Cities all over northern Europe have loaner bike programs. Some cities lend themselves to biking, while others don’t. Some programs seem designed exclusively for locals, while others work well for foreign visitors, too. Stockholm is the best of both worlds: great for biking, and with a system that’s very tourist-friendly.
The Stockholm City Bikes have no locks, so you can only joyride or go from point A to point B (rather than parking it while you’re visiting a sight). And many of the stations are around town are either completely without bikes (a pain if you’re looking to borrow one) or already full (problematic when you need to drop one off). Fortunately, the Stockholm City Bikes app — which is free, easy, and fun to use — lets you know exactly how many bikes and open spaces are available at each station.
As I worked on the Stockholm chapter for the upcoming 2015 edition of Rick Steves’ Scandinavia guidebook, I proposed merging this “be a temporary local” experience with the best biking joyride route…and suddenly, Stockholm has another great activity. This video clip is your intro to a cheap and breezy experience next time you’re in the Swedish capital.