First off if you need a hard shell bike box I have one you can use, no charge or anything. Let me know if you want to use it.
I have gone cycling in Ireland, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, and France and if you are looking for routes let me know, but I suspect you what to kow what to expect. Personally i dont use a company to help with travel. It is a little hard to give advise without knowing how you are traveling?? Are you flying in/out the same city or flying 'open mouth' meaning flying into one city in Europe but return to the US from another city. If you are flying in/out of the same city but not staying the entire time in the same city then after putting your bike together I would take the bike box to either the train station or airport and pay them to hold it till you are ready to pack your bike up.
Depending on where you plan on cycling the roads are in decent condition and the people very friendly. The roads in Ireland's Wicklow Mountains are crap but who cares your in Ireland! I have never had a problem with motorist over there and in some cities I did some early research and found a bike club to go on a ride with. As long as your cool they are cool.
If you use a shipping company like UPS or FedEx there is a slight possibility depending on the cost of your bike that it could get tied up customs when you ship it there; it happened to a friend of mine who ended up having to wait 3 days to get his bike!? I have always used the airlines and have never had any issues. For some reason it seems like the charge for the bike is dependent on the person checking you in, because I have only paid maybe a little less than 1/2 of the time. Not really a big deal to pay though I think it is about $50. If you have not already got your airlines ticket I would get a direct flight to Europe from Orlando just to ensure the bike does not get lost in connections. The only real headache with the airlines is on the way back and going through customs when you arrive in the US, because sometimes they dont require you to get your bike and check it back in again like you have to with all your other checked in luggage and
sometimes they do require you to do that with your bike. The problem is they dont tell you unless you really push them to tell you, because you will be waiting and waiting for them to bring up your bike so you can check it back in and it never comes. Just something to be aware of.
I think I wrote a whole lot of nothing but if you have some specific questions and what to borrow that bike box let me know. Have a great trip it really is fun over there.
Chris Tippin
--- On Mon, 10/13/08, swm786@xxxxxxxxxxx <swm786@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> From: swm786@xxxxxxxxxxx <swm786@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: GCCMail: Cycling In Scotland - Italy - Europe
> To: "gccmail@xxxxxxxxxx" <gccmail@xxxxxxxxxx>
> Date: Monday, October 13, 2008, 1:27 AM
> If you have first hand experience with cycling overseas,
> specifically Scotland, Tuscany-Italy and/or other European
> countries, I would be grateful for recommendations of
> companies you went through and helpful advice you may have.
>
> Thanks,
>
> --Steven
>
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