London to Strasbourg-ish with bike

Hi Hermione,

So first in answer to your questions:

1. For regional trains, the price of a ticket doesn't generally go up so buying on the day gives you a little more flexibility. Regional networks are slower and more frequent and don't usually require seat reservations - a bit like the BR network in London... buying in advance doesn't save you any cash. However, if you want to take high-speed trains such as the French TGV or German InterCity Express then buying in advance will be a bit cheaper. Again it's like faster longer distance trains in the UK - if you were to go to Bath it would be a whole lot cheaper 3 months in advance than on the day.

2. Crossing borders is no problem, there are plenty of international trains, but you will usually require a seat reservation as high speed trains are more likely to get booked out.

3. It's hard to generalise, and better to look at specific trains. Although for the most part during off peak hours you can roll your bike on and off (again like BR here), it's more wise to take a bike bag. It's a small investment but it means you don't have to ever worry about booking your bike on to a train. However if you don't imagine you'll take your bike on the continent again, you can book a space on the Eurostar and then on the TGV. It'll be about £10 one way on the TGV and £30 one way for Eurostar. Of course a final option is to look into cycle hire in the region to which you're headed.

Since your trip is less than a month away, I would book tickets as soon as possible. I looked at a single London-Strasbourg and then a single from Ulm to London, but it seems like it would be cheaper to book London to Strasbourg return and then a separate ticket between Ulm and Strasbourg.

So you could do this:

London - Strasbourg Strasbourg to London

If you booked today, it would be about £169 return. About 6hrs journey time.

Between Strasbourg and Metz there's a regional train, you can book today but the price will be around £23 regardless. Between Ulm and Strasbourg, it's an ICE train and then a change to TGV. Usually booking in advance means cheaper fares, but it looks like with the time frame, whether you book now or later the price will be around £69.50 with a journey time of around 3.5hrs.

So I would book the London to Strasbourg legs as soon as possible. The other legs are up to you, since the price will remain about the same, it's just a matter of preference. I would also decide how to transport your bike so that you can make the necessary arrangements and not get caught out at the station!