A Special Welcome to The Chain Gang for all our Australian Visitors
Although we're based in the UK, our groups of cyclists tend to be a cosmopolitan crew from all over the English-speaking world, and our bike tours and cycling tours typically include many Australian cyclists.
Your Local Contact
We have an agent in Australia, based near Melbourne. We'd be delighted to help you with any questions you might have about our cycle tours, and of course you are most welcome to deal with us directly, as many do, either by telephone or by email.
But if you would feel more comfortable dealing with a local company, may I suggest you contact Sue or Martyn at Outdoor Travel Pty. Their contact details are as follows
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Outdoor Travel Pty Ltd Shop 3/1 Ireland Street Bright 3741 Victoria Australia |
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Travelling from Australia to Join a Chain Gang Bike Tour
France - Joining French Bike Tours
Travelling from Australia, you'll almost certainly be flying into Paris. Our bike tours tend to start from out-of-the-way places, which means that the final 100 or so miles of your journey can turn out to be the most complicated.
Onward flights are not usually a realistic option. You won't be able to fly very frequently, almost never to a point close to your destination, and will probably have to change airports in Paris.
Almost always the easiest and fastest way to join one of our bike tours is to take the train to our designated transfer point. Charles de Gaulle International Airport is well connected to the main train stations in Paris (www.paris.org/Metro/). For each of our tours we've designated a train out of Paris, and our transfers are based on these timings, although we'll always try to flexible to accommodate your travel arrangements. You'll find this information listed below.
We'll happily supply your rail tickets (please see Booking Form for details), but you'll also find them easy to buy direct from the French railway website, www.sncf.com. One word of warning - if you choose to collect your tickets in France you will need the same credit card with you that was used to purchase the tickets. On the plus side you don't have to rely on automatic ticket dispensers. These are easy to use, but in the event of any difficulty you can just present your booking reference to the ticketing window, and they'll give you your tickets.
Please call if you have any questions at all about your travel plans within France - we'd be glad to help.
| Trains for the Bordeaux Winetrail Cycling Holiday - Bike Tour | Times (local) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Outward | DEPART | London St Pancras Intl | 09:26 |
| ARRIVE | Paris Nord | 12:47 | |
| DEPART | Paris Montparnasse | 14:10 | |
| ARRIVE | Angouleme | 16:15 | |
| Inward | DEPART | Bordeaux | 08:25 |
| ARRIVE | Paris Montparnasse | 11:30 | |
| DEPART | Paris Nord | 13:01 | |
| ARRIVE | London St Pancras Intl | 14:34 | |
| Notes | Transfer departs Angouleme at approximately 4.45pm for arrival in Les Eyzies-de-Tayac by 7.00pm. Return transfer departs Pauillac at approximately 07.00. | ||
| Trains for the Burgundy Cycling Holiday - Bike Tour | Times (local) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Outward | DEPART | London St Pancras Intl | 11:05 |
| ARRIVE | Paris Nord | 14:20 | |
| DEPART | Paris Lyon | 16:58 | |
| ARRIVE | Montbard | 18:04 | |
| Inward | DEPART | Dijon | 10:52 |
| ARRIVE | Paris Lyon | 12:37 | |
| DEPART | Paris Nord | 14:13 | |
| ARRIVE | London St Pancras Intl | 15:28 | |
| Notes | Transfer departs Dijon at approximately 4.30pm for arrival in Montbard by 6.00pm. Return transfer departs Beaune at approximately 08.30. | ||
| Trains for the Dordogne Cycling Holiday - Bike Tour | Times (local) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Outward | DEPART | London St Pancras Intl | 08:32 |
| ARRIVE | Paris Nord | 11:47 | |
| DEPART | Paris Austerlitz | 13:56 | |
| ARRIVE | Brive | 17:59 | |
| Inward | DEPART | Brive | 09:31 |
| ARRIVE | Austerlitz | 13:35 | |
| DEPART | Paris Nord | 15:07 | |
| ARRIVE | London St Pancras Intl | 16:36 | |
| Notes | Transfer departs Brive-la-Gaillard at approximately 6.15pm for arrival in Les Eyzies-de-Tayac by 7.30pm. Return transfer departs Les Eyzies-de-Tayac at approximately 06.30. | ||
| Trains for the Loire Valley Cycling Holiday - Bike Tour | Times (local) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Outward | DEPART | London St Pancras Intl | 08.32 |
| ARRIVE | Paris Nord | 11:47 | |
| DEPART | Paris Montparnasse | 13:50 | |
| ARRIVE | St Pierre des Corps | 14:47 | |
| Inward | DEPART | St Pierre des Corps | 10:36 |
| ARRIVE | Paris Montparnasse | 11:35 | |
| DEPART | Paris Nord | 13:01 | |
| ARRIVE | London St Pancras Intl | 14:34 | |
| Notes | Transfer departs St Pierre des Corps at approximately 3.15pm for arrival in Saumur by 4.30pm. Return transfer departs Amboise at approximately 09.15. | ||
| Trains for the Provence Cycling Holiday - Bike Tour | Times (local) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Outward | DEPART | London St Pancras Intl | 10:28 |
| ARRIVE | Paris Nord | 13:53 | |
| DEPART | Paris Lyon | 15:16 | |
| ARRIVE | Avignon TGV | 17:56 | |
| Inward | DEPART | Avignon TGV | 09:32 |
| ARRIVE | Paris Lyon | 12:11 | |
| DEPART | Paris Nord | 14:13 | |
| ARRIVE | London St Pancras Intl | 15:28 | |
| Notes | Transfer departs Avignon TGV at approximately 6pm for arrival in Villeneuve-les-Avignon by 6.45pm. Return transfer departs Villeneuve-les-Avignon at approximately 08.15. Please note, Avignon has two train stations, Avignon Centre and Avignon TGV. There are regular trains between the two stations, and our transfers are based around Avignon TGV. We can easily collect from Avignon Centre - as long as we know you're there, so please let us know your plans. | ||
Italy - Joining Italian Bike Tours
Arriving in Milan
International flights arrive into Rome or Milan. On our Italian bike tours we start with transfers from Santa Maria Novella railway station in Florence. The easiest way to get there is to take a train either from Milan or from Rome. The distances are much less than in France. Our transfer service will be waiting at Santa Maria Novella station from 4pm, and we aim to depart Florence by 4.30pm.
Milan Malpensa is the main international airport for Milan. Flights arriving via European connections are likely to arrive at Milan Linate. Milan Malpensa airport has a dedicated railway station, with an Express train into the central Milan train station for connections to Florence.
Milan Linate airport is much closer to central Milan, and a company called Starfly operate a coach service to the central train station. The service takes less than 30 minutes.
You'll find more practical details about the Milan airports, and travel options, at a wonderful website called AutoEurope: www.autoeurope.com/guides/Italy/Milan-airports.cfm
Arriving in Rome
Rome, like Milan, has two airports. The main International airport is Rome Fiumicino. Virtually all flights from Australia arrive in Fiumicino, from airlines including Qantas, Cathay Pacific, China Airlines, British Airways, Olympic Airlines. All these flights include a change at a European hub.
From Fiumicino airport, the wonderful high-tech 'Leonardo Express' departs every 30 minutes to Rome Termini Railway Station, the main train station. The journey takes less than 35 minutes.
Rome Ciampino airport is closer to the city of Rome, just 15 Km away, and any flights to Rome connecting via a European hub are likely to arrive at Ciampino. From Ciampino airport, there are four trains per hour to the main Rome train station.
You'll find more practical details about the Rome airports, and travel options, at a wonderful website called AutoEurope: www.autoeurope.com/guides/Italy/Rome-airports.cfm