How to travel by train with your bike?
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Published on 6/21/23, modified on 9/30/26
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Inspiration and great deals for your next low-carbon trips
Are you looking for practical tips, real-life experiences, and a healthy dose of inspiration for your next low-carbon trip? Get comfortable and put on your headphones: boarding is now open for "Want a hit?", the podcast that will get you hooked on trains! Here, we revisit Chloé’s story—aka @Missucharlie, who tries out a new job every three months and shares her experiences on social media. In an interview with Benjamin, she recounts her solo bike trip to Norway: a month of almost nonstop riding from Paris.
"The cool thing is that I often make eco-friendly choices, but not at all out of a sense of responsibility—really just because it's fun."
"I really love traveling by train because I can keep working."
Chloé estimates the total cost of her equipment (including her bike and cameras) at about 7,800 €, gravel bike for 3,300 € at the top of the list (plus a Sony camera for 1,000 € and two Insta360s for 800 €).
When it comes to used equipment, she believes that by finding the right deals, you can walk away with all the gear you need to €2,500 to €3,000, bike included.
For long-distance bikepacking with 10 to 15 For luggage weighing kg, Chloé advises against a road bike (too light, designed for speed rather than weight) and recommends a gravel bike, which is wider and slightly heavier, offering a good balance between comfort and speed.
Discovered two days before his departure, the app Warmshowers (the equivalent of Couchsurfing for cyclists) allowed her to find accommodations with local residents along the entire route, with, in her opinion, a significantly higher level of hospitality than on traditional Couchsurfing.
No set plan : Every morning, Chloé would map out her route on the Garmin app—in barely two minutes—without knowing in advance where she would end up that evening.
If you'd rather plan your route in advance (and swap your legs for train tracks), we've got just what you need :
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One observation that struck her: as soon as she reached Belgium, she noticed that people were much more respectful toward cyclists than in France. In the Netherlands, she went so far as to call it a “dream.” Germany struck her as a bit more tense on the road, but her sense of safety increased again as she made her way toward the Scandinavian countries.
"I'm more worried about a Dane coming to France than a French person going to Denmark. Because the further you go into the Scandinavian countries, the farther you get from France, the safer it is."
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Norway wasn’t just a spur-of-the-moment decision. In her second year of business school, Chloé had already tried to go there. She wanted to do her internship there and return by train or bike, but her parents had refused: it was too dangerous for a young woman traveling alone. In the end, she hadn’t found an internship there, but the idea had lingered in the back of her mind. The turning point came later, with triathlon (as part of one of the careers she was exploring), which got her back on track and made her want to push herself further.
She says she made her decision after thinking it over for twelve minutes, then put the matter aside while she finished her triathlon—to the point where she no longer really believed in it herself. It wasn’t until after the triathlon was over—seven days before departure—that she really got down to organizing: a list of equipment tailored to every possible scenario ("You're sleeping outside tonight—what do you need?"), a checklist organized by bag (one for food, one for toiletries, etc.), a gravel bike provided by Liv (already a partner for his triathlon), and the rest of the gear selected through Alltricks.
On the big day, she receives a flood of messages at first, but after two hours, they dry up. She finds herself alone in an unfamiliar place, with no idea where she’s going. It’s a strange feeling that will stay with her for a good fifteen days (though it doesn’t stop her from singing as she rides her bike).
The start of her journey is marked by fairly “flat” terrain and a sense of routine without any major emotional highs. Everything changes as she leaves Germany, when she meets Dimitri, the first bike traveler with whom she’ll ride for several days. Together, they decide on their route—including a ferry crossing—and share the decision-making. This shared responsibility gives her a chance to catch her breath, and the trip takes on a much more varied tone: with big highs and big lows.
About two and a half weeks after she set out, she was overcome by a very overwhelming sense of loneliness. But she never once considered giving up, even during that low point. Her gamble eventually paid off. As she reviews her video footage, she can clearly see her progress: deeply affected by loneliness at the start of her journey, she finishes the trip feeling perfectly at ease with herself, able to find the same joy on her own as she does in company. "I've learned to come to terms with loneliness," she says.
In the end, what she takes away from this month on the road isn't so much Norway itself as the milestone she's reached: having persevered, alone, in the unknown, and coming out of it feeling more at ease with herself than when she started.
A trip that confirms, once again, that the low-carbon journey is about more than just a mode of transportation : Above all, it’s a human adventure filled with encounters and emotions.
Issue du monde de la communication et des médias, Sophie est Responsable éditoriale chez HOURRAIL ! depuis août 2024. Elle est notamment derrière le contenu éditorial du site ainsi que La Locomissive (de l'inspiration voyage bas carbone et des bons plans, un jeudi sur deux, gratuitement dans ta boîte mail !).
Convaincue que les changements d’habitude passent par la transformation de nos imaginaires, elle s’attache à montrer qu’il est possible de voyager autrement, de manière plus consciente, plus lente et plus joyeuse. Son objectif : rendre le slow travel accessible à toutes et tous, à travers des astuces, des décryptages et surtout, de nouveaux récits.
