Has anyone rode a bike around Paris.
I have done Berlin, Amsterdam and Munich which was good on a bike.
How does Paris compare?
I am thinking saftey. And thought it would be a good way to see Bois de Boulogne.
I was going to go on a Fat Bike tour but from my experience on tours of cities with large groups you seem to be always waiting for otheres to catch up.
That because they usually book so many people at a time.
I could be wrong about Fat bike tours.
Thanks
I have had some friends go on the bike tours in Berlin with Insider Tours and say they had a blast. It might depend on what time of year you are going too. If it is the height of the tourist season, well then yeah, it is going to be a big group. The bike tours seem to cover quite a bit of ground that might not be possible with a walking tour. Paris is spread out, so a bike tour sounds wonderful. Read the reviews on some of the companies offering tours. Which ones were you looking at? I am not familiar with the Paris ones, but maybe someone on here is.
Stew,
it is possible to rent a bike at numerous locations around Paris for as little as €1 a day. It is a comprehensive, 'automated' system, and it allows you to switch back and forth between modes of transportation easily. I have done it myself, it's great fun! There are parts of Paris however, where being on a bike in traffic can be daunting and frightening, and where the Metro or a bus is the much better, safer choice!
We played by 'ear' (eye)and biked often, but not always.
The following link illuminates the bike rental system in Paris, which is being copied in many other European cities now:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velib
Hi Stew, as Corrina posted there is an automated bike rental system in place in Paris. It is called Velib.You must have a micro chipped CC to use, which as a Canadian you can obtain if you go to your bank(Canada is switching to chipped cards but some cards/banks are doing it very slowly, so just ask)
I would also say try a FT bike tour, the night one is especially fun. You do not spend alot of time waiting for anyone as part of the trip to riding a bike in heavy traffic is that the group must stay together "like a bus, or like the Tour de France", as guides explain it safer to travel looking like a big unit... its actually an ongoing joke, "hey, stay with the bus, they won't run their car through a whole group of us" mentaility.
You do not book ahead or anything, just show up,, really .
Anyways, renting a bike from Velib looks fun too, but the traffic during day does look a bit daunting,, but hey, millions of French people ride bikes can't see why you couldn't. Have fun.
