Editor’s Note: Monthly Ticket is a NCS Travel sequence that spotlights some of the most fascinating matters in the journey world. In February, we’re exploring the folks, locations and journeys working to make tourism extra sustainable.
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Bicycles may be a smart way for vacationers to take pleasure in a metropolis. Not solely do you might have quick access to many vacationer spots, however they’re good on your private well being, monetary well being and the planet’s well being.
However, not all cities are bicycle pleasant. The very last thing you need is a traumatic trip pedaling round an city tangle the place roads and autos completely rule.
The excellent news is a few cities have given bicycles and the apply of sustainability their due.
The following 10 cities worldwide are amongst the best for vacationers (and locals) who like to bike.
There’s nothing like a native to assist present the lay of the land. Jurga Rubinovaite, founder of the Full Suitcase family travel blog, relies in Antwerp. And she’s additionally a main biking fanatic.
“Biking is a great way to explore a new destination or rediscover a place and get to know it deeper,” she informed NCS Travel by electronic mail. “So I try to do it whenever I get the chance.”
Antwerp ranks No. 3 on the newest Global Bicycle Cities Index, and it’s additionally excessive in Rubinovaite’s estimation.
“It offers a great mix of historic landmarks, modern architecture, world-class museums, and some of the best shopping and dining in Europe,” she stated. “In addition, it’s a relatively flat and bike-friendly city, which is surrounded by lots of greenery, just a stone’s throw from the historic old town.”
Among her suggestions: “If you are short on time, I highly recommend biking next to the river to the Eilandje district, just north of the old town. Some of the highlights here include the MAS Museum, the Port House of Antwerp, the Red Star Line Museum and the Park Bridge.”
While Antwerp is a year-round vacation spot, she suggests coming from April to October for the best biking climate.
Click here for bike rental choices.
Bern, Switzerland
It’s a capital thought to see this nation’s pretty capital by bike. There are routes to match any health stage or sightseeing curiosity.
The City of Bern route takes you thru neighborhoods comparable to Kirchenfeld (the museum district). It’s 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) with about a 200-meter (656-foot) change in elevation alongside the route.
The UNESCO Tour route begins in Bern’s Old Town and leads to the Rose Garden, a well-liked selfie spot with a breathtaking view. It additionally goes by the Bern Cathedral and the metropolis’s mountain, the Gurten, earlier than heading out to extra rural settings. It’s 60 kilometers (37 miles) with designated “easy” riding situations.
For thrill-seekers who really feel the want for velocity, there’s the downhill trail at the Gurten. Riders take a funicular to the prime earlier than starting their fast descent.
Bern has rentals in every category: e-bikes, mountain bikes and extra.
The Danes are identified for taking their bicycling tradition significantly, and the stats again that up. Roughly 70% personal a bike, in accordance to the Danish Centre of Cycling Knowledge, and about 45% of commutes in the Copenhagen space are by bike.
The first bike lane in Denmark was arrange in 1892 in Copenhagen. Today, the capital has 385 kilometers (239 miles) of bike lanes, in accordance to VisitDenmark.com. Bicyclists and drivers additionally safely share the identical roadway in many locations. Thanks to Danish design innovations comparable to narrowed streets and textured surfaces, automobiles drive slower.
Tourists can get in on the pedaling motion for normal transport or with themed routes.
For people who love design, there’s a 22-kilometer (16.7-mile) route that covers the buildings of modern architect Bjarke Ingels. The Harbour Circle route provides 13 kilometers (21 miles) of waterside websites. Famous Tivoli Gardens is a straightforward trip from the heart of the metropolis, however you’ll have to put it in a bike rack before entering the park.
Click here for a listing of bike leases, and then click here for the metropolis’s biking guidelines. A bonus for vacationers not in tiptop form: Copenhagen is generally flat.
Numerous German cities declare enviable spots on the Global Bicycle Cities Index, and longtime cultural juggernaut Leipzig is one of them.
Roughly 185 kilometers (115 miles) southwest of Berlin, Leipzig was the longtime dwelling of Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach. It’s additionally dwelling to a formidable biking system on a critical progress spurt.
In 1990, Leipzig had 70 kilometers (43.5 miles) of bike paths. Today, there are greater than 400 kilometers (nearly 250 miles) of paths, according to the city government. Cycling is mostly permitted in inexperienced areas and in the metropolis’s parks.
Travelers can bike to and park proper throughout from prime websites comparable to St. Nicolas Church, a heart level of historical past starting from Bach in 1723 to the 1989 revolution in then-East Germany. Lovers of classical composers would possibly need to shell out the euros for a three-hour tour of historical music sites.
The metropolis options hilly and flat routes, and Nextbike is a ubiquitous rental choice.
Melbourne’s scenic magnificence, tradition spots and informal eateries are that rather more enjoyable while you arrive by bike.
The metropolis has greater than 135 kilometers (84 miles) of on- and off-road routes and is fast-tracking more.
One riding spotlight is the Capital City Trail. Cyclists share its 29 kilometers (18 miles) with pedestrians. It circles the inside metropolis and goes by way of some jap and northern suburbs.
Waterways and bike paths simply appear to go collectively, and so it’s in Melbourne.
The Maribyrnong River Trail has a straightforward/average grade and takes riders previous the Flemington Racecourse, a main horse racing venue, in addition to Pipemakers Park, the place guests can discover the historic buildings and wetlands. Folks who aren’t too drained can tackle a steep climb to the scenic lookout at Lily Street.
The Main Yarra Trail provides up to 33 kilometers (20.5 miles) of nice river views and takes riders to the bustling CBD.
Bike helmets are mandatory in Melbourne. Click here to be taught extra about the metropolis’s bike-sharing app and get normal recommendation.
This bilingual metropolis, set on an island in the St. Lawrence River, has embraced bicycles in a massive method.
Since the Nineteen Eighties, Montreal has invested in bike infrastructure with a whole bunch of kilometers of paths and lanes, according to urban bicycle advocacy group Copenhagenize.
Now, the metropolis plans to broaden, according to the CBC, by including about 200 kilometers (125 miles) of protected, devoted bike lanes over the subsequent 5 years.
Visitors can already bike between six of Montreal’s favorite parks: The well-known Mount Royal in addition to Parc Frédéric-Back, Parc Jarry, Parc Jean-Drapeau, Parc Maisonneuve and Île-de-la-Visitation in the Prairies River.
More choices: The Lachine Canal route (about 40 kilometers or 25 miles roundtrip) goes by way of some of Montreal’s hippest ‘hoods. The Réseau Express Vélo (REV) provides fast cycling across some of the city’s busiest neighborhoods with out dealing with any automobile site visitors.
Click here for another nice sightseeing routes.
Most paths are open in the city’s challenging winters, however parts could be blocked ready for snow removing. The citywide BIXI bike rental program opens again up in the spring.
Many of the prime bicycling cities are in Europe, however the United States does have some choices, together with vacationer favourite San Francisco.
The metropolis had nearly 464 miles (747 kilometers) in its bikeway network as of May 2022. And 121 miles (195 kilometers) have been protected.
NCS Travel emailed Nesrine Majzoub, director of advertising and communications for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, for some bike-riding suggestions in the notoriously hilly metropolis.
“Thankfully, our bike paths choose the safest path with the least amount of hills. So, it’s really valuable to look at the ‘biking’ route in your GPS and map options, because those paths will allow you to avoid the hills as much as possible,” stated Majzoub.
“For example, if you’re downtown and want to bike west towards the Panhandle and Golden Gate Park, you can take what we call ‘The Wiggle’ – a bike path that will wiggle you around the hills and have a much more accessible slope,” she stated. Click here for extra bike route recommendations.
Another choice: renting an e-bike. “Take it as sluggish as you need and revel in the trip, Majzoub stated.
If you’re drained, you can too place your bike on a rack of a Muni bus. Find out public transit details here.
If you need a memorable problem, click on right here to discover out about riding the Golden Gate Bridge.
Numerous German cities are well-regarded for his or her biking tradition, so maybe it’s no shock that the “French Cycling Capital” is the metropolis of Strasbourg, which sits simply throughout the Rhine River from Germany and has a heavy Teutonic affect.
With a metro inhabitants of about 480,000 folks, Strasbourg sports activities round 600 kilometers (375 miles) of bike paths, according to the Office de Tourisme Strasbourg. An estimated 16% of staff use bicycles to get to work. And vacationers can get in on the motion.
At least 6,000 bikes can be found at self-service stations 24/7. Vélhop is the main bike-sharing service in the metropolis, providing typical bikes, children’ bikes, tandems, e-bikes and electrical cargo bikes.
The route planning and navigation app Komoot suggests a 19.3-kilometer (12-mile) route by way of the coronary heart of Strasbourg that’s rated as “easy” and takes about an hour. It winds by way of the Petite-France neighborhood located alongside the metropolis’s canals, the place Instagram-worthy half-timbered properties nonetheless stand.
Strasbourg is so steeped in biking that resorts comparable to the Best Western Plus Monopole Métropole have webpages and employees devoted particularly to individuals who want to bike while visiting.
Israel’s subtle, Bauhaus-styled metropolis on the Mediterranean Sea has the makings of a bicycling paradise.
It already options flat topography like Copenhagen however provides hotter, sunnier climate. And the city government has an ever-increasing dedication to cultivating a world-class bicycling tradition.
The metropolis touts the time-savings that biking may give guests. For occasion, a trip from Rabin Square, the most important plaza in Tel Aviv, to lush HaYarkon Park is about seven minutes away. Popular Gordon Beach can be a quick bike trip away.
Shady, cafe-lined Rothschild Boulevard, which cuts by way of the gleaming buildings of the White City, makes for wonderful biking.
Tel-O-Fun provides rental choices all through the metropolis through an app.
Helmets usually are not obligatory in Tel Aviv, in accordance to Tourist Israel, however extra locals are beginning to put on them.
Utrecht, Netherlands
(*10*)
Amsterdam is justifiably well-regarded for its biking tradition and tourism attraction – to the level the metropolis now discourages overtourism. That’s the place Utrecht, the fourth-largest city in the Netherlands, comes riding to the rescue.
It’s achieved a No. 1 ranking on the Global Bicycle Cities Index, and it has plenty of its own parks, canals, museums and historic buildings to provide with out Amsterdam-level crowds. And it’s all linked by bike paths.
The manageable metropolis of about 362,000 folks had 420 kilometers (261 miles) of bike paths in 2021. It additionally claims to have the world’s largest bicycle parking facility at Central Station, with room for 12,500 bikes.
The Dutch expertise for ingenious design is on vivid show right here.
The Dafne Schippersbrug bridge spans the Amsterdam-Rhine canal to join the historic metropolis heart to the new district of Leidsche Rijn. But it’s no bizarre bridge. Dedicated to bicycles and pedestrians, it additionally integrates a major college and a park into the design.
Click here for bike rental info.
Top picture: See the colourful Copenhagen waterfront by bicycle. (Photo by nantonov/iStock Editorial/Getty Images)