Renting Bicycles and More
Renting bicycles is easy in most big cities
in Europe and around the world. Simply Google bicycle rentals
and the name of the city.
There are bicycle shops everywhere, many rent
bicycles. They have special maps and guides. There are even
organized tours for bike riders in places like Amsterdam and
Munich, Germany. Again, to find out who has these, Google
bicycle tours and the city or region of interest.
In Europe, bicycles can also be rented at one train
station and dropped off at another. Check the guidebooks
and my page on Train Travel for details.
Europe is physically small making it perfect for bicycle travel.
Cities have parks and other places to ride.
Campgrounds are
bicycle friendly. They are located in or just outside the city limits. Ask the front desk for place renting bicycles.
Most towns have parts of the road reserved for bicycles such as
bicycle lanes. The Netherlands and Denmark even have
separate bike trails altogether with their own
traffic signals and pathways.

There are bicycle trails in parks in cities and the nearby countryside. Many bike pathways follow alongside rivers
like the Danube or the Rhine.
The French
countryside is full of bike trails. So are many other
nations and regions in Europe.
Many of the canals of
England and the continent have bike and hiking
paths that follow the waterway.
Visitors with tents, RVs or canal boats use bicycles as a
secondary form of transportation. It's great exercise, and once everything is setup for the night it allows one to travel
without much effort. Visitors leave vehicles parked for days and even
weeks, and still get to the grocery store. This saves big
money.
Europeans are particularly two-wheel crazy when
it comes to bicycles. Every country seems to have its own major bicycle race, from Tour de
France, Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a
España to single day "Classics" such as the Ronde
van Vlaanderen and Milan-Sanremo.
You can arrange your own bicycle trip
and bring your own bicycle, if you wish. This can get pretty
expensive and involves some effort to box and transport bicycles.
Yet many bicyclists do just that.
There are organized bicycle tours available.
They allow you to travel without baggage, which is transported
separately by the tour vehicles to the next set of lodgings. Meals
are arranged on and off the road. These can be a lot of fun,
Bicycle Tour Groups include:
Bicyclist Organizations include:
-
MapMyRide - MapMyRide users are able to
visualize their health and fitness training progress through the
use of maps, workout logs, fitness calculators/tools, and user-led
community groups.
Help with Shipping and Renting Bicycles:
Remember
some countries drive
on the left which can make things quite interesting. Be
careful.
I take a few days watching bicyclists and see how they
cope with traffic, before I go to rent a bicycle
myself.
If you've decide to bicycle in Europe, be sure to understand
the International Traffic Signs:
-
Triangular means warning. The
symbol inside the triangle indicates what type of danger is faced.
-
Circular means instructions,
such as a red circle with a number is the speed limit.
-
Square means information,
such as city limit signs and parking.
Color can also be important.
-
Red usually means something is
forbidden, such as No Passing.
-
Blue usually means something must be
obeyed such as Right Turn Only.
-
White usually means this is
information only such as distance to the next
town.
For more details go to my web page on International Traffic Signs.
So be on the lookout for places renting bicycles. Ask around. It saves on travel time and is a great way to see the world.
More Bicycle Travel Tips and Destinations:
Great Bicycle Adventures Bicycling dos and don'ts plus stories from down the road. Cycling is an adventure, and it's easy. Stories and info about many Asian countries like Malaysia, China, Thailand, Myanmar, India and Nepal plus Europe. Tips on renting bicycles.
Here are a list of important transportation topics:
Go to the Page on Airline Flights
Local Transport
Trains
Buses
Renting Cars
International Traffic Signs
Speed_Trap_Cameras
Bad Drivers
Bicycle Travel