Renting and Sharing Bikes

Be it a regular bicycle, an e-bike or a mountain bike: you’ll find the right model here to start exploring Bern’s diverse cycling routes. The rental options are just as flexible: whether you need the bicycle for a day trip, a multi-day tour or even an extendable long-term rental – the pros at Rent a Bike will find the perfect solution for you. And off you go!

Whether you’re planning a leisurely ride along the River Aare or a sporty excursion into the hilly countryside, Thömus has the perfect bike for every occasion. There’s a wide range of e-bikes, gravel bikes and city bikes that can be rented for everything from a few hours to several days. Helmets are also provided free of charge if needed. Added bonus: if you love your rental bike so much that you decide to keep it, the paid rental fee is credited toward the purchase price.

Situated at Spitalackerstrasse 50 in the heart of the “Breitsch” (Breitenrain neighbourhood), City Cycles is a one-stop shop for all things bicycle-related. This specialist shop creates bicycles that are perfectly suited to life in Switzerland’s federal capital. Rather than offering off-the-peg models, City Cycles focuses on customised solutions. Whether you need a bike for your daily commute, trips to the “Quartierlädeli” (corner shop) or a relaxed “Fyrabe-Rundi” (after-work ride) along the River Aare, City Cycles has you covered for every occasion. If you’d like to try out a particular model, you can hire various bikes and put them through their paces. A handy feature is that if you later decide to buy a bike you’ve hired, the hire fee will be deducted from the purchase price. This means you can put your dream bike through its paces with no obligation before it becomes a permanent fixture on the streets of Bern.

Your adventure on two wheels begins in the heart of the picturesque Emmental at Burghof 104 in Sumiswald, where Valley Adventures rents out e-bikes and e-mountain bikes for excursions through the region’s lush, rolling hills. Helmets are available to rent for just five Swiss francs, and there are also additional batteries if you’re planning on hitting all the trails or going for an extended ride. Should the weather change suddenly, it’s worth taking shelter in the local e-bike museum, where the development of e-bikes over the years and modern technologies are presented alongside new models.

Ready to head outdoors? The Cube Store at Bernstrasse 3 in Schwarzenburg offers a wide range of bikes for every activity, from road and gravel bikes to mountain bikes to e-bikes and kids’ bikes. Once you’ve found the perfect model, you can hop right on and start pedalling – the region around Schwarzenburg is a true cycling paradise. Numerous routes lead from here into the rolling hills and lush forests of the Gantrisch Nature Park for beautiful tours surrounded by nature.

Publibike operates the largest bike-sharing network in the country. Its concept is simple: the convenient bike sharing system lets you borrow bicycles from stations all over the city. You can find the bikes at stations throughout the city and suburbs, marked by the typical Publibike columns. They are easily unlocked and locked using the Swisspass or the app. The app is not only useful for unlocking the bike, it also makes it easy to find the nearest station thanks to the integrated map. Publibike is perfect for short distances within the city – how else would you get from the Zytglogge (Clock Tower) down to Marzili quickly and effortlessly?

Carvelo2go is the largest sharing platform for electric cargo bikes. Their “carvelos” can be rented by the hour via the app or the website and are picked up at and returned to one of the designated hosts (for example a bakery). The bikes’ robust wooden crates can carry cargo of up to 100 kilos or up to two children (don’t forget the helmets!) – family outing, here we come!