Renting a bike in Rome

Getting around Rome, Italy, by bicycle

Bicycle rentals in Rome:
www.atac-bikesharing.it
www.trenoescooter.191.it
www.bicibaci.com
www.happyrent.com

ReidsItaly.com Rome Map


» View ENLARGED MAP with all listings



TOURS FROM TRUSTED PARTNERS

Intrepid Travel

G Adventures Travel

iExplore

Traffic is very heavy on the streets of Rome, and the rules and norms of driving are much different from our own. From our point of view, Romans drive like maniacs.

(This is not strictly true. Actually, Romans tend to be far more attentive behind the wheel than most Americans, which, when combined with a Italian's innate surfeit of confidence, leads to the aggressive Italian driving style. Once you get used to it, it's not bad, and it even makes sense. That said, I've lived in both Rome and New York City, and I'll take driving in New York traffic over Roman chaos any day.)

Always on a Sunday
On Sundays, though, when traffic is relatively light, renting a bike or a Vespa can actually be pleasant. In particular, I enjoy biking the Appian Way on Sundays, when its closed to traffic (though you'll want a mountain bike for this, given the massive ancient flagstones).All that by way of saying that riding a bike in Rome should be attempted only if you’re used to biking in city traffic.

There are now two ways to rent a bike in rome: the marvelous cheap new city-run bikesharing system, and traditional private rental outfits. in brief: The city one is cheaper (and has 19 locations), but with only one type of bike. Private ones offer more variety and cost less for rentals of longer than a day.

The Rome city bike program—Cheap!

Locations of Rome's new Bikesharing program
Locations of Rome's new Bikesharing program.Useful Italian
bike - bicicletta or bici
bike rental - noleggio bici
two hours - due ore
one day - un giorno
Full story
Following in the footsteps (or rather, bike tracks) of Paris and its Velib program, the city of Rome now offers visitors the Bikesharing program (tel. +39-06-57-003, www.bikesharing.roma.it): access to 150 bright green bicycles at 22 kiosks stationed strategically around the historic center of Rome for the low price of €0.50 (75¢) per half hour. Compare that to €4–€5 per hour from private rental firms.

Since it's a self-serve service, bicycles are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can grab a bike from any rack, but then return it either to the same rack or to one at any of the other stations—making this a terribly convenient solution for one-way rides.

If you find your chosen return-stand already full of bikes, you can call tel. +39-06-57-003 for directions to the nearest kiosk with openings.

Metro stations where you can sign up for bikesharing:

1) Stazione Termini
2) Lepanto
3) Piazza di Spagna
4) Anagnina
5) Ottaviano
6) Cornelia
7) Battistini
8) Ponte Mammolo
9) Eur Fermi
10) LaurentinaTo join the program, you must first sign up and get a "bikesharing card" at the ticket offices of major and end-of-line Metro stops (see the box on the right), including Termini and Piazza di Spagna (open Mon–Sat 7am–8pm, Sun 8am–8pm).

The card costs €10—of which €5 is a setup fee, the other €5 your first "charge" on the card, which you can use to start taking bikes.

This means that, for roughly the cost of a two hours' bike rental at a private agency, you are now good for 10 hours of bike riding. (If you use that up and want more, you can top off the card with any amount.)

All you have to do now is wave this smartcard by the post to which your chosen bike is locked, and it will release. Wave it at any other empty post anywhere in town to return the bike and stop the meter running on your rental balance.

What's more, there's even an iPhone app that will show you the nearest bikesharing stand and how to get there, how many bikes are currently available at each stand, and the balance left on your card. Nifty (well, no the roaming fees to be incurred, but if you can get a WiFi signal it could be handy).

You cannot keep a single bike for more than 24 hours—but you wouldn't want to, since that would cost you €12 and it would be cheaper (for such longer periods) to rent a bike from a private agency (see below). If you only want a bike for less than 5 hours, though, bikesharing is definitely the way to go.

Private bike rentals in Rome

If you are looking for more variety or a longer rental period, there are three private rental outfit get a great deal on a rental bike or scooter. The prices for renting a bicycle in Rome are pretty standard across most companies: about €4–€5 per hour or €10–€11 per day.

Related pages


   ShareThis

Intrepid Travel

Search ReidsItaly.com

This material was last updated February 2011. All information was accurate at the time.

about | contact | faq

» THE REIDSITALY.COM DIFFERENCE «

Copyright © 2008–2011 by Reid Bramblett. All rights reserved.