Torino-Nice Rally logistics - tips?

[thenorthwind]

Four of us are looking to do an unofficial Torino-Nice Rally this year - not the group start, because of a BH weekend enduro clash, but a similar time, probably early Sept.

Many possible ways to get there from northern England/southern Scotland and back:
Would rather not fly, but...
Fly to Torino and back from Nice
Fly to and from Nice, train/bus to Torino
Fly to Torino, train/bus back after the ride
(Obviously the best option depends on suitable flights from local airports, Newcastle and Edinburgh, Glasgow at a push)
Train via the tunnel (my first choice, but probably the most expensive, and requires an overnight in Paris from where we are, and bikes still need to be bagged/boxed on Eurostar and the TV I think)
Train/ferry/train - via Newcastle/Amsterdam or Portsmouth/Caen/St Malo... Probably an outside bet
Drive? Not terribly appealing, and we don't really have a vehicle that would carry four bikes and people comfortably for a 2 day drive

Store bags or find boxes for the return? Any tips on either accommodation willing to store bags (have done this a few times in the past) or local sources for boxes?

Cheers

[Bearbonesnorm]

Chew and me flew to Milan as it was much cheaper than flying into Torino from Manchester. Rode mostly through the night and the following morning to arrive like fresh daisies ready for the off the following day. Flew back from Nice.

Carried CTC plastic bike bags with us which we'd cunningly modified for use as 'tarps' should the need arise. Not sure whether airlines accept these anymore though?

[thenorthwind]

Hmm, could fly to Bergamo (not really in Milan and the wrong side) from NCL or Malpensa (also not really in Milan, but the right side) from Edinburgh. Still a fair way from Torino.

Not sure whether airlines accept these anymore though?

I thought I'd heard that somewhere too.

[Wotsits]

James is obviously the man for this, but i've done the route 1 1/2 times & found flight availability to Turin much better via Stansted or Gatwick. Looked at loads of other options including Pisa, but taking everything into consideration, including lugging bike boxes around, ended up going via Stansted twice. There's plenty of cheap accomodation near the airport to head down the day before though.
After finishing in Nice got train back to Turin Porta Nuova Station.

But i can imagine if you took the train, that would be an amazing journey in itself..

The Tomato Backpackers in Turin is a good shout-
https://tomato.to.it/en/

It's a bus ride + 10-15min walk away from the airport (bikes need to be in boxes) & very near to Porta Nuova train station.
They will provide coffee whilst you build your bikes in their courtyard, have a left-luggage room for bike bags/boxes & will let you keep your bikes in the room
It's also in a good area for bars & restraunts.

Sweet Lab in Turin do a really good breckie-
https://sweetlabtorino.it/

There's a few hostels in Turin, so worth having a search.

If you can, do the Little Peru hike-a-bike, & definitely stay at the Rifugio Gardetta.
https://www.rifugiogardetta.it/wp/
Don't miss the turning off the descent tho!

There are so many, but the climb up to & Section 5.1- Via d sal was another highlight.

James has created an amazing route, i can understand why people come from all over the world to ride it..

[boxelder]

Sorting the bike for a flight from Nice is easy. Ride to the airport along the seafront cycleways. Head for the furthest terminal building and you can buy a flat pack box for £30ish. A rip off for cardboard, I know, but they give you tape with it, so you can ride in, and have your bike packed in an hour, without any need for taxis, bike shops, carrying plastic or gaffer tape.

[thenorthwind]

Cheers for all that Wotsits!

Stansted with a stopover doesn't really appeal, but worth bearing in mind, might be the least worst option.

Likewise, paying 30 quid for a cardboard box goes against all my instincts but worth knowing the option's there, thanks Andy.

[jameso]

Morning! and thanks Jason..

an amazing route,

: )

European Bike Express is my recommendation if the timing works for you. You might need to drive to a pick up / drop off location they use but you'd be driving to an airport anyway. They don't go to Turin but they go to the eastern Alps and they return from Orange which is a nice ride (2-3 days) from Nice, or less if you cut the route at the Col Braus and head east from there, skipping Nice. You'll need a bit more time all in all but it's a great 2 week trip. It's a far more relaxing way to travel with no bike damage risk. It's a bit more expensive but... we ride £2k+ bikes.. cheap flights are a false luxury.

I've used EBE 3 times and it's always been great value overall. Ferries, coaches or trains cost time but they're so much more in the spirit of bike travel. To me it feels like part of the trip, whereas I find flying is just a grim experience almost every time.

If you do fly from Nice you can get bike boxes from local bike shops. Take them some nice snacks or beers, pack the bikes nearby then get a cab to the airport. There's a Specialized shop outside Nice that we've gone to for this in the past. I've also dumpster-dived for cardboard near the main train station before getting the shuttle bus to the airport in the past, the bike made it : )

(fwiw in case I sound hypocritical being anti-fly to ride but talking about flying home.. yes I am to some extent. But I mostly substituted a work flight to Germany for the Eurobike show for a return trip from Nice, after riding Germany-Turin to start the ride and have done 3 TNRs flight-free. Not saying everyone has to do the same).

[Scattamah]

Fly to Nice. Ride to Turin. Ride back. Fly home. One of the best trips I did and a firm favourite.

"Just wing it."
James Olsen, Vinardio, IT. 2018.

Greetz

S : )

[jameso]

^ that was the best TNR travel year, really enjoyed the ride up from Nice. Also when I realised how getting there is best thought of as part of the trip itself.

[BigRingGrinder]

Back in 2018 and 2019 when I rode TNR I used the bike boxes that you could purchase from one of the terminals at Nice airport.
Looks like they have gone up in price since then but I guess so has everything else these days.

It's worth pointing out that the boxes are larger than a normal bike box and quite flimsy. Also there are no handles so can be a bit cumbersome to manoeuvre around especially if you are flying from the other terminal, but it's doable.

When I retrieved my bike at Stansted back in 2018 the box was badly damaged but luckily the bike survived unscathed. In 2019 I didn't want to take any chances so went to a local Carrefour and got a roll of bubble wrap and tape and then went skip diving for cardboard boxes to re-enforce the bike box. There were some skips at some hotels opposite the airport. I'd forgotten they gave you a roll of tape with the box at the airport (or maybe I just decided to get a roll as a backup) so just ended up using plenty of tape to wrap around the box as well!

As already stated it does mean you can literally roll up to the airport on your bike.

[jameso]

I've used the Nice airport boxes 4 times now, backed up with plenty of tape plus taping loose items to the bike I've no issues apart from the odd hole. They're flimsy but if the contents is all one item they work ok. Still.. it's a worry and not part of the journey I look forward to (to continue my downer on flying!)

Edit to add, a web of tape on the outside is the thing to do, like rip-stop.

[BigRingGrinder]

2018 was the year that Scott, Rich and I (Phil) rode back to the airport with you. I can remember once you finished boxing your bike you simply lifted the box onto your shoulder (still not sure how you managed to do that!) and you simply walked off down the terminal. I've probably got a photo of that somewhere.

Think I was just unlucky that year with my box as we were all set to take off when the flight was cancelled at the last minute so everything was off-loaded and then re-loaded on another plane the next day. So the bike box going through baggage handlers multiple times probably didn't help matters. So the following year it was bit more of a belt and braces approach just to be on the safe side.

[jameso]

Ah ok, yes! Hope you're well Phil! I seem to remember sitting around in Nice having a beer in the heat before the ride to the airport, if so maybe that was something to do with the hoik it and go approach : )

[thenorthwind]

Thanks for your thoughts (and the route James!).

Will have a look at the EBE.

fwiw in case I sound hypocritical being anti-fly to ride but talking about flying home..

I feel very similarly... I talk a good a game, but we all have a point where we can't justify the time and cost of overland travel, and few of us are flush with either.

I'd always prefer to travel by train, and have done a few European trips. It helps that my wife is a nervous flyer (in addition to an environmentalist), but last year, faced with a 3.5 day each way train/ferry/bus saga, even she saw the sense in a 3 hour direct (sort of) flight. The other thing that often swings it is we have a small, very good airport nearby which we can get to by metro, which means at least one end of the journey is rarely stressful.

The other thing is I'm going with a group, and although everyone feels the same way to an extent about the environmental cost of flying, I think a 2 day journey each way would be a hard sell.

Anyway, we've probably covered all this before, so I'll try not to endlessly dissect the ethics of it.

[thesloth]

We flew in and out of Nice and stored bike bags at a nearby hotel found on https://www.nannybag.com/
Can't remember what it cost, but IIRC it was fairly reasonable.
Departed Nice as soon as the bikes were unpacked and the bags were stashed. Rode to Turin over three days, which I thoroughly recommend.
Good shake down for the TNR main course.
Timed our return to Nice so that we could pack the bikes and fly out without having to spend the night there.

[jameso]

^ avoiding a night in Nice saves a few hundred £ ...
There's a good, spacious bivi spot not far past the Col Braus that's useful for this, it's only a few hours into Nice from there.