So you want to come to south east France with your bicycle. Of course, you can follow the EuroVelo network and arrive by bicycle. But many prefer to bring their bikes by train. Here we look at the options for arriving at either of “our” railway stations, Meyrargues and Les Arcs.
TRAIN & BIKE
From Bremen to Meyrargues…..

Many regional trains in Germany have whole carriages dedicated to cyclists
Bikes on Trains in France
If you want to travel by train with your bike in France, there are a couple of websites that offer useful advice. Freewheelingfrance.com is an English language website that has a good overview of which regions of France have long distance trains that take fully assembled bikes. The French language blog un-monde-a-velo.com offers a useful overview of the train/bike situation in France. It provides useful tips when taking a bike on a French train, such as confirming that your train really takes bikes, platform access issues at particular stations, and so on. There is also some useful information on the French velotourisme site.
France has a comprehensive and fast train network. Most of the country is covered by the super-fast TGV. There is also a smaller residual network of slower inter-city trains called Intercités, Whilst all trains take folded or dis-assembled bikes, most touring cyclists look for the convenience of taking fully assembled bikes on board.
All Intercités trains take assembled bikes for a fee of €10. But unfortunately only one serves south east France. This is the night train from Paris Austerlitz to Nice. Many TGV trains now take assembled bikes for the same fee. Currently (early 2025) we can identify 1 TGV per day that takes unfolded bikes to south-east France, the TGV2239 that runs from Strasbourg to Toulon.
Otherwise, touring cyclists wishing to reach our region by train have to rely on the regional train system, or TER. All TER trains allow passengers to bring bicycles on board for free. Unlike the TGV and Intercités trains, you do not need to book or pay extra.
Until recently it was difficult to plan and book a journey with multiple TER connections. But the new online planning system, sncf-connect, has overcome this problem. In most cases you can book through tickets using TER connections. Though sometimes there are more options by splitting your journey into two stages. The site is available in English as well as French.
Note that times may change.
From Spain & Italy
If you are travelling from southern Europe, you’ll need to get to Les Arcs (from Italy) or Marseille and on to Meyrargues (from Spain and Portugal). From Italy, you can book a ticket from Ventimiglia to Les Arcs (around €23), changing in Nice. There are 4 bookable through connections, but more if you split the journey in Nice.
From Spain, you can book a ticket from Perpignan to Meyrargues (around €50) via Narbonne and Marseille. There are multiple connections throughout the day if you break up your journey in Marseille.
From Northern Europe
If you are travelling from northern Europe with a bike, 3 routes are possible – via Paris, Strasbourg or Geneva. Both the Paris and the Strasbourg routes go via Lyon. The Geneva route is via Grenoble or Lyon. There are frequent regional trains between Grenoble and Lyon (1hour 20 minutes), so in many ways the latter is preferable.
From the UK
If you want to know how to get to mainland Europe from the UK by train with a bike, there is a useful overview of the options on Mark Smith’s seat61 website.
If you wish to use the Eurostar, only trains from London to Brussels accept fully assembled bikes. Space needs to be booked well in advance. Otherwise, the only way to travel to the European mainland by bike is to take a ferry.
If you are arriving at Calais, using the shortest crossing, there are regular regional trains to Paris Gare du Nord (3 hours). Gare de Lyon, the station for trains to the south east, is 4 kilometres south. Here is a useful bikemap between the two stations.
The Paris Route
From Paris, the only direct train to Marseille that we have found (early 2025) that takes unfolded bicycles is the night train from Paris Austerlitz (from €40). It leaves Paris at 20:10 and arrives in Marseille at 06:33 the following morning.
However this train terminates at Marseille Blancarde station, and you need to ride the 3 km to Saint Charles to catch the Meyrargues train. However, the night train continues to Les Arcs (07:52), and Nice at 09:09. Cost with a couchette and reserved bike space is from €55.
If the night train is not your thing, you need to split your journey in Lyon. There are frequent TGV INOUI trains from Paris Gare de Lyon to Lyon (2 hours) that take a small number of bicycles. From Lyon, there is 1 TGV with bicycle space at 18:05 (arrives 19:45). Otherwise, you have to use the more regular TER service, which takes just under 4 hours. There is usually plenty space for bicycles on this service.
Cycle space is very limited on tgv inoui trains. Book well in advance.
The Strasbourg route
From Strasbourg there are 2 TGV trains that take unfolded bicycles. The 06:47 TGV INOUI travels from Metz (dep 05:41) to Lyon, arriving 11:00. This train continues to Nîmes and Montpellier in the west of Provence. The 13:37 TGV2239 serves Marseille (19:45) and Toulon (20:44).
Other than these 2 TGV services, travelling from Strasbourg by train and bike requires a number of separately bookable journeys. Stage 1 is to Belfort Ville (approx 1½ hours, €27), changing in Mulhouse. Stage 2 is to Lyon. From Belfort there are 3 direct trains to Lyon via Bourg-en-Bresse (4 hours, €46). They leave Belfort at 07:36, 13:36 and 18:36. Alternatively, you can book a TER ticket to Lyon for the same price via a connecting station.
If you are cycling the EV6 in Alsace/France Comté, there are various stations along the way where you can catch a train on this route. These include Montbéliard, L’Isle-sur-le-Doubs, Clerval, Baume-les-Dames and Besançon-Viotte.
Returning from the south to the north, the Toulon (dep 08:50) or Marseille (dep 09:31) to Strasbourg (arr 15:54) TGV takes non-folded bikes. The additional TGV from Lyon that takes non -folded bikes leaves Lyon Part-Dieu at 16:04, and arrives in Strasbourg at 20:13. This train originates from Montpellier.
The Geneva route
From Geneva, there are direct regional trains to Lyon ( 10 a day, 2 hours, €29), and Grenoble (6 a day on weekdays, 2 hours 20 minutes, €29). From Lyon, you can continue your journey as outlined below. From Grenoble there is a train link to Meyrargues via Veynes-Devoluy. However train connection times are often long. The best connection is a late afternoon journey from Grenoble (16:07) to Meyrargues (20:52) via Veynes-Devoluy (47 minute wait).
Corail trains have more space for cycles.
Lyon to Provence
From Lyon, other than the two trains detailed above, there are 3 TER trains daily to Marseille (4 hours, €50). There are also multiple TER trains to Avignon (2hours 30m). From Avignon, there are regular TER services to Marseille (on average 1hour 30mins).
As you can see in our video above, larger Corail trains run from Lyon to Marseille. These are identified as TER on booking sites, but can take many more bicycles (see photo and video).
To reach our section of the EV8 from Marseille, there is a direct TER service to Meyrargues. These trains cater largely for commuters to Marseille, so not surprisingly there are more services into the city in the morning, and more out in the evening. Trains take an hour, departing from Marseille from 07:41 to 18:41. Departures from Meyrargues are from 06:32 to 20:52.
The Future
The lack of bicycle space on long distance trains to Provence has meant very limited options for those wishing to bring their bikes with them. But this is now changing. A new EU regulation obliges all railway companies to install at least 4 dedicated bicycle spaces in new and refurbished trains. This has resulted in, from 2023, new bicycle space on some TGV trains between Paris and Lyon. However, as of early 2025, we are still waiting for more direct TGV services to Marseille to provide bicycle spaces.