Call a Bike in Berlin

Traveling can be very tiring. Etymologically speaking, the origins of the word travel reach back to the French word travail, "to toil, labor" and this type of work, though nice work to have if you can get it, can sometimes get out of hand whenever you are exploring a place for the first time. You tend to want to see too much too fast and your feet aren't always in the position to keep up with the rest of you. This is especially the case when you set out to discover a huge city like Berlin.

Don't get me wrong, the public transportation system here is excellent, but you will generally be using the subway system (U-Bahn) and when it comes to "sight seeing", there is just not all that much to look at down there. Everybody loves to take a cab, but who wants to pay for one all of the time? The buses are often crowded and can be rather slow. And biking is… Biking? Why not?

You don't have to walk until you drop anymore. Just walk as far was you like, because there is always a bike waiting for you around the next corner in Berlin. And the rental procedure here is guaranteed hassle-free.

Die Deutsche Bahn AG, the German railway authority, has organized an entire fleet of high-tech bikes that are now at your service 24 hours a day. And where can you find them? Just about everywhere, really. They are waiting for you at practically every large intersection in town. The idea is pretty simple: By making a quick telephone call to the Service Hotline number 0700 0 5 22 55 22, you can use your credit card to hire the "CallBike" nearest you.

Your bike is locked with an electronic lock which you can open by entering a special code. You obtain this code by dialing the telephone number seen in the red circle on the cover of the lock. Then just enter the code by using the lock's display. Once the green light on the lock begins to blink, your bike is free for you to use.

The standard rate for Call a Bike is seven cents per minute, with a maximum charge of 15 euros per day. Once these 24 hours are up, the seven cent per minute charge begins all over again. Your rental period ends with your return call to the Service Hotline.

So once you've had enough biking and are ready to start walking again, just return your bike to the nearest major intersection and lock it to a fixed object. Then press the "Return" button in the display and note the receipt code which you will need for your return call. Then call the Service Hotline using the telephone number seen in the red circle and give Call a Bike the receipt information and the bike's location. And that was that, off you go to your next adventure.

By the way, die Deutsche Bahn offers this service in Frankfurt, Cologne and Munich, as well.

Happy peddling!