French Motorail

Has anyone any up to date experiences of the French Motorail, anyone used it this year 2009

I have heard many bad reports about it in the past.

Have also been looking at the Railsavers website, it%26#39;s quite tempting to use their travel to Italy, although quite expensive.

We are travelling to Tuscany/Umbria in September.

Would have to work out the cost of a couple of hotel stops, meals, fuel etc against the price of the rail journey. Just thinking of using it one way

Any information or experiences on the Motorail or Railsavers travelling to Bologna would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ann

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..Have also been looking at the Railsavers website%26lt;%26lt;

Before buying through any third-party site, check out the actual ticket prices at www.trenitalia.com . Bear in mind that the prices on Trenitalia include any compulsory seat reservations, whereas passes usually do not.

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Thank you for that message. Yes, we have used the trains in Italy for the past couple of years, think the train service is great.

But, we need to get from Calais to Italy and take the car and we are just trying to compare the cost of going by train with the car or driving down with a couple of overnight stops.

We will of course only be considering the train one way as we hope to drive back and stay in Switzerland for a couple of days.

Thank you anyway for your reply, I was hoping someone might have used the French Motorail or taken the train from Holland with car straight through to Bologna, Italy

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Considering the idea of travelling with the french motorail?

The comments on the forums are true.

If you require further information please contact me - I will be willing to copy you in on my complaints together with the responses from raileurope

As promised, I will highlight my experiences with anyone who wishes to know.

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Hi,

Like you we had heard varying reports about the French motorail service, so we decided to book the German one. We travelled Dusseldorf to Verona (returned last sunday!) The service was quite good, we really didn%26#39;t know what to expect. It was clean and the staff were great. We didn%26#39;t eat in the restaurant car as it was always full and the food seemed overpriced for what it was. The beds were uncomfortable and it was quite noisy, but I guess at least you are moving while asleep so therefore saving time. We would travel this way again but would go better prepared, ie. take food and drink on the train and games for the kids.

Hope this is of some use.

Regards Nicky

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Hi Nicky,

Thanks for sharing your experience, sounds very interesting.Is this one you can take your car on?

Because we didn%26#39;t receive any up to date reports from people who had travelled this year on the French Motorail we have decided to do the dutch one.

We depart from Hertogenbosch to Bologna on the 4th September, only doing it one way as unfortunately that is the last weekend and anyway we want to spend a few days in Switzerland on the way back.

There is a dining car and you have to book beforehand, we have booked the second sitting.

Not sure what the journey will be like or what to expect, but I will be able to update on our return.

Regards,

Ann

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I have to disagree with earlier post that %26quot;all the comments on forums are true%26quot;. Simply not the case. I used it 10th and 25th July Calais to Narbonne and back and as long as you don%26#39;t expect some romantic notion of the Orient Express it is a quick and convenient way to save 12 hours driving each way, if you%26#39;re really keen to take your own car. I did hear a number of regular users saying that it wasn%26#39;t as good as it used to be, but they were speaking in terms of how you used to have proper sleeping compartments rather than the couchettes, and be able to have something to eat on the train. But our compartment was clean, cool and the beds comfortable. I think it is a simple case of economics; the service faces more competition now from low cost airlines than it did in its heyday, and to survive RailEurope had to cut back on the expensive extras - bear in mind that the sole market for this service is us Brits. The German Autozug does offer a restaurant, for example, but then this service benefits from a bigger market of not only German tourists but Danish as well.

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Hi

Yes this is one you take your car on. I would be very interested to see how you get on with the Dutch motorail as we tried to book with them but our Ford Galaxy was too tall! We are changing our car soon so would consider them if any good.

Have a good holiday!

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Thanks Nicky, will let you know on our return

Ann

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Hi all

I would be very interested in opinions / cost from those who have travelled this year (considering Calais to either Frejus or Nice for 2010) and also some idea of the price you paid for travel in July or August if you don%26#39;t mind.

Thanks

Amanda

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We%26#39;ve just done Calais to Avignon, then Frejus to Calais, returning on 12 September. It was absolutely fine, we got there and back OK and so did the car. A few points:

There is quite a lot of waiting around, and the terminal at Calais is basically a carpark with a waiting room. They do sell nice bottles of rose wine to take on board though! The loading takes ages as each car is checked over.

Frejus is better - there%26#39;s a waiter service bar / restaurant - but you still have to hang around for about 2 hours. It would be possible to walk to the seafront or town once you%26#39;ve loaded your car though if you checked in early and don%26#39;t have too much stuff.

The carriages are old - don%26#39;t expect the Orient Express! They rattle (take earplugs, it%26#39;s noisy) and the water ran out in the sinks. However the bedding was clean and it felt safe.

RailEurope staff were great. They made sure everyone woke up and got off at Avignon (at 5.45am!) and shepherded people about helpfully. At Avignon there%26#39;s a shuttle bus as cars are unloaded at another station.

There were some very smart cars, and lots of regular users - mainly seemed to be rich retirees who couldn%26#39;t manage the long drive.

It is expensive, but it gets you there. I think they%26#39;ll have to do something about those old carriages soon though...