Stockholm City Bikes 2012 Season

Bikes at a bike stand

As I reported last week, the Stockholm City Bike season (April to October) has started. The City Bikes are a great and inexpensive way to travel about in Stockholm... and they grow in popularity each year. This season there are 106 bike stations spread throughout the city with more bike stands planned! There are two types of rental cards for purchase... either a season card (300 SEK) or a three day card (165 SEK). People often ask if there is a one day card. The answer is no, though their three day rental is cheaper than renting a bike for one day elsewhere.
The bike stands are open every day from 6am to 10pm throughout the season. Each stand has a monitor with card reader. Just hold up the card to the reader and the monitor will let you know which bike to take. If you come to a stand without any bikes, the monitor will let you know where the nearest stand with bikes is located. Each bike can be rented for max 3 hours at a time. If you would like to have the bike longer, you just need to take the bike to one of the stands before the three hours is up and exchange it for a new one. This is to keep people from hanging on to bikes too long and allowing everyone a chance to rent a bike. The bikes have no locks, the stands should be used instead when you want to lock up your bike. More info!
Several hotels, including the Rival Hotel, sell the three day cards... for hotel guests only. If you are not staying at one of these hotels, then you can buy your card at either a SL Center or Tourist Information Center. Click here for more information on where to buy your card.