)
Anywhoo for those who may be interested here's my take on the whole journey - pros, cons, route, problems, considerations etc.
Route Planning
[url=http://seat61.com/]The Man in Seat 61[/url] is your friend to help plan your journey and answers a lot of your questions.
The route out
London Waterloo to Paris Gard du Nord (Eurostar)
Paris Bercy to Milano Centrale (Overnight)
Milano Centrale to Riccione
The route back
Riccione to Bologna
Bologna to Milano Centrale (No direct train available for the time we needed)
Milano Centrale to Paris Bercy (Overnight)
Paris Gard du Nord to London Waterloo (Eurostar)
Booking tickets
As with anything the earlier you book the better so we found out the day the tickets went on sale so we could be first in. Using sites such as [url=http://www.bahn.co.uk/db_uk/view/index.shtml]DB[/url] or [url=http://www.raileurope.co.uk/]Rail Europe[/url] you can book your entire journey in one go, but the problem is the tickets go on sale at different times so you won't get the best price. Sod's law meant ours all went on sale at different times.
Once you've checked through the web it is well worth phoning them if you have questions as they are pretty helpful.
We booked Eurostar direct through the [url=http://www.eurostar.com/dynamic/_SvBoExpressBookingTerm?_TMS=1179860798495&_DLG=SvBoExpressBookingTerm&_LANG=UK&_AGENCY=ESTAR&lang=UK&country=UK&VT=EB]website[/url] and these can be booked 90 days before departure date.
The overnight tickets were booked through DB and were booked 90 days before return date.
The internal Italian tickets through [url=http://www.railitalia.co.uk/tickets/IR/IRUK.asp?AFF=ITR]RailItalia[/url], who are the UK agents, and could be booked 60 days before return date.
You do pay a supplement for booking through an agent so to cut costs you could buy when you get there but may have a wait if a train is full.
Eurostar - No problems with the bike bag as there was plenty of space in the luggage area to stand it in front of the racks without blocking the gangway. Best to be alert though and be ready to move if access behind is needed. Basically play the helpful and apologetic soldier card.
Internal Italian trains - No problems with bike bags here. The out journey was on your standard double decker european train which has a large space by the doors where we stacked our bags.
On the return journey there were no problems with the bags on the trains (Bologna to Milan was on a Eurostar style train) but we did have to change platforms at Bologna which envolved a bit of a sweaty trapse up and down stairs and along the underpass. Nothing that bad but take in to account that it will take longer than sans very big heavy bag.
Overnight train - These are quite surreal. Although very efficient they are real 70s affairs with fake oak panelling and striplight backlit signs the lot. We had dinner in the restaurant car on the way out, and the whole ride had a very Len Deighton feel to it. Every time I met someone I expected them to siddle up to me and say "The weather is very clement in London for this time of year" or similar.
We had 4 berth couchettes, which are the same as 6 berth but only have 4 people in them. We had bottom berths as we were told that the bike bags may it under the seat/bunk. Not a hope in hell. On the way out Sean's smaller bag came in with us and I left mine in the corridor. Fortunately the guard didn't mind. We didn't know how these bunk things worked and thought what you had was what you got so laid out on the seats. Not a problem for me as I can sleep on a clothes line, I got a good 6 hours, Sean got next to no sleep.
On the way back the train left much later (23:10) so it was a straight to bed affair. The guard was more stroppy and said all bags had to be in the couchette with us.
Couchettes are not that big.
The middle bunks were already folded out which revealed that the bottom ones were now completely flat and bigger than when in seat mode. Much better for sleeping, and it meant we could stack all our stuff on the spare middle bunks.
Was it worth it? Would I do it again
A mixed bag.
It opened my eyes to how easy, fast, reliable, and good inter-Europen trains are.
I would not go overnight again. It is too much of a faff, too little space etc. You are too dependant / relient on getting a friendly guard and couchette sharers. No really big problems, just enough smaller ones to add up. Also it's not worth the cost / loss of comfort on my opinion. Sean said he would be tempted again, but I definately won't use an overnight service.
I would use internal Eurpoean trains though. They are very comfortable and quick. If for example you wanted to take your bike to south France, and keep it safe in your own care, then a cheaper, lightweight, unpadded bike bag would be sufficient. Eurostar to Paris and then change and I think your travel time wouldn't be that much longer than flying once you factor in check in time. Also you could probably get the train much closer to your destination, than a budget airline out of town airport and need to factor in transfer time/cost.
Cost
It was about £200 for the whole thing, and would have costed less to fly. Not sure that it would be that much cheaper once you've added in taxi costs etc, and if starting from scratch a more expensive bike bag (or rental of hard case).
The jouney took about 18 hours including the time we slept on the overnighter.
The main cost was the overnight train though, so as I wouldn't use this again, or recommend it, shorter (eg S.France), inter-Europe rail travel is worth considering for safety of your bike, variety, and of course Green(
) reasons.
Hope this has been of some use/ interest.
Andrew.