Discover the best Berlin bike rental for short trips or day tours! Find out how to easily rent a bike in Berlin on the cheap with the ultimate Bike Sharing Berlin Comparison Guide and travel more sustainably by burning fat, not fuel.
There’s no better way to explore Berlin than cycling. It’s the best way to sightsee the main attractions of the city, especially if you only have 2 or 3 days in Berlin. There’s no need to figure out how public transport works and you’ll also reduce your carbon footprint by burning fat, not fuel.
Don’t have a bike? Don’t worry! There are great bike sharing options that will allow you to easily rent a bike in Berlin.
This comprehensive guide will help you figure out which is the best bike share for you. Whether you’re planning short trips, day tours or even multi-day tours for normal pedal bicycles or e-bikes, we’ve got you covered.
We’ve done all the hard work for you and compared prices, pros and cons for the major bike sharing companies in Berlin so you always get the best bike rental deal! And if you’re still undecided on which bike sharing to go with, try them using our discount codes and get a free ride!
If this is the first time you’re cycling in Berlin, make sure to familiarise yourself with the German cycling laws and etiquette.
If you’re already familiar with the drill, skip straight to our Berlin Bike Sharing Price vs Value Comparison to find the best bike share for you.
Wondering how travelling in Berlin and Germany has changed since COVID-19? Find out what it’s like to visit Berlin during the coronavirus pandemic.
Table of Contents
showExploring Berlin by Bike
Is Berlin Bike Friendly?
Yes, Berlin is a very bike friendly city. There are cycling paths throughout most of Berlin. When there isn’t, it’s pretty safe to cycle on the road. Motorists are pretty considerate to cyclists and generally give way.
You don’t need to be super fit to cycle in Berlin. The city is quite flat which makes for easy cycling. Besides burning fat and not fuel, you’ll also get around the city faster by cycling rather than taking public transport.
Where Can I Bike in Berlin?
With over 620 kilometres of cycling paths in Berlin, you can just about bike everywhere.
A third of the city is made up of parks and green spaces. So even if you’re not confident on the bike, there are plenty of places to practice before hitting the road.
Best Cycling Routes in Berlin
If you need to build some confidence before exploring Berlin by bike, here’s some beautiful green places to cycle around in the city:
- Tegel Forest
- Schlachtensee
- Tiefenwerder Wiesen
- Grunewald Forest
- Berlin-Buch to Liepnitzsee
- Berlin-Grunau to Tonsee Lake
Read our 17 best outdoor things to do in Berlin guide to discover more awesome cycling routes and must-do summer activities.
Guided Berlin Bike Tours
If you’re keen to explore Berlin by bike, but don’t feeling confident enough to cycle alone, then you should go on a guided bike tour.
Here are some of the most popular bike tours in Berlin:
- Explore The Highlights in Berlin: 3 hour Bike Tour
- Bike Tour of the Hidden Berlin (4 hours)
- Berlin Sights and Highlights Bike Tour (3.5 hours)
- Berlin Wall and Cold War Bike Tour (3.5 hours)
- Discover The Vibes of Berlin on Bike (3 hours)
- Berlin Street Art Bike Tour (3.5 hours)
- ‘Top Secret’ Berlin Guided Bike Tour (3 hours)
- Alternative Berlin by Bike – Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain Tour (3.5 hours)
If you prefer the DIY route (like we do), explore the city of Berlin by bike on our FREE self-guided cycling tour of the Berlin Wall. You’ll see most of the main historical attractions of Berlin and follow the crumbs of the Berlin Wall story.
Berlin Bike Routes App
If you’re not familiar with the city and looking for a Berlin bike route planner, try BikeMap.
Otherwise, just do what we do and use Google Maps. Make sure to click on directions and select the bicycle icon to get Google to direct you to the bike lanes.
If you follow our Berlin Wall by Bike cycling route, we’ve included a free map that has the route all planned out for you.
Berlin Bike Laws and Etiquette
Cycling in Berlin is pretty easy. There are bicycle lanes throughout most of the city. Just follow these simple bike road rules for cycling in Germany and you’ll have a safe and pleasant ride.
Germany Bicycle Requirements
Your bicycle requires certain items to be considered roadworthy. These are:
- White front light;
- Red brake light;
- Yellow reflectors on the wheels or reflective spokes;
- Loud sounding bell; and
- Two separate breaking devices.
All these items need to be in good working order for safety reasons.
When you rent a bike in Berlin using bike sharing, all the bicycles will have these required items. Just double check that they are all working before hitting that unlock button.
Can You Take Your Bike On The Train in Berlin
There may be a few reasons why you’ll want to take your bicycle on the train. It’s raining, it’s too cold or you’re simply just too tired to cycle back.
Luckily you can bring your bike with you on the trains in Berlin. Whether this be the U-Bahn, S-Bahn, tram or regional trains. Just make sure to buy an additional train ticket for your bike and get on the designated carriage for bikes.
It should be quite easy to spot a huge bicycle sign on the sliding doors of the S-Bahn, tram or regional trains.
For the U-bahn, it’s not always obvious. If you don’t see the designated sign for bikes on the U-bahn, just get into any carriage except the first one. Try your best to find a relatively quiet carriage so that it is easier for you and other passengers.
If you’re bike sharing in Berlin, you can skip this whole exercise. Simply drop off your bike, get on the train and pick up another bike share if you need it again. VOILA!
Save Me For Later
How Do Bike Sharing Rentals Work?
It’s super easy to rent a bike in Berlin with bike sharing. The added bonus is that they pretty much all work the same way. Here’s how bike sharing rentals generally work:
- Download the bike sharing app you’re going to use
- Register an account with your mobile number
- Add payment method to verify your account (we use our Revolut and N26 bank cards)
- Find a bike
- Unlock the bike by scanning the QR code, via bluetooth or access code provided on the app
- Cycle from A to B
- Return and lock bike when you’re done
Useful Tips To Know Before Bike Sharing
- Bike sharing charges are calculated based on time intervals. That means that if you cycled for 32 minutes, you will be charged for two 30 minute intervals (i.e. 60 minutes).
- Always adjust the seat and check all the lights before you unlock the bike. Save those few minutes for a beer later.
- Make sure you return the bike at specified drop off zones. Don’t leave them in prohibited areas like in parks or outside the Berlin S-Bahn ring. Always check the relevant bike sharing app to see where you can drop off your bike. If you don’t, you might be surprised with a big fine.
What and Where is the Berlin S-Bahn Ring
The S-Bahn is the overground train that runs around the perimeter of Berlin. You can see the ring on Google maps but here is a simple illustration of the Berlin S-Bahn Ring.
© Von CellarDoor85 by Maximilian Dörrbecker
Leaving your bike share outside the S-Bahn ring is equivalent to taking the bike outside of Berlin. All the bike sharing companies will fine you for this. The only difference is how much they’ll fine you.
So if you do plan to make a day trip to Potsdam or Liepnitzsee from Berlin using bike sharing, make sure to not end your session outside the S-Bahn ring. Rather pause your subscription if you need to temporarily park your bike share. Then bring your bike back within the Berlin S-Bahn ring before ending your session to avoid the fine.
How Does Payment Work For Berlin Bike Sharing
The payment method for each bike sharing company is slightly different.
When using bike sharing in Berlin for the first time, most companies will reserve or take an initial fee from your credit or debit card.
Donkey Republic reserves an initial fee of €10 and then deducts your actual fee at the end. NextBike immediately deducts €1 from your account but this becomes a credit amount that goes towards the cost of your first ride.
Other companies (like Mobike) use the top-up method where you have to first load money before riding.
Berlin Bike Rental vs Bike Sharing
We’ve tried both traditional bike rentals and now bike sharing too. There are a few reasons why we prefer bike sharing rather than renting a bike in Berlin.
Benefits of Bike Sharing to Traditional Bike Rental
- You don’t need to leave your passport or copies of your passport at the bike shop when bike sharing
- There is no need to pay a lump sum deposit to rent a bike
- You can pick up and drop off the bike whenever you like
- You won’t need to take your bike on the train
- Chances of bike theft are lower
Can A Rider Hire More Than 1 Bike At A Time?
That depends on the bike share company. Some yes, others not.
Use these bike share companies if you want to hire more than 1 bike at a time:
- Donkey Republic (max 5)
- NextBike (max 4)
- Lidl Bike (max 2)
Berlin Bike Sharing Price vs Value Comparison
We’ve compared 6 of the most popular bike sharing companies in Berlin. They all rent out pedal or city bikes, but some also have e-bikes (electric bikes).
Check out the table below for our side-by-side comparison. Read further to find out which one we think is the best bike share in Berlin.
Related Guide: If you love bikesharing, you’ll probably love van-sharing too! It’s a great option to consider if you’re moving apartments in Germany (or Berlin) and don’t want to hire a moving company to do it on your behalf. Find out how much it costs in our Van Rental in Germany guide.
Pedal Bicycles (City Bikes)
Donkey Republic Berlin
Just the name ‘Donkey Republic’ alone tells you they have a fun brand, right? From their story, their bright orange bikes, right down to giving each ‘donkey’ a unique name, everything is sprinkled with a good dose of fun and quirkiness. Maybe we’re just nerds, but we love this type of attention to detail and thoughtfulness.
On first glance, Donkey bikes seem to be the most expensive. But that’s only true if you’re bike sharing for less than an hour. It’s actually the most affordable bike share option if you’re cycling for more than an hour.
If you don’t believe us, you can double check our maths in our Berlin bike sharing comparison table.
Price of Donkey Bikes in Berlin
The ‘donkeys’ are designed to work out cheaper, the longer you cycle. That’s why riding ‘donkeys’ is the best way to rent a bike in Berlin for cheap! That’s what we rode on our self guided cycling tour of the Berlin Wall. It only cost us €6 to hire our bikes for 3 hours.
Donkey Republic Bike Discount Code
Try your first Donkey Republic bike for free with discount code 95DF7D. This will give you a free 15 minute ride to test out these colourful and fun Donkey Bikes!
Donkey Republic Bike Pros
If that’s not enough to convince you, here are some other things we love about these orange ‘donkeys’:
- It’s the only bike share that has built-in cellphone holders. This is a necessity if you want to avoid holding your phone while cycling and risking a big fat fine.
- You can make as many stops as you like. Simply lock and unlock your bike as you please.
- Drop-off is super convenient. When you’re ready to say goodbye to your ‘donkey’, open your app and it will show you the closest drop off point.
- The quality of the bikes are great! Plus the size of the bikes are comfortable whether you’re 1.6 meters (aka Chloe) or 1.92 meters tall (Michael).
- All their bikes have 3 gears. This comes in handy when you find that occasional uphill in Berlin.
- Best option for cycling with friends. You can rent up to 5 bikes from one account!
- There are plenty of orange donkeys around, so finding a bike is easy.
- One of the best Berlin bike rental option for touring and exploring Berlin.
Donkey Republic Bikes Cons
- Expensive for short trips (less than an hour).
- Bikes don’t have baskets, only a strap to hold down your bags.
Nextbike Berlin (Previously Deezer Nextbike)
You’ve probably seen these blue bikes before if you’ve travelled a lot around Europe. They operate in more than 60 German and 25 European cities. You can usually find them standing in neat rows at docking stations outside of train stations or along main roads.
These blue bikes have been getting a slight makeover with the change from Deezer Nextbike, to just Nextbike.
The new Nextbike bicycles ‘powered by Edeka’, are sportier, lighter and even more comfortable than the older models. The cherry on top? The price stayed the same!
Nextbikes are great for short trips. It’s one of the cheapest bike shares for less than an hour, and even better yet, less than 30 minutes.
But dropping off a Nextbike is a bit more inconvenient compared to other bike shares in Berlin. You have to drop the bike off at a Nextbike docking station.
If you drop it off in their flexible zones, there’s an additional charge of €0.50. It’s not much, but if you go this route then it will no longer be the cheapest bike rental option in Berlin.
Price of Nextbikes in Berlin
Nextbikes have the best pricing structure for short trips (i.e. less then 30 minutes). It costs €1 for your first 30 minutes and €1.50 for every 30 minutes thereafter.
They also have great packages for daily, weekly and annual passes.
The daily pass is €3. For the next 24 hours the first 30 minutes per rental are free. Every additional 30 minutes thereafter is €1 and the maximum charge is €12 per 24 hours.
This is a great option if you’re making a number of short trips under 30 minutes in the next 24 hours. Just bear in mind that you’ll have to lock and return the bike within those 30 minutes for that to count towards one rental session.
Great if you’re doing short trips from train station to train station. Not so great for touring the city because you’ll need to keep hunting down docking stations to return your bike.
The weekly and annual pass follow the same rules mentioned above. Just a different price over different time periods.
Useful Tip: Adjust the height of your bike seat and check that all your lights are working before hitting that unlock button. The countdown starts immediately after unlocking your Nextbike. You don’t want to waste your 30 minutes doing this after the bike is unlocked.
Nextbike Pros
- You can make as many stops as you like. Simply lock and unlock your bike as you please.
- The newer Nextbike models (powered by Edeka bicycles) have baskets, but the older models don’t.
- The quality of the bikes are usually great.
- All their bikes have 3 gears.
- You can rent up to 4 bikes, but each rider needs to register their own account. If you want to pay on the same card, you can register the same credit/debit card for up to 4 accounts.
- There are plenty of Nextbikes around, so finding a bike to rent in Berlin is easy. You can also rent bikes in other cities where Nextbikes are available with your existing account.
- Cheapest bike rental option in Berlin for less than one hour.
Nextbike Cons
- No cellphone holder
- Drop-off is less convenient than other bike sharing companies. If you drop the bike off in flex zones like other bike shares, an additional €0.50 is charged.
- Customer care and support don’t respond to incorrect charges.
Mobike Berlin
Mobikes are the most common bike share you’ll see around Berlin. They have one of the largest bike fleets in the city, which makes it one of the most accessible bikes to rent in Berlin.
These bikes are designed for short trips only. You’ll notice that the size of the bikes are smaller than the other bike sharing companies in Berlin. Perfect if you’re a shortie (like Chloe) but if you’re taller, you’re going to have to adjust that seat way up.
We have seen some newer versions of the Mobikes which seem a bit bigger, but they’re still few and far between. The newer versions also tend to have gears, while most of the old ones don’t.
That’s okay if you’re game for a leg workout. No gears plus plastic tires (in comparison to air filled tires) makes cycling harder and more strenuous.
Price of Mobike in Berlin
It costs €1 for every 20 minute interval.
It’s the only bike share that charges in 20 minute intervals instead of 30. Perfect for short trips less than 40 minutes. After that, the other bike sharing rentals in Berlin are cheaper and more importantly, easier on your legs.
Payment also works differently to the other bike sharing companies. You have to top up your account with €5, €10 or €20 first before you can ride.
This can be annoying if you’re not planning to ride Mobikes frequently. The remaining credit can’t be transferred or donated to another user. But the good news is that the amount will not expire.
The account balance is refundable but you’ll need to e-mail them at support.de@mobike.com with your registered mobile number and full name. The website says it takes 7 business days to process. We can’t share our personal experience on this because we haven’t gone through the refund process before.
Mobike Pros
- One of the few bike shares with a proper basket.
- The quality of the bikes are not as great as the other Berlin bike sharing options, but it’s okay.
- Drop off is super convenient, just drop it off anywhere within the Berlin S-Bahn ring (your Mobike app will guide you).
- There are plenty of Mobikes around, so finding a bike is easy.
- Cheapest bike sharing option for less than 40 minutes.
Mobike Cons
- You can’t park and lock the bike for later. When you lock, your session ends and you’ll have to find a new Mobike.
- No cellphone holder.
- Some Mobikes have gears, others don’t.
- Plastic tires makes cycling relatively more strenuous compared to other bike share options which use air-filled tires.
- You can only rent 1 bike at a time. Not a family or group-friendly option.
Lidl Bike Berlin
If you haven’t guessed it by now, these bikes are owned by the German global discount supermarket, Lidl.
Lidl Bike is a great bike sharing option if you live in Berlin. But if you’re only in the city for the weekend, it’s not. Why? You have to pay a €3 annual subscription fee first before renting these bicycles. If you live in Berlin, it’s worth it because only Lidl and Call A Bike bicycles have 7 gears instead of 3.
Once you’ve paid that, it’s the cheapest bike sharing option in Berlin for less than 2 hours.
Price of Lidl Bike in Berlin
After paying the €3 subscription fee, it’s €1.50 for every 30 minutes and €1 for every 30 minutes thereafter.
For the exact price breakdown for different hours, check our bike sharing comparison table above.
Lidl Bike Pros
- Quality of the bikes are great.
- Lidl Bikes have 7 gears instead of 3.
- One of the cheapest bike share option if you live in Berlin and happy to pay the €3 subscription fee for the year.
- Drop off is super convenient, just drop it off anywhere within the Berlin S-Bahn ring. You get a €0.50 discount if you leave your bike close to any S-Bahn or U-Bahn train station.
- You can rent up to 2 bikes on the same account.
Lidl Bike Cons
- €3 subscription fee doesn’t make sense if you’re a tourist in Berlin.
- More difficult to rent Lidl Bikes since there aren’t as many of them around (depends on the area).
- Bikes don’t have baskets, only a strap to hold down your bags.
- No cellphone holder.
- Their website is only available in German, so their support and customer care will likely be in German too. We hope you can speak better German than we can.
Limebike Berlin
Have you been wondering where the Limebikes are in Berlin? Well, it seems that Lime has phased out their city bikes since they’ve introduced Lime Scooters. Pity because the bike sharing prices for Limebike in Berlin were pretty awesome and affordable.
The last time we spotted these bright, green bikes were in the summer of 2019. We thought maybe they would make a comeback in 2020. But it seems that Lime has chosen to focus on Lime Scooters and their new e-bikes instead. More detail on that in our rent an e-bike in Berlin section.
We thought we would include Limebikes in our comparison anyway. Just in case these bike rentals return to Berlin in the future.
Price of Limebike in Berlin
It costs €1 for every 30 minutes. Yup! That makes Limebikes even cheaper than Mobikes and their bike quality is better too. It’s the cheapest bike share in Berlin if you’re cycling for less than 2 hours.
Lime Scooters and LimeBike Discount Code
Want to try Lime Scooters or LimeBike for free? Use referral code R24FEDZ to get a free €5 ride credit.
You can also rent Lime Scooters and Jump e-bikes in Berlin on the Uber app. The discount code only works on the Lime app though.
Limebike Pros
- One of the few bike shares with a proper basket.
- Quality of the bikes are great.
- Drop off is super convenient, just drop it off anywhere within the Berlin S-Bahn ring (your Lime app will guide you).
- The cheapest bike sharing option in Berlin if you’re cycling for less than 2 hours.
Limebike Cons
- Haven’t seen any Limebikes around Berlin since autumn 2019. Not sure if they will return or if they’ll only have Lime Scooters and Lime e-bikes from now.
- No cellphone holder.
- You can only rent 1 bike at a time. Not a family or group-friendly option.
Call A Bike
Call A Bikes are back in Berlin! If you didn’t know, Call A Bike is the bike sharing platform developed by Germany’s national railway company, Deutsche Bahn.
These were the first bike share rentals available in Berlin and Germany 20 years ago! Back then, you had to literally call to rent a bike in Berlin. Hence the name ‘Call A Bike’.
Now with modern technology and smart phones, you can easily access these bike rentals in Berlin by downloading the Call A Bike app.
The quality of Call A Bikes are great. They’re actually quite similar to Lidl Bikes and have 7 gears too. But unlike Lidl Bikes, you don’t need to pay an annual subscription fee to rent Call A Bikes in Berlin.
That’s why the ‘Light Tariff’ option is perfect if you’re touring Berlin by bike. There’s no annual fee and it’s the cheapest bike sharing option in Berlin if you’re cycling for more than 4 hours.
If you live in Berlin or Germany, you can get cheaper bike rental rates by subscribing to the Call A Bike ‘Basic Tariff’ or ‘Comfort Tariff’ option. And you get even more discounts if you’re a BahnCard holder.
Price of Call A Bike in Berlin
It costs €0.10 per minute to rent Call A Bike in Berlin if you’re using the ‘Light Tariff’ option. It’s quite an expensive bike rental option if you’re cycling for less than 2 hours. But after the 2 hour mark, it hits the maximum daily price limit of €9 and it becomes the cheapest way to rent a bike in Berlin for more than 4 hours.
Call A Bike Pros
- The quality of the bikes are great and very similar to Lidl Bikes.
- Call A Bikes have 7 instead of 3 gears.
- The cheapest bike sharing option in Berlin for a 7 gear bike if you’re planning to cycle for more than 2 hours
- Drop off is convenient since these bikes are dockless. Just drop them off close to a train station for free, or pay an additional €1 to drop them off anywhere (besides the usual prohibited areas).
- These bikes are available in more than 50 cities around Germany.
Call A Bike Cons
- An expensive bike rental option in Berlin if you’re cycling for less than 2 hours.
- These bikes don’t have proper baskets, only a strap to hold down your bags.
- No cellphone holder.
E Bikes (Electric Bikes) Rental in Berlin
Like we mentioned earlier, some bike sharing companies also offer e-bike or electric bike options in Berlin.
What is an e-bike? E-bikes are basically bicycles with a built-in electric motor. It’s different to electric motorcycles in that you have to pedal for the bike to move.
E-bikes use rechargeable batteries and can travel up to 25 to 32 km/h (16 to 20 mph). The high-powered versions can even do more than 45 km/h (28 mph).
Before you get too excited, the e-bikes that bike sharing companies rent out are usually the lighter ones that travel up to 25 km/h. That’s still pretty fast for cycling!
Berlin E Bike Sharing Price Comparison
Donkey Republic E-Bike vs Jump Bike
Jump e-bikes were nowhere to be seen in the summer of 2020. Did you wonder why?
It was recently announced that Jump Bikes were temporarily taken off the market while a deal was made for Lime to take the Uber Jump e-bikes over. They’re back now and you can finally rent an e-bike in Berlin again. Yay!
Donkey Republic also had an e-bike rental option in Berlin. But they currently seem to be offline and not available right now.
So if you’re planning to rent an e-bike in Berlin, Jump Bike is your only option.
We’ll compare the two e-bike rental options in Berlin anyway, in case the Donkey Republic e-bikes return. The biggest differences between the two are:
| Difference | Donkey Republic | Jump Bike |
|---|---|---|
| Unlock fee | FREE | €1 |
| Payment | Fixed amount depending on time | €0.20 per minute |
| No. of bikes | Rent a maximum of 5 | Only 1 |
Jump Bike Prices in Berlin
Jump Bikes cost €1 to unlock plus €0.20 per minute.
For the same €4 you’ll get for 30 minutes with Donkey Republic, you’ll only get 20 minutes of ride time with Jump Bikes. That means that it is way cheaper to rent e-bikes from Donkey Republic rather than Lime/Uber’s Jump Bikes.
The only downside is that it seems that Donkey Republic e-bikes are no longer available in Berlin.
Summary of Best Bike Sharing Options in Berlin
This was a super long and detailed guide. So if you didn’t make it all the way to the end, we don’t blame you. Here’s a quick summary for those that don’t enjoy reading.
Best Bike Sharing for Day Tours and Touring in Berlin
Donkey Republic or Call A Bike.
Best Bike Sharing for Short Trips in Berlin
Nextbike and Mobike.
Cheapest Bike Sharing in Berlin
- Short trips less than 20 minutes: Mobike
- Short trips less than 30 minutes: Nextbike
- Trips less than 1 hour: Nextbike
- Rent a Bike in Berlin for 1 – 4 hours: Donkey Republic
- Berlin Bike Rental for 4 – 24 hours: Call A Bike
Cheapest Monthly Bike Rentals for Expats in Berlin
- Donkey Republic (€14 or €19 per month depending on membership)
- Swapfiets (€18.90 or €22.90 per month depending on bike)
We personally used Swapfiets and have been loving the freedom of getting around Berlin by bike! Keen to find out what we think of Swapfiets and whether it’s worth it? Read our honest Swapfiets Review! And if you want to try Swapfiets out for yourself, use our Swapfiets Discount Code and save €7.50 on your Swapfiets subscription (Discount Code: AASHAY22739).
If this discount code doesn’t work, let us know and we’ll find you another one.
Netherlands Bike Tours
Love exploring new cities by bike? Then make sure to read our 22 Best Things to Do in Rotterdam by bike. It’s a self cycling guide to see the top attractions of Rotterdam.
If you prefer cycling in beautiful natural landscapes, read our Kinderdijk Windmills in Netherlands travel guide to find out how to get there and see it for free.
Resources for Expats Moving to Berlin
Are you also an expat in Berlin? If you are or busy planning the big move, here are some useful resources to help you (all written based on our personal experiences):
