etc all over Europe in trains, planes, ferries and automobiles in what I call my grand STUPID tour. Alone and not very muscular lady. So yes, it can be done. Would I recommend it, no? 

Sounds like there is two of you, so you should be fine.


----------



## Garywest12

saffron_gin said:


> I schelped around two 23 kg suitcases and one large handbag with laptop/ipad etc all over Europe in trains, planes, ferries and automobiles in what I call my grand STUPID tour. Alone and not very muscular lady. So yes, it can be done. Would I recommend it, no?
> 
> Sounds like there is two of you, so you should be fine.


----------



## Garywest12

A very encouraging story - Hopefully we have an equally successful stupid tour ! Thanks for very positive reply, kind regards, Gary


----------



## Garywest12

*Thanks to everyone - this journey went off without a hitch. There was a combination of places to leave baggage - mid-carriage shelves, behind a seat, and an area the carriage entrance which wasn't clearly marked for luggage but which we and others used. The baggage was never queried, although our tickets were checked twice and we never had to move anything and there were no changes. We tried to find out the platform in advance but were warned it could change so just had to rely on the normal twenty minute posting on station screens. Worst part of it all was getting up stairs to platforms without lifts - my arms still ache. The answer to that of course is probably less luggage next time Thanks again and kind regards, Gary*


----------



## saffron_gin

Glad you got through all that without a hitch and an arm it seems - but I am pretty sure there would have been lift access to all platforms in Bordeaux and Montpellier....because accessibility...things were bad a decade ago but not any longer? Esp in major towns...!


----------



## BackinFrance

Lots of stations in major towns and cities in France are still not accessible despite the fact that the legislation was passed many years ago


----------



## Bevdeforges

Accessibility is still pretty hit and miss throughout France these days. And even where it exists, it can be "hidden away" somewhere known only to those who have either found it, or thought to call ahead to ask about it and arrange for someone to come out and unlock or unblock the access to the access.

In Germany, I have seen quite a few of those little narrow conveyor belts that run parallel to the stairs going up to the quai for the trains. You still have to climb the stairs, but you can rest your bag on the conveyor belt so that it is carried up on the belt. Clever idea - though with all the upcoming restrictions on gratuitous electricity use, I wonder if those will be available all the time.


----------



## saffron_gin

I know for sure Montpellier has lifts but do remember that Bordeaux was a problem as late as in 2018....


----------

