Taking a Bicycle on a Local Train
 

Wasn't sure whether to post this here or in the European Rail Travel forum... but decided that the Germany forum is probably a better place as it's the sort of thing that people who live in Germany would know about.

I may need to travel between two fairly rural places in Schleswig-Holstein next month. One of them is close to public transport, the other one is in the middle of nowhere. I won't have access to a car, but I will have access to a bike... so I was thinking of putting that bike on the train and cycling at both ends.

I've done some research at bahn.de, and I've learnt that you need to buy a bike ticket for EUR 4.50, and that you can pre-book your bike space online.

So far so good.

The problem is that this particular journey cannot be booked online (as it's a regional train). The note in the timetable says "Fahrradmitnahme begrenzt möglich", but I have not been able to find any information at bahn.de about what this "begrenzt möglich" entails.

Can I just turn up, buy my ticket and bike ticket and wheel my bike onto the train (and hope there will be somewhere to put it)? Or do I need to make special arrangements?

I should mention that my departure station is unmanned.

PS I speak German, so I won't need any translation help!

""Fahrradmitnahme begrenzt möglich" on regional trains means, that there is some space to put bicycles in, but no reservation will be possible. If these places you are travelling to are popular vacation spots and the weather is nice you may be in trouble because the trains are crowded and to many people bring their bicycles along (for example on all routes to North or Baltic Sea).

I would say if you add a little flexibility, i.e. taking the next train, you shouldn't have a big problem. But it also depends on the route and whether you enter where the train starts or somewhere in between. The closer to the starting point of the train, the easier it will be.

normally there is space for max 4 bikes per door, so if it is too crowded (rushhour, vacations, good weather) there maybe isnt any space for your bike.
if you are flexible with your time you will be fine. ^

Thanks for all the information and advice!

The trip will be on the Lübeck to Lüneburg line (i.e., heading away from the coast, but into an area full of popular cycle routes), and I will get on at the first stop after Lübeck Hbf... so I'm probably taking a bit of a risk, especially as this is quite a short train (I've been on it a couple of times before). It's an hourly service, and my destination is only 30 km away, so if there is no space on the first train it may be almost as quick to cycle all the way.

It now looks like I may be able to borrow a car after all, so the whole thing could become academic.

Thanks again!