On this page we attempt to make available the experience of individual bicycle tourists who travel to Luxembourg (you can share your experiences here).
Table of Contents
Belgian Rail
10 Feb. 2005 Alan Reekie, Brussels
Train travel with a bike within Belgium is pretty straightforward, at least for individuals: EU4.30 on top of the fare [EU8.20 for a tandem] - you can buy tickets in advance and validate them on the day of travel - fill in details on tag from ticket, attach tag to bike and load it into the van yourself, (usually with help from on-board railway personnel). No reservations, carriage is subject to space available, first come first served (on some trains, the space allocated for bikes is shown by a large pictogram).
AFAIK there is some space on all services other than Eurostar, Thalys and TGV trains and some traditional international trains (see the operators' Web sites).
Official Belgian Railways bike pages (in French and Dutch, no English version available yet)
The corresponding information for international trains leaving Belgium is on-line (in French and Dutch respectively)
Note you can park your bike in a (paid-for) locker, or hire a bike at certain stations; details are available on-line.
In Brussels, you can take your bike with you on the métro network and on *only* low-floor trams (currently routes 91, 92 and 93) outside the rush hours (ie NOT 7.00 - 9.00 nor 16.30 - 18.30 Mon-Fri), price one flat adult fare extra.
Luxembourg (Findel)
Based on a trip in May 97: The trip from Luxembourg City (center) to Findel Airport is a very bikable 7 km. Orient yourself by starting at the city Tourist Office on Place d'Armes (not the national office by the RR station). Rue du Cure runs east right by the office, away from the plaza. Follow this street east. It is pedestrian-only for a couple of blocks, then one way the wrong way for a block, so walk your bike if there is any traffic. As it becomes two-way it starts downhill and changes name first to Rue Boucherie, then a couple of other names. Continue downhill for about a kilometer from the office.
You will pass a great viewing area overlooking a beautiful ravine, where the government has preserved some ancient structures. You will then cross under a bridge and pass a street called Plateau Almunster on the right and a bus stop by the same name on the left. There are a couple of signs pointing to the Aeroport or Aerogare, but then no more signs. Bus stops and buses are marked Aeroport, though. (This is a brisk one-km. downhill; inbound cyclists would find it a very challenging uphill, especially with loaded bags and jet lag.)
As the downhill levels out the street will be called Montee de Clausen and is clearly marked as such on city maps. Then you begin a fairly gradual uphill climb for 5 km. The street winds a little, but just stay on the main drag. After 3 or 4 km. the urban development thins out and the street passes through wooded areas. We never saw any heavy traffic.
As you reach the hilltop (at about km. 6 from the tourist office) you will find a signalized intersection with signs pointing to the airport. (A Luxair building is ahead of you across the intersecting highway, but you're not there yet.) Turn left at this intersection and go a little less than 1 km. further. Soon you will see a yellow sign pointing to the airport terminal, with the turnoff to it on your righ
Belgian Rail
Train travel within Belgium with a bike is pretty straightforward, at least for individuals (FB150 [EU3.75] on top of the fare - FB 300 [EU7.50] for a tandem - FB 80 [EU2.00] extra if you pay on the train) fill in details on tag on ticket, attach tag to bike and load it into the van yourself, probably with help from guard). No reservations, subject to space available, first come first served. I've not had any problems yet. AFAIK there is some space on all services other than Eurostar, Thalys and TGV trains and some traditional international trains (see below).
Official Belgian Railways bike page (in French and Dutch, no English version available yet)
http://www.b-rail.be/rnvn/F/formul/velosurtrain.html
http://www.b-rail.be/rnvn/N/formul/fietsoptrein.html
There are some restrictions about which stations you are allowed to load/unload a bike - the most significant restriction is at Brussels Central Station which is very crowded and underground; change/dismount at Midi/Zuid (probably the best choice) or Nord/Noord instead (almost all trains stop at all three).
For visitors arriving in the country there are well-served stations at Ostend harbour (through trains mainly go to Ghent, Brussels and Liege) and Brussels airport (through trains into Brussels and beyond to destinations in western Flanders and Hainaut). Very few journeys are likely to require more than one change.
A few traditional international train services to/from Brussels Midi and Namur (only) can be used - see http://www.b-rail.be/classic/F/general/bagagevelos.html (in French) http://www.b-rail.be/classic/N/algemeen/bagage_fiets.html (in Dutch) which list (as of 17 April 2000) these trains for bike transport:
- Köln - Brussels: trains 415/424
- Amsterdam - Brussels: trains 606/644 and the night train 288/289 (this train comes from Paris but I don't think that cycles are carried on the Paris-Brussels section)
- Luxembourg - Brussels: hourly trains via Namur - I would guess that you can get off these trains at other points
- Paris-Namur: train 331/338
- Basel-Namur-Brussels: train 499/498
- Brussels-Namur-Luxembourg-Basel-Zürich-Landquart-Chur: train 97/96 ("Iris") Reservation required, prices not given on the web site.
It appears from the same web pages that you can also take bikes on Motorail services (to Austria and Italy, mainly) tied on to the outside of your car (although we managed to get a tandem inside when we did it ...). I guess that the truly persuasive and adventurous car-free traveller on a relaxed schedule might just be able to arrange something with a bored motorist waiting in the queues at Schaerbeek, and then take the same train as a normal passenger ...
Cheers
Roger Hughes, Lonzée, Belgium phone +32 81 62 51 74 - fax +32 81 62 51 75
http://users.skynet.be/rohughes Roger Hughes, Lonzée, Belgium, April 14, 2000
IcelandAir
FYI, today was Iceland Air's last day for service to Luxembourg. From now on, Frankfurt and Amsterdam are the main European Ice Air destinations. However, LuxAir will have service from Lux to Iceland, but I do not know how their airfares compare, but they are code-sharing with Ice Air so you should be able to use them to get to North America.
R Gardner, January 09, 1999Luxembourg (Findel)
As a side note on airports. We, in the East of France, often consider Luxemburg International Airport when going to the US. This is a very small airport (one where you still walk on the tarmac to board planes), a few miles from French, German and Belgium borders, and Luxemburg city. Although I've only been there by car, I don't think there is any problem to bike to the airport (basically, the access is a regular road, not a freeway!). Icelandair has a daily service to Boston, Baltimore and a few other places, British Airways used to have also a regular service (not sure what it is nowadays).
Admitedly, the North-East of France is not the most popular cycling place of France, but tourers interested in Alsace, les Vosges, Schwartzwald (Germany) and Rhine valley ay consider this entry option.
Bonne route,
Jean-Pierre Jacquot CRIN (Centre de Recherche en Informatique de Nancy)
Chef du Departement d'Informatique de l'Universite Henri Poincare
post: CRIN B.P. 239 F-54506 Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy Cedex France
phone:+33 83.59.20.16 fax: +33 83.41.30.79
Luxembourg (Findel)
I can add the following for your list: Luxemburg Findel Easy road
Rlesnik, April 14, 1994