Velib is a public bicycle system in the capital of France. This is the most popular rental in Paris. Velib has more than a thousand parking lots, including the ones in the suburbs. Everyone can get a bike there on their own. It’s very easy, we’ll explain to you how.
Definitely this is not the only option for renting bicycles and electric scooters, there are others as well.
Bike rental prices in Paris
Velib has the most flexible tariff system. If you have a Navigo pass or a Velib Metropole card, you can get very competitive monthly or even annual subscriptions for €40 only. But for tourists it is easier and more convenient to use a one-day or 3-days admission with only one bank card.
You can park your bike in any part of the city, not necessarily where you picked it up. Thus, you can take a new bike every half hour and not pay extra money. This is the basic principle of the system. You can take up to 5 bikes at one time per pass. For family and friends.
To get a bike you need a bank card. There should be at least €300 on the account, it will serve as a deposit. Money is not withdrawn from the card, but reserved for the duration of the trip. As soon as you return the bike to the parking lot, the reserve is immediately canceled.
One ride — Ticket-V
45 minutes of cycling costs €3, whether electric or classic.
Every additional 30 minutes will cost €1 on a classic, €2 on an electric. Once you’ve parked your bike, you can’t get a new one without paying for another ride or pass.
24 hour pass
Classic bicycle
A 24-hour pass classic costs €5 per day.
With this pass you ride classic bicycles (green) for the first half hour for free.
If you do not park your bike in 30 minutes, you start paying €1 per half hour.
You can also take the electric (blue), but there will be no free time.
| Extra 30 min. | ||
| Classic | 0–30 min. — free | €1 |
| Electric | 0–45 min. — €2 | €2 |
Electric bike
A 24-hour pass electric costs €10 per day.
With this pass you can use the free time on both classic and electric bikes.
The seventh ride on the electric bike will be charged from the start.
| Extra 30 min. | ||
| Classic | 0–60 min. — free | €1 |
| Electric | 0–45 min. — 6 free trips*
*Then €1 / trip from the 7th trip |
€1 |
3-Day Pass
This is a very advantageous offer. 72 hours of use of Velib cost €20.
The conditions and rates are the same as in the 24-hour pass electric.
» READ MORE – Traveling to Paris by car: parking, traffic, tips
How to take a bike in Paris at the Velib parking
Not to deal with the tariffs while standing on the street near the parking lot, we advise you to choose a subscription on the official website of Velib or in the Velib’ mobile application. You will receive your codes in advance and you will just need to enter them on the display of the bike.
Both the website and the app have a map of all the stations in the city. It is not difficult to find Velib parking lots, you will see them in every 300 m and they look like this:
If you decide to get a subscription at the station, here is the instruction for you.
1. Get to the information post.
2. You will see the following screen. Here you can choose a language. Follow our instructions if you don’t know any. Choose «Obtenir un Pass»
3. Select the desired subscription.
4. You will see full terms of the tariffs for bikes. Press the «souscrire» button.
5. Choose how many bikes you need.
6. On the following screen you will be warned about the security deposit, press the «suivante» button.
7. You will be asked to sign the agreement. Put a tick and press the green button.
8. Now you will be asked to input email and phone number. It’s not obligatory though.
But we recommend you to leave your email to get notifications about the charges for the rides.
- You will be suggested to choose a secret 4 digits code, it is not obligatory as well but recommended, please, remember it.
10. Finally, you will be asked to insert the card and enter a pin to block the security deposit and automatically take charges if you ride longer than 30 minutes.
Attention:
Visa Electron and MasterCard Maestro won’t do for payment.
11. After entering pin you get an 8 digit passcode. Now you can choose a bike on the parking lot. Check if everything is fine with it: tires, brakes and pedals. You should enter the passcode, then your secret code on the display of the chosen bike and finally all is ready. Enjoy the ride!
12. When you’re done, just find any station and slide your bike into the opening until the word STOP appears on the bike’s display.
If all the parking spaces are occupied, look at the map on the pole, the nearest neighboring stations are always indicated there.
Don’t forget that the bikes are only free for the first half hour, and after that you will be charged €1 for every additional 30 minutes! Keep an eye on the clock and make sure to change your bike every half hour.
To borrow a new bike, you can just walk up to the one you choose and enter your two codes again.
» READ MORE – Olympic games 2024 in Paris
Map of bike paths in Paris
And here is a map of bike paths in Paris. They have become much larger in recent years and they have become isolated from cars, so it even easier to ride.
Enjoy the bike rides in Paris!
Peter Mitchell / Unsplash 
Public domain 
Jean Baptiste D. / Unsplash 
Jean-Pierre Dalbera / flickr.com / CC BY 2.0
Miles Iwes / unsplash.com / СС0
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