On Spanish trains - with a bike

They're infamous - Spanish trains - especially for cyclists. In Spain's defence, if I had been a fluent Spanish speaker, I might have understood the more sophisticated possibilities (no one I talked to in the stations spoke English).... my Spanish is basic - so here goes...

The challenge - to get from Santiago de Compostela to Santander with the bike in time for the Plymouth ferry on a Monday afternoon.

In preparation I checked first at Lugo station - here I was told (I think) that bikes are only allowed on regional trains - these are slow and inexpensive. The helpful bloke in Lugo wrote down the times of the trains I could catch on a Sunday (would involve 3 changes and 12 hours) - not exactly convenient - but possible.

On arrival in Santiago a quick tour of the public library (free internet access) to check the trains on line - according the website - there were no trains on a Sunday. With this horrifying news, I legged it to the station.

According to the wee man there - there were trains on a Sunday, but no bikes allowed. What about Saturday I asked (well bleated - I had gone white by now) - no, not allowed on Saturday either (at this point I sensed some delight in his tone). So I mustered my best Spanish, looked him in the eye, explained that if I didnt get the ferry from Santander my husband, closely followed by my boss, would beat me - and please please, could he do something?

And indeed he did - with a Galician flourish, he stabbed furiously at his computer - and printed out my solution - depart Santiago on Saturday night - arrive in Ourense in the middle of the night - stay there (finding my own accomodation), depart Ourense early on Sunday morning (before any cafe or shop is open for life saving coffee) for Leon. Change at Leon for Palencia - and then again finally for Santander. Oh, and by the way its not possible to buy a through ticket - so at each station, another queue, new instructions and another ticket. Cost around 45 euros.

Was it worth it? Yes. The trains are slow, the scenery is fabulous, the natives are warm and friendly, and the craic in Ourense was great!