How to Rent and Where to Bike
Rush hour traffic, hot metro trains and congestion. How often have your blood sugar dipped, your sweat poured, and your legs trembled in cramped metro trains? Cycling in Paris is an excellent alternative to public transport.
Paris is investing heavily in expanding its cycle paths. There are also plenty of different rental options.
Along the famous boulevards, cycle paths take up large parts of the road. Here, cyclists have the right of way!
Remember that you are in a big city and watch for motorists and other cyclists.
How do you rent a bike?
The easiest way is to use a Vélib. You can hire bikes anywhere in the city. The bike hire system is simple. Download the company’s app to see where bikes are available in the city. You can rent using a Vélib card, a code, or an app on your smartphone.
You can rent anything from 45 minutes to day passes. Both regular (green) and electric (blue) bikes are available.
Example Route: Cycling along Seine (6 km)
Take a pleasant ride along the Seine River and discover Paris’ most famous sights and landmarks.
Start the tour at Place de l’Alma. You will see the Eiffel Tower on the other side of the Seine. Cycle along one of Paris’ most famous avenues — Avenue George V. Along the avenue lie grand buildings, many of which are home to embassies. Soon, you will arrive at the Champs-Élysées.
Cycle to the Arc de Triomphe, take a break to admire the famous monument and then cycle back along Champs-Élysées, until you turn onto Avenue Churchill Winston. Two museums worth visiting here are the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais. Continue on the avenue that takes you back to the Seine River. Here, you will find one of the most visited bridges in Paris: Pont Alexandre II.
Continue cycling along the river. You’ll soon reach the beautiful Jardin des Tuileries park. On the other side of the Seine is the Musée d’Orsay. A little further on is the Louvre.
Make your way to the Pont Neuf bridge, cycle across and make your way to the Île de la Cité. From here, you can easily reach Notre Dame Cathedral.
The route is about 6 kilometres long.
What is Vélib?
Vélib is a self-service bicycle hire scheme. With over 16,000 bikes and 1,400 stations these bikes are easily accessible to the public.
Read about how to use their bikes here.
Good to know:
There are two types: The blue Vélib' is electric, the green Vélib' is mechanical.