The Moselle Cycle Route

Author updates

Mike Wells has provided these updates

Doing the route on a tandem

The main thing you may struggle with on a tandem are the offset barriers that are used in France to slow down cyclists and prevent them from emerging too fast onto vehicular roads. The author has had difficulty sometimes negotiating them on his ordinary cycle with panniers sticking out, which restrict clearance. With a tandem you may need to dismount to get the bike through. Pictures of such barriers can be found in the guide on p47 and p99.

The other problem is transporting a tandem to and from the start and end of the route. Neither flying nor taking a train is easy with a tandem and research will need to be undertaken.

Eurostar restrictions

Eurostar will not take full size bikes on their services between London and Paris or London to Brussels currently because of COVID-19. They will still take folding bikes.

Route Updates

Stage 7;

new route around Metz Port very bottom p107 and most of p109).

A new section of cycle track has been constructed just N of Metz. This avoids 2km of cycling on a road busy with trucks through Metz port and past a huge Ikea warehouse. It adds 1km to the stage but is a significant improvement to the route. It is waymarked throughout as Véloroute Charles-le-Téméraire.

After passing under the combined road and rail bridge bottom of p107), turn R onto a new cycle track following the Moselle do not follow road bearing L away from river). Continue beside the river for 1.6km, then follow the cycle track bearing L and ascending to cross a new bridge over the entrance channel to Metz port. Bear R to regain the riverbank and after 1km follow the track bearing L away from the river parallel with a canal R that takes coal barges to La Maxe power station. The cycle track emerges onto a road and continues ahead to reach a crossroads. Turn R over the canal, rejoining the route described in the guide) and R again on an asphalt track between two small canals. Continue as per description at the bottom of p109.

November 2014

Latest information about getting to Fellering by train

Since autumn 2014, the best way to reach Fellering by train from London with a bicycle is to travel by Eurostar from London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord. Trains which carry cycles run hourly throughout the day with a journey time of approximately 3hrs. Reservations for your cycle are required through Eurostar baggage +44 844 822 5822) at a cost of £30. There is no need for bicycles to be boxed and cycles travel in a dedicated compartment in the same train as the one you travel on.

After arrival in Paris you need to cycle from Gare du Nord to Gare de Lyon following three 'grands boulevards' wide 19th-century avenues) on an almost straight 4km route. Go ahead opposite the main entrance to Gare de Nord along semi-pedestrianised Boulevard de Denain. At the end turn L into Boulevard de Magenta and follow this to reach Place de la Republique. Continue round this square and leave on opposite side by Boulevard du Temple, becoming Boulevard des Filles du Calvaire and Boulevard Beaumarchais, to reach Place de la Bastille. Continue ahead again on Rue de Lyon to reach Gare de Lyon station.

TGV Lyria trains, which run from Paris Gare de Lyon to Basle via Mulhouse, have four cycle spaces per train, with mandatory reservation €10). There are six direct trains per day which take 2hr45min to reach Mulhouse, from where local trains take you on to Fellering. Total journey time from London to Fellering, allowing an hour to cycle through Paris, is typically 8hr30min.

Travelling with a cycle on Eurostar

After 3 years since they ‘temporarily’ ceased carrying cycles because of covid, Eurostar have begun carrying them again, but with a very limited service and with conditions of carriage that are not attractive to touring cyclists. Before covid, all trains to Paris and Brussels carried up to six cycles, two fully assembled and four dismantled, in specially designed fibreglass bike cases. Eurostar provided the cases and tools to dismantle/reassemble bikes in an area dedicated to this procedure.

The reinstated service carries bikes only on trains to Paris not Brussels) on selected departures from London between 07.55 and 15.31 or from Paris between 11.13 and 18.13. Fully assembled bikes are not being carried. Four dismantled bikes can be carried, but cyclists must deliver their bikes already boxed to the baggage counter in either London or Paris. Pre-booking is compulsory and riders must now travel on the same train as their bikes. After completing the journey, boxes must be collected directly from the train and cycles reassembled on the platform.

This is far from ideal, and until Eurostar fully reinstate their previous cycle carriage policy, cyclists are recommended to take their bikes by plane, ferry or Euroshuttle when heading to the European mainland. The situation could potentially change.

The Cycling UK website www.cyclinguk.org has a page dedicated to Eurostar cycle carriage policy, which is updated regularly to contain any new information.