[Otter74]

I spent a week in the Dordogne a few summers ago and was not about to do it without a bike. I did not want what I imagined to be the hassle of packaging up one of my regular bikes, though they were what I would have preferred to ride. I bought a Bike Friday New World Tourist from an acquaintance for the purpose, and took that. It disassembled into a modified standard-sized hard shell suitcase that would also, if you wanted, turn into a trailer with the addition of a hitch and wheels, which were included. Arrive at destination airport, assemble bike, assemble trailer parts, hitch to bike, drop bag in, ride away. I did not use the trailer, as I had a car and just flew with it as a regular piece of luggage (I travel light, and ordinarily would only have had a carry-on bag.) Under such circumstances it's usually best to never, ever say the word "bicycle" unless you want to be charged extra money. If needed, "mobility device" is the magic phrase most of the time.

Shortly *after* returning from that trip, I learned that a number of European airlines, including SAS, which I had just flown, would let you take your bike on transatlantic trips *unboxed* - you pay extra for oversized luggage when you buy your ticket, and when you arrive at the airport you roll your bike up to baggage check and they put a tag on it and it, apparently, eventually goes into a special holder in the cargo bay. I have not tried this yet myself, but at the time I looked and I recall Lufthansa and either British Airways or Air France also offered this.

I have no experience with packing bikes into soft or hard bike cases, though I have friends who do and it's worked for them. If you are getting around by car it's pretty simple.

My bike travel by air has been with my Brompton, which is absolutely fabulous for the purpose. I'm picky about bikes too, and if I were, say, going to the Dordogne again I would bring one of my normal bikes. But *if* you just wanted something to get around places easily for transport or exploration or whatever, and liked or even just didn't mind how they ride (you get used to it, but it's different), I think Bromptons are impossible to beat. Last September I went to Portland, OR for a friend's wedding and did the whole trip door-to-door by bike (with a jet assist, so to speak). Rolled the bike into the terminal from the train at ORD, folded it up and ran it through the X-ray at security, rolled it to the gate dropped it in a bag and gate-checked it, walked off the plane in PDX, unfolded it, and rode through the terminal, out the airport and into the city to my AirBnB.

If I wanted to do longer-distance rides at a faster pace in the European countryside (e.g. German trail system) I might want one of my regular bikes, but if I just wanted to explore I'd take the Brompie.

All of this presupposes that for whatever reason you've excluded just renting something locally.

NB re: Bromptons - there's a really nice hire scheme in London and other UK cities. It was so convenient, and inexpensive, that when I was in London and Glasgow last fall I didn't bother to bring my own.