According to a survey by the ADFC, 38 million people in Germany made at least one day trip by bike in 2022. Cycling is becoming increasingly popular as an environmentally friendly mode of transport – for travelling to the office or exploring cities and the countryside. A cycle tour can also be wonderfully combined with a train journey. In addition to traditional bike hire stations, more and more bikes are now being offered for hire around the clock via an app.
Bikes can be hired at numerous railway stations to explore cities or beautiful landscapes.
Overview
Bike hire at a station: Deutsche Bahn in cooperation with List’n’Ride
The the temporary pilot project DB Radverleih provided by Deutsche Bahn together with List’n’Ride and some local bike hire companies is aimed at a relaxed cycling trip. At popular excursion locations, you can easily hire a bike near the station to explore the surrounding area. There are currently two German regions in the cooperation programme.
On the one hand, the North-East region includes hire stations at the railway stations Chorin, Fürstenberg (Havel), Neubrandenburg, Waren (Müritz), Warnemünde und Rostock Hauptbahnhof between Berlin and the Baltic Sea. Secondly, cycle tours in the south-east region start from the stations Starnberg, Murnau, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Mittenwald and Oberstdorf on the line between München and the mountains.
The right bike for the location in question can be booked directly online via the DB Radverleih website with just a few clicks.
Bike hire at a station: Deutsche Bahn hire bikes
80 German cities are taking part in Deutsche Bahn’s bike sharing programme. Rental bikes at long-distance railway stations are tied to the station. In some cities and regions, hire bikes can also be returned to other stations. In Frankfurt (Main) and Darmstadt, bikes can even be parked outside the station in a flex zone for a fee. Bikes can be rented and returned at any time via the app. Billing is based on tariff classes.
Call a Bike: Via app to bike hire at the station
Location: Locations at long-distance railway stations: Aschaffenburg, Bamberg, Bielefeld, Bonn, Braunschweig, Bremen, Erlangen, Freiburg (Breisgau), Fulda, Göttingen, Gütersloh, Halle (Saale), Hanau, Hannover, Heidelberg, Ingolstadt, Kaiserslautern, Karlsruhe, Lübeck, Magdeburg, Mainz, Mannheim, Oberhausen, Oldenburg, Rostock (main station and Warnemünde), Saarbrücken, Weimar, Wiesbaden and Würzburg; city-wide locations: Berlin, Darmstadt, Frankfurt (Main), Offenbach, Köln and München (station overview via Call a Bike app)
Offer: City bikes
Prices: Starter tariff: hire for € 1 per 15 minutes up to a maximum of € 9 per day ; premium rate with subscription for € 5.9 per month: rental for € 1 per 30 minutes up to a maximum of € 5 per day, 30 free minutes per journey
Specialties: Discounts for users with a BahnCard or Deutschlandticket
StadtRAD Hamburg by Deutsche Bahn and the city of Hamburg
Location: City-wide locations: Hamburg and Lüneburg (station overview via StadtRAD app)
Offer: City bikes, electric cargo bikes
Prices: Light tariff: Rental for € 0.10 per minute up to a maximum of € 9 (€ 24 for cargo pedelec) per day; normal tariff with subscription for € 5 per month: hire for € 0.10 per minute up to a maximum of € 9 (€ 24 for cargo pedelec) per day, 30 free minutes per journey
Specialties: Discounts for users with a BahnCard or Deutschlandticket
RegioRadStuttgart from Deutsche Bahn and the Stuttgart region
Location: City-wide locations: More than 50 cities and municipalities in the Stuttgart region (station overview via RegioRadStuttgart App)
Offer: Bicycles, e-bikes, e-cargo bikes
Prices: Light rate: Rental per minute between € 0.10 and € 0.14 up to a maximum of € 9 to € 19 per day or a maximum of € 2 per night; basic subscription rate for € 3 per month: rental per minute between € 0.04 and € 0.12 up to a maximum of € 9 to € 19 per day or a maximum of € 2 per night
Specialties: Discounts for users with a polygoCard
Bike hire at a station: More hire stations
There are many self-service bike hire systems. Some are limited to individual or several cities or regions, others are available throughout Germany. Here are some of the providers:
- Nextbike – Bike sharing service in many German cities
- Donkey Republic – Dutch bike hire for numerous cities/regions
- Frelo und LastenFrelo – Bike hire in Freiburg (Breisgau)
- Mein Konstanz – Bike hire system in Constance
- WK-Bike in Bremen – Bike hire via app or hotline call in Bremen
- MV-Rad – Rental stations in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
- Velocity Aachen – E-bike hire in Aachen
- metropolradruhr – Bike hire in eleven cities
- meinRad – 180 stations in Mainz
- MietOn – Bike hire in the Elbe region
A different kind of bike hire at a station: Folding bikes from Brompton
A bike not only for cycling, but also to take with you wherever you go – that’s the folding bike from Brompton. It can be folded up in just a few simple steps and unfolded again just as quickly. This makes the practical road vehicle a free piece of luggage on the train or bus because it is compact. When you don’t need it, it can be quickly stowed away to save space. Deutsche Bahn offers the practical folding bike as part of a subscription including service and insurance.
Folding bike subscription with Deutsche Bahn
Offer: Brompton bike model C Line Explore (6-speed) in black from the manufacturer Brompton Bike Hire Limited, Unit 1, Ockham Drive, Greenford, London, UB6 0FD
Phone: +44 204 538 3225
Prices: Annual subscription for € 41 per month (€ 492 per year) including home delivery, insurance (against accidental damage and theft), six-monthly service check and discount on the purchase of a new Brompton bike after the subscription expires
Specialties: No bicycle ticket required for public transport, not affected by the public transport company's bicycle closing times
Collect kilometres with bike hire at a station using the DB Rad+ app
Whether you have your own or a rented bike: with the DB Rad+ app, cyclists can collect kilometres and exchange them for attractive rewards, such as credit with Call-a-Bike, a bike rental with DB Radverleih or free minutes with nextbike. The kilometres collected also have a social value. They count when it comes to cycle-friendly measures and events organised by local authorities or Deutsche Bahn.
With a hire bike on the Weser, Elbe or Main cycle paths
These cycle tours lead through varied landscapes along the Weser, the Elbe or the Main. The tour from the source of the Main to the mouth of the Rhine in Mainz is 600 kilometres long. Ten cycle hire centres are available along this route. In Germany, you cycle 840 kilometres down the Elbe to Cuxhaven on the North Sea. There are 15 bike hire stations in this area. It is around 520 kilometres along the Weser. In 2022, the Weser Cycle Path, which has a total of 13 hire stations, was the busiest long-distance cycle path in Germany. Click on the following link for a list of all bike hire stations at stations.