There are many ways to explore Vienna that do not include Fiakers (the animal abusing way of transportation); one of them is by riding your bike. You came to Vienna and didn’t bring your bike? Whoooot? Kidding, of course you didn’t. But thanks to Citybike Vienna that’s no problem at all – and even we locals use them to get around easily. You’re doing exercise, you’re getting a mean of transportation at low cost and you get to see some of the most beautiful sights while biking around the city. Great, right? Plus: They are super-easy to use.
So first you have to register. You can do so at one of the 120 terminals citywide or online at www.citybikewien.at; all you need is an Austrian debit card or any credit card. If you are a party of more people but only have one credit card or if you don’t feel too comfortable using your credit card at one of the terminals, you can also go to the shop at the main railway station (“Hauptbahnhof”; open from Monday to Sunday, 8 am to 8 pm) and get a Tourist Card there. The registration fee is 1 Euro; quite affordable, right?
(c) Gewista
Once you’re registered, you can go to any terminal, insert your card and chose one of the bikes available right next to the terminal. As soon as you’ve made your choice, the bike is released and yours to use for as long as you want (well, okay… after 120 hours you’ll be charged a flat rate of 600 USD). The first hour is always for free, every additional hours costs 1 Euro. Still quite affordable, right? And the best thing is: You can return your bike at any terminal you want and especially in the inner parts of the city there are plenty of them. You can hire and return the bikes 24/7, the whole year around.
One of my favorite tours leads you across the Ringstrasse and down to the Danube Canal. If you start your ride at the Rathaus (city hall) and just follow the bike lanes, you’ll pass by the Parliament, National Library, Museum of Nature History, Museum of Art, you’ll see a lot of very old and impressive buildings and it will finally lead you down to the Danube Canal. I’ll write an article about that specifically later, because it’s the place to be during the warmer months. But trust me, you’ll enjoy a ride along the Danube River. It’s like going to a street art exhibition, you can see urban gardening at it’s best, buy a drink or two and hang out at our city beach.
More Information:
Citybikes Wien
www.citybikeswien.at
Registration fee is 1 Euro; the first hour is for free, every additional hour costs 1 Euro.
(c) Header Image: By Herzi Pinki (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
(c) Terminal: By euphro (IMG_4273) [CC BY-SA 2.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Thanks for this!