The logistics of moving with a bike
June 18, 2015 1:40 PM Subscribe
It's possible that at the end of this Summer I will need to move from the German city I am currently living in to one ~9 hours away. But how?
I've lived in my potential "new" city before, so have a good idea of what I'm in for in terms of looking for housing. My plan is to arrive two to three weeks before the start of my program to give myself time to find somewhere to live. I have one friend that I could stay with for a couple of nights, otherwise I would stay in a single-room in a youth hostel I have stayed in before.
What I'm really stuck on, however, is how to get me and my stuff from one place to the next.
I don't have a lot of belongings - basically just one to two suitcases of clothing, one or two boxes of household items. If it came down to it, I could sell/donate/trash a lot of what I have. But the thing that is really tricky is my bike. I didn't spend that much on it (200 Euro), but I will need a bike in the next city anyway. It wouldn't make much sense to sell my bike at a loss only to buy a new one a few days later.
In addition to car, transport options to the new city include train or bus. It's also technically possible to get a plane, but I would have to take an alternative form of transport to get to an airport. I think that I can rule out train or bus on account of needing to take more than one piece of luggage (let alone a bike!) and I'm unsure about hiring a car, because I'm not a super experienced driver and I have never driven on the right-hand side of the road. However, hiring a car would probably actually be the cheapest and most convenient option. I think that the slight stress of driving in a foreign country would probably be worth not having to juggle multiple pieces of luggage on a train.
I also considered whether I should try to send my stuff with movers somehow, but I'm unsure how that would work in terms of receiving the stuff. What if due to timing issues it gets to the new city before me?
So, my options as I see them:
x. Get a bike shop to take the bike apart and put it in a box, hire an automatic car (I usually drive manual), purchase very good insurance to cover me in case of any accident.
x. Give away/sell/throw away most of what I own and take a bus or train.
x. Hire movers who will send the stuff to me after I have arrived
x ??
I've lived in my potential "new" city before, so have a good idea of what I'm in for in terms of looking for housing. My plan is to arrive two to three weeks before the start of my program to give myself time to find somewhere to live. I have one friend that I could stay with for a couple of nights, otherwise I would stay in a single-room in a youth hostel I have stayed in before.
What I'm really stuck on, however, is how to get me and my stuff from one place to the next.
I don't have a lot of belongings - basically just one to two suitcases of clothing, one or two boxes of household items. If it came down to it, I could sell/donate/trash a lot of what I have. But the thing that is really tricky is my bike. I didn't spend that much on it (200 Euro), but I will need a bike in the next city anyway. It wouldn't make much sense to sell my bike at a loss only to buy a new one a few days later.
In addition to car, transport options to the new city include train or bus. It's also technically possible to get a plane, but I would have to take an alternative form of transport to get to an airport. I think that I can rule out train or bus on account of needing to take more than one piece of luggage (let alone a bike!) and I'm unsure about hiring a car, because I'm not a super experienced driver and I have never driven on the right-hand side of the road. However, hiring a car would probably actually be the cheapest and most convenient option. I think that the slight stress of driving in a foreign country would probably be worth not having to juggle multiple pieces of luggage on a train.
I also considered whether I should try to send my stuff with movers somehow, but I'm unsure how that would work in terms of receiving the stuff. What if due to timing issues it gets to the new city before me?
So, my options as I see them:
x. Get a bike shop to take the bike apart and put it in a box, hire an automatic car (I usually drive manual), purchase very good insurance to cover me in case of any accident.
x. Give away/sell/throw away most of what I own and take a bus or train.
x. Hire movers who will send the stuff to me after I have arrived
x ??
You could get a rack to strap the bike to the outside of the car, or you could have the bike shop ship your bike to your new address after they box it (my shop does this all the time).
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 2:08 PM on June 18, 2015
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 2:08 PM on June 18, 2015
Adding up the time you spent writing this question at a minimum wage salary and the cost of any of these options, the cheapest option is to sell your bike and buy a new one.
posted by caek at 2:28 PM on June 18, 2015
posted by caek at 2:28 PM on June 18, 2015
If you use IC trains and not ICE trains, Seat 61 says you can usually take a bike for about 9 Euros. The website also talks about luggage on trains and includes a luggage delivery service as an option (even if it is just to cut down from four to two). Four suitcases is not that much, you may even be able to get it down to three if one is larger. You just need to be comfortable moving slowly and taking more than one trip onto/off of the train.
posted by soelo at 2:32 PM on June 18, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by soelo at 2:32 PM on June 18, 2015 [4 favorites]
What do you mean by needing "an alternative form of transport" to the airport? Taxis aren't an option?
posted by the agents of KAOS at 2:53 PM on June 18, 2015
posted by the agents of KAOS at 2:53 PM on June 18, 2015
Can you post your bike? It was a while ago, and in the UK, but I posted a bike from the place where I bought it to the place where I needed to ride it, without needing to dismantle or box it up: I put the address on a label wrapped around the top bar. It was not an expensive bike, but it arrived unharmed.
This Toytown Germany thread from a while back suggests that both DP and DB had flat-fee bike shipping options.
posted by holgate at 2:56 PM on June 18, 2015
This Toytown Germany thread from a while back suggests that both DP and DB had flat-fee bike shipping options.
posted by holgate at 2:56 PM on June 18, 2015
Response by poster: soelo: Oh, how did I not realise that Deutsche Bahn offers luggage delivery? I would probably be able to cut down my belongings enough that I could get most stuff delivered that way. I really wouldn't want to have more than one suitcase on the train, because the trains don't generally stop for long enough to be sure that I could manage to get multiple items off the train.
agents of KAOS: It's roughly 70 Euro to get to the nearest airport by taxi, which would really break the already tight budget that I'm on.
holgate: I would never have thought it was possible to post a bike that way. I'll have to look into that as an option if I end up cutting down my belongings enough that the bike is the only bulky item. Otherwise I'd really like to be able to transport all (or most) of my stuff at the same time with the same method.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 3:02 PM on June 18, 2015
agents of KAOS: It's roughly 70 Euro to get to the nearest airport by taxi, which would really break the already tight budget that I'm on.
holgate: I would never have thought it was possible to post a bike that way. I'll have to look into that as an option if I end up cutting down my belongings enough that the bike is the only bulky item. Otherwise I'd really like to be able to transport all (or most) of my stuff at the same time with the same method.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 3:02 PM on June 18, 2015
This page says you can take two items of luggage plus hand luggage on the bus -- and on some buses you can also take your bike for 9 euros. Can you mail a box or two and then take the rest on the bus?
posted by girlpublisher at 3:24 PM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by girlpublisher at 3:24 PM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
My German is not very good, but it seems to me that the post there is run by DHL, and this page shows some cheap rates for shipping boxes. But I could be totally wrong, because of aforementioned lack of German skills. I think you can also have the boxes delivered to a "Packstation" for pick up maybe??
More info here, in english!
posted by girlpublisher at 3:31 PM on June 18, 2015
More info here, in english!
posted by girlpublisher at 3:31 PM on June 18, 2015
Here's a fun way to make the transition to your new city:
Mail what you can and bring the rest by bike. As a rule of thumb, an hour by car is a day by bike. So this approach works best if you have 2 weeks in between needing to be at either city. It sounds to me like you could make this work just fine, time-wise.
Here are a couple of resources
- http://www.bicyclegermany.com/
- Discover Germany by Bike
posted by aniola at 3:55 PM on June 18, 2015
Mail what you can and bring the rest by bike. As a rule of thumb, an hour by car is a day by bike. So this approach works best if you have 2 weeks in between needing to be at either city. It sounds to me like you could make this work just fine, time-wise.
Here are a couple of resources
- http://www.bicyclegermany.com/
- Discover Germany by Bike
posted by aniola at 3:55 PM on June 18, 2015
If you go the biking route, you could probably carry most of it and send the rest to the hostel or your friend.
posted by aniola at 4:00 PM on June 18, 2015
posted by aniola at 4:00 PM on June 18, 2015
Best answer: Since you have a bicycle, you have presumably been bicycling on the right side of the road. That skill will transfer to driving. I'm a Yank (right-side driving). I bicycled in Oxford for two summers before finally hiring a car in the UK, which accustomed me to traveling on the left, and I found that the only problem I had when driving was that my right hand wanted to reach for the shift lever when it was time to change gears, and it would hit the door. But after that happened three times, I learned to put my hand on the shift lever before I needed to shift, and the problem was solved.
Even my father, who had never driven on the left until a family vacation in the UK in 1986, adapted very quickly to doing so. He was fine as long as there were other cars on the road to remind him what to do. If you take the Autobahnen, there will be plenty of other cars to remind you of which side you should be on.
I would vote for hiring a car. You can take the wheels off the bicycle and put it in the the trunk (boot) with an old sheet or plastic drop cloth (from a hardware store/Eisenwarenhandlung) to protect the upholstery. No need to box it. Your other possessions can go in the back seat and, if needed, the passenger seat.
If you have the time, though, I do like the idea of shipping most stuff ahead and then going by bicycle.
posted by brianogilvie at 5:06 PM on June 18, 2015
Even my father, who had never driven on the left until a family vacation in the UK in 1986, adapted very quickly to doing so. He was fine as long as there were other cars on the road to remind him what to do. If you take the Autobahnen, there will be plenty of other cars to remind you of which side you should be on.
I would vote for hiring a car. You can take the wheels off the bicycle and put it in the the trunk (boot) with an old sheet or plastic drop cloth (from a hardware store/Eisenwarenhandlung) to protect the upholstery. No need to box it. Your other possessions can go in the back seat and, if needed, the passenger seat.
If you have the time, though, I do like the idea of shipping most stuff ahead and then going by bicycle.
posted by brianogilvie at 5:06 PM on June 18, 2015
It might be a bit of a long shot but you might try checking out Mitfahrgelegenheit (ride sharing) for anyone making that trip with enough extra room to take a bike. I've given rides a few times on there in mostly empty vans and it would have been no bother at all to bring a bike along.
posted by neilb449 at 11:25 PM on June 18, 2015
posted by neilb449 at 11:25 PM on June 18, 2015
Meinfernbus buses are very cheap and will take a bike (you need to book space your bike). If you have a couple of boxes of belongings, you can ship them with DHL, packages within Germany are 15 Euros for up to 31kg.
posted by sockpuppetdirect at 11:28 PM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by sockpuppetdirect at 11:28 PM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Driving is going to be the easiest thing by far. Europcar will rent you a small van for a one way trip making it even easier. Alternatively you can hire a big car and put the bike inside (they charge by size for cars), but it will be a squash even with a station-wagon sized car. Hire cars in Germany don't have tow-bars so the only alternative is buying one of those racks that straps to the actual car and hoping it doesn't damage the paint, better to hire a van in the first place. Every hire car we've had in Germany has been less than a year old and drives very well, and nearly all had built in GPS so long distance driving is super easy.
Hire cars in Germany aren't that expensive. So what I'd do is hire one for a day and practice. Maybe start with an automatic (although they're more expensive). The hire periods are charged by 24 hours, so we generally pick one up in the evening just before the place closes, then drop it off 23.5 hours later the next evening to get maximum use for our money. Swapping to driving on the other side isn't such a big deal, particularly once you're used to riding a bike anyway, but this way you'll know if it's going to work before you commit to a long drive in a big vehicle.
If it doesn't work you still have good options. DHL box postage is also very reasonable. Just take the boxes to your nearest branch, get in the line for versand and the people behind the counter will help (in my experience they always speak enough English and know what to do even if they don't). If you have a packstation account - and you should, they're awesome - then you can buy the postage online, print it out, stick it to your box, the drop it off at the packstation any time. You may even be able to do that without a packstation account, the DHL website will tell you. There are size limits for the packstations (so won't work for the bike) but otherwise it is a really great system.
Public transport is generally planned around you being able to take a bike, so you should have no problems taking it with you by bus or train. You just can't use the fastest option (ICE).
For getting stuff off the train, keep in mind that the conductors are the ones standing outside the carriages watching everyone getting off then waving the flag for the driver to start again. The driver doesn't just blindly go. So if you have mutiple things or think it will take some time to get off, talk to the conductor before your stop and get them to wait for you. Having everything ready by the door will help, you may even find other passengers help you get it all off anyway. Moving big things and a lot of things by public transport seems fairly normal here, more than I'm used to for sure.
Lastly, you can always hire a moving company with a small van or with a shared space in a large one. Post on toytown.de for recommendations.
posted by shelleycat at 11:40 PM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Hire cars in Germany aren't that expensive. So what I'd do is hire one for a day and practice. Maybe start with an automatic (although they're more expensive). The hire periods are charged by 24 hours, so we generally pick one up in the evening just before the place closes, then drop it off 23.5 hours later the next evening to get maximum use for our money. Swapping to driving on the other side isn't such a big deal, particularly once you're used to riding a bike anyway, but this way you'll know if it's going to work before you commit to a long drive in a big vehicle.
If it doesn't work you still have good options. DHL box postage is also very reasonable. Just take the boxes to your nearest branch, get in the line for versand and the people behind the counter will help (in my experience they always speak enough English and know what to do even if they don't). If you have a packstation account - and you should, they're awesome - then you can buy the postage online, print it out, stick it to your box, the drop it off at the packstation any time. You may even be able to do that without a packstation account, the DHL website will tell you. There are size limits for the packstations (so won't work for the bike) but otherwise it is a really great system.
Public transport is generally planned around you being able to take a bike, so you should have no problems taking it with you by bus or train. You just can't use the fastest option (ICE).
For getting stuff off the train, keep in mind that the conductors are the ones standing outside the carriages watching everyone getting off then waving the flag for the driver to start again. The driver doesn't just blindly go. So if you have mutiple things or think it will take some time to get off, talk to the conductor before your stop and get them to wait for you. Having everything ready by the door will help, you may even find other passengers help you get it all off anyway. Moving big things and a lot of things by public transport seems fairly normal here, more than I'm used to for sure.
Lastly, you can always hire a moving company with a small van or with a shared space in a large one. Post on toytown.de for recommendations.
posted by shelleycat at 11:40 PM on June 18, 2015 [1 favorite]
Hello just moved from Bonn to Berlin with rather little stuff :) If you don't want to drive yourself, you can easily hire movers. Most of them will be expensive but there are some that do smaller moves in vans and are not bad.
The best way to find a good offer is to check Ebay Kleinanzeigen for both the city you're moving from and you're moving to. If you are flexible with your dates you can sometimes even get better deals as they add your stuff to an already existing larger move. Just negotiate.
If you cannot find anything, let me know and I can help you.
posted by Fallbala at 1:29 AM on June 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
The best way to find a good offer is to check Ebay Kleinanzeigen for both the city you're moving from and you're moving to. If you are flexible with your dates you can sometimes even get better deals as they add your stuff to an already existing larger move. Just negotiate.
If you cannot find anything, let me know and I can help you.
posted by Fallbala at 1:29 AM on June 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
You could also send the bike through Hermes (39,99 € + 5,89€ if you need their packaging). Up to 31,5 kg packages through DHL would cost you 13,99€ - so that'd also be a viable option.
posted by mathiu at 6:20 AM on June 19, 2015
posted by mathiu at 6:20 AM on June 19, 2015
Response by poster: Thank you for all the helpful suggestions, everyone. There are definitely some options that I didn't even consider or know about that I'll have to look into further (such as luggage delivery through Deutsche Bahn). I'll probably try to hire a car soon and go on a mini road trip to see how driving here goes, as I think that a car or van would be the cheapest, most convenient, and probably most enjoyable option. But I won't rule out sending stuff by post or with movers just yet either.
Cycling all the way there would be great, but I'm only really supposed to cycle short distances. Knee problems. Alas.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 4:15 AM on June 20, 2015
Cycling all the way there would be great, but I'm only really supposed to cycle short distances. Knee problems. Alas.
posted by kinddieserzeit at 4:15 AM on June 20, 2015
Ofcourse you want to keep your bike!
My experience from neighboring country the Netherlands: we have a bike-ticket (6euro no matter the distance, just googled and it seems about the same in Germany), for the train. You buy/reserve one for you and one for the bike. They usually have bike-rack areas on the train. There is time-restrictions (not rush hour) for regular bikes here, foldable bikes you can always take on any train for free.
You could easily take multiple suitcases. Other passengers will for sure help you take them out (especially if you warn/recruit them beforehand), it's the same with baby-buggies etc. The German railways are more accustomed to longer trips, as the distances are way bigger than in the Netherlands. The train stops long enough if you are busy unloading, unlike a metro/subway/tram.
It would be harder if you needed to change trains a lot. You could inquire about that at the trainstation, planning your trip. In the case of multiple changes of train I would see if you could get assistance at the railwaystation to find your next train, or see if you can plan it so that the next train leaves from a nearby platform. There is help with special material to get people in wheelchairs off the train and off platforms (organised beforehand). Maybe there is some special service for people with a lot of luggage. But maybe you can find a train that goes more or less direct from your A to B?
I've moved within the Netherlands for cheap with guys with a van from our local craigslist (like Fallbala said above).
But if you have no other furniture but suitcases and a bike, public transportation is going to be the cheapest (cheaper than movers, rental cars, planes). You could get a cab from the trainstation to your new place (or ask your friend to come pick you up) and put the bike in a guarded rack or just with the locks in a good (legal) place at the trainstation of your destination.
Last couple of months I have been struggling with a broken shoulder and therefore limp arm, and it's amazing how much help you can get (when you ask timely)!
posted by Dutchmeisje at 5:57 PM on June 20, 2015
My experience from neighboring country the Netherlands: we have a bike-ticket (6euro no matter the distance, just googled and it seems about the same in Germany), for the train. You buy/reserve one for you and one for the bike. They usually have bike-rack areas on the train. There is time-restrictions (not rush hour) for regular bikes here, foldable bikes you can always take on any train for free.
You could easily take multiple suitcases. Other passengers will for sure help you take them out (especially if you warn/recruit them beforehand), it's the same with baby-buggies etc. The German railways are more accustomed to longer trips, as the distances are way bigger than in the Netherlands. The train stops long enough if you are busy unloading, unlike a metro/subway/tram.
It would be harder if you needed to change trains a lot. You could inquire about that at the trainstation, planning your trip. In the case of multiple changes of train I would see if you could get assistance at the railwaystation to find your next train, or see if you can plan it so that the next train leaves from a nearby platform. There is help with special material to get people in wheelchairs off the train and off platforms (organised beforehand). Maybe there is some special service for people with a lot of luggage. But maybe you can find a train that goes more or less direct from your A to B?
I've moved within the Netherlands for cheap with guys with a van from our local craigslist (like Fallbala said above).
But if you have no other furniture but suitcases and a bike, public transportation is going to be the cheapest (cheaper than movers, rental cars, planes). You could get a cab from the trainstation to your new place (or ask your friend to come pick you up) and put the bike in a guarded rack or just with the locks in a good (legal) place at the trainstation of your destination.
Last couple of months I have been struggling with a broken shoulder and therefore limp arm, and it's amazing how much help you can get (when you ask timely)!
posted by Dutchmeisje at 5:57 PM on June 20, 2015
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posted by ktkt at 1:49 PM on June 18, 2015