Vélib'erator

Welcome to Paris! Here are a few tips if you want to visit the City of Light by bike. Vélib’ offers you an alternative way to move around Paris: it’s cheap, you will contribute to ecomobility and even practice some sport (let’s burn the « too many croissants » guilt on a bike).

Discover Paris with Vélib’

Vélib’ is a network of self-service bicycles created by Paris City Hall in 2007 available 24 hours a day, all year round. 20,000 bicycles are accessible in 1,800 stations located every 300 meters in Paris districts and surrounding cities.

You can buy a  1-day (1,70 €) or a 7-day  ticket (8€) online or at any Vélib’ station. You can use Vélib’ as often as you want and each 30 first minutes are always free of charges. Above the 30 first minutes, you’ll have to pay for the service in accordance with the usage charges. Thus, the service guarantees users to find available bikes everywhere in Paris…

The long-term Vélib’ subscription costs 29€/year with Vélib’ Classic for 30 min free of charge, or 39€ with Vélib’ Passion for 45 first minutes free of charge. If you are 14-26 years old or a scholarship student, you can benefit from a reduction from 10 to 20€ on your Vélib’ Passion subscription!

If you are tired, you can find information about the 298 tubestations, buses and tramlines here. « Paris Visit », transport Passes allowing unlimited travel on the bus, tube, tramway and RER networks in Paris and its suburbs, are available from 9,30€ for one day to 29,90€ for 5 days.

Release and return a bike

To release a bike, you just have to go to the terminal of any Vélib’ station and follow the on-screen instructions (in English, Spanish, German or Italian).

Choose the bike you want (check the wheels and brakes!). If the saddle is back to front, don’t pick that bike, it means that the previous user is warning you and Vélib’ on-ground teams that this bike has a technical problem.

Select a bike and enter its number on the terminal. Wait for the green light and signal and take your bike.

You can return it to any Velib’ station. Push the bike clip as far as possible into the bike post. If necessary, lift the bike up into the saddle at the same time to facilitate parking. An orange, then green light, followed by two successive beeps, confirm that the bike is locked correctly. Do not leave before having seen those signals, remember you’re responsible for the bike ! To make sure your bike is well connected back on the stand, identify yourself at the terminal and print a receipt. If you are able to do so, it means that your bike is correctly locked. On the contrary, the following message will be indicated: “you currently have a bike out on hire”.

Usefull tips…

¤ you have to be more than 14 years old to use Vélib’.

¤ Visa, Mastercard, Amex and Blue Visa bankcards are accepted

¤ You cannot lend your 1-day or 7-day ticket to anyone or rent two bikes at the same time with the same ticket.

¤ A 150€ deposit not debited is mandatory. If you use the same bankcard to buy several 1-day or 7-day tickets, make sure that your bank does not limit your withdrawals even if the deposits are not debited.

¤ If you’re about to go above the 30 first minutes and if there’s no parking left, identify yourself at the terminal and benefit from 15 extra free minutes in order to return your bike to another station. Find out where is the nearest station and obtain information about the availability of bikes and parking. You can benefit from 15 extra free minutes as often as needed.

¤ You can check how many places and bikes are available in nearby stations in real-time by looking at the display at the terminals, on the website or with the iPhone application.

¤ V+ stations enable you to gain 15 extra free minutes (bonus) each time you return your bike to one of the elevated stations! For example, if your journey lasts 40 minutes, thanks to your bonus, you will not have to pay for the 10 minutes overtime.

Be carefull: Long-term subscribers can hold bonus for later use whereas short-term users are not able to do so. Make sure you return your bike to a V+ station which is different from the one where you have released your bike otherwise you will not benefit from the 15 extra free minutes.

¤ An anti-theft device is provided for short stops. Insert the end of the anti-theft device into the lock and remove the key. To release the lock, simply replace the key. If you need to make a longer stop, we recommend that you return your bike to the nearest station. Actually, it is a lot more secure.

¤ If you want to sign up for a long-term subscription (from 19€ to 39 €/year) and use it immediately, you can activate your subscription on your NAVIGO Pass or on a Vélib’ Express card. Pick up a Vélib’ Express Card at the reception desk of the City of Paris on 29 rue de Rivoli, 75004 (10am-7pm from Monday to Saturday).

¤ You can find a lot of useful information on the official website www.paris.fr or at Paris tourist offices, e.g. information on Paris Museum Pass allowing you to skip the queue in more than 60 museums and monuments in Paris!

Don’t forget to look the City Hall website: transport, visits, latest news including the 10th Paris Plages program (from the 21st of July to 21st of August 2011)

¤ Remember, if you don’t see one of these road signs, you can’t ride in the bus lanes

Any question about Vélib’?

The Vélib’ website in English. You can call the customer service and obtain assistance in English at +331 30 79 79 30 , Monday to Friday : 8am-10pm, Saturday : 9am-10pm, Sunday : 9am-7pm.