The travel preparations for our planned Norwegian tour this summer turned out to be more time-consuming than expected. Therefore, we have now summarized some tips and tools for copycats:
Starting point
This summer we want to get to Trondheim by train and ferry. From there we plan a tandem tour to Oslo, from where we will return to Switzerland by ferry and train.
Due to the inconvenient connections in Copenhagen, we will travel by train to Kiel and thus have a relatively long ferry crossing to Oslo.
We decided against the plane due to the amount of packing involved.
Which trains?
The easiest way is to search online with "bicycle transport" at the train companies. However, in the case of the tandem, due to its size, it is not possible to transport it easily on all trains. This information can be obtained from the railroad counter or travel agency staff, sometimes from the control center. Alternatively, there are websites that list which trains run in which formation or carriage sequence:
Otherwise, the Tandem mailing list is also very helpful, since there like-minded people may have already faced the same questions and partly have a very large wealth of experience. So we got from there the link to the German Wagenreihungs website and also the tip to travel via Kiel, since we would have had to wait there about 23 hours for the next ferry with our route proposal via Copenhagen.
Construction work
Due to construction work, it may be that individual routes / stations are not served especially in the summer vacations or are served with a not tandem-friendly bus-train replacement. Therefore, it is worth to inform yourself on the respective operator websites beforehand.
Booking tickets
"Normal" train journeys can usually be booked 3 months before the journey. With the CityNightLine (CNL) you can book the seats sometimes even earlier (6 or more months). Attention: not every counter staff knows this!
And yes, if you want to pick up a booked ticket at the ticket counter before departure, it is still helpful to find out if the ticket counter is open at that time. One must not assume this incorrectly... we know what we are talking about :-(
Tandem + trailer = 1,2 or 3 bikes?
Railroad
In Switzerland, we pay for 3 bikes, depending on the mood of the counter staff sometimes only for 2. In Norway according to the hotline of NSB also for 2.
In New Zealand it was negotiable...
Ferry
As almost expected, there was no tandem with trailer in the selection of vehicles at the time of booking :-) Upon our request, the customer service extended the two bicycles booked to 3 due to the trailer. Without additional costs.