Even Venice Has Its Own Bike Sharing System, Despite All That Water
The best way to get around Venice is by foot, but of course there are plenty of gondoliers that will tell you differently as you make your way around the city. Despite the lack of cars and roads—and the abundance of canals and waterways—there’s another way to cruise around town. Over on the Lido bicycles are everywhere, but don’t be sad if you forgot to bring yours too, because bike sharing is alive and well in Venice.
We took the vaporetto over to Venice’s longest island, and immediately stumbled onto the city’s "Bike Sharing Venezia" program after getting off the waterbus. Unfortunately we weren’t just able to swipe our credit card and pedal away, but this time it was due to some poor planning and not the lack of a chip-and-pin credit card.
Venice’s bike sharing program works much like other bike sharing systems around the globe. Swipe your access card, pick out your bike, pedal around, and then return it before too much time passes. You’re encouraged to use the bikes to get to the next stop, as it’s cheaper to do it that way and it keeps the bikes available for others looking to do the same.
The trick here is that you need to register in advance and score one of the city’s IMOB access cards. The only bummer here is that—at least according to our limited foreign language skills—is that registration must be done in person either at the Venice-Mestre railway station or Venice-Lido. Thankfully the bikes aren’t an option in and around the Grand Canal, so that means you won’t be able to chase down the pigeons over in Piazza San Marco.
Registration will set you back €15 for the year, but if you’re sticking around for a few days that might not be too bad. It doesn’t look like there are any real tourist options, so you’re stuck with paying for 365 days of pedal power. After that you can choose your ride from around 11 different stations, and the first hour is free. After 60 minutes they’ll charge you €1, and if you cruise around for more than two hours it’s going to be €2 for each hour. Keep it in mind for the next time you make Venice your final destination, or at least if you’re looking to bump into some celebrities at the city’s film festival later this year—it takes place on the Lido.
[Photos: Jaunted]
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