In Wroclaw, even up to 30,000 inhabitants use bikes every day. Their number grows every year – people of every age, including families with children, switch to bikes largely due to the introduction of new conveniences for cyclists.
Those who regularly cycle through the city have a network of separated routes with contraflow lanes and bike boxes. This solution has civilised bike traffic in the city centre and on access routes and has largely improved its safety.
Passages under bridges are a large convenience (Wroclaw has most of them among Polish cities). This great solution allows cyclists to travel through intersections without collisions.
Rent a city bike
In Wroclaw, a city bike system Nextbike is active. It consists of stationary bike rental points. In a few dozen points of the city, you can take a comfortable city bike (against a small fee) and ride ahead. The first 20 minutes of ride under the Wroclaw City Bike are free of charge.
In order to rent a bike, you have to register in the international Nextbike system. Irrespective of their geographic location, systems are compatible with one another, which means that their users can rent bikes in any city in the world where such rental points operate.
Wrocławski Rower Miejski
WRM, i.e. Wrocławski Rower Miejski provides an alternative form of transport, allowing its users to move around the city fast. WRM – 820 bikes and 82 stations.
On the website of the Wroclaw City Bike [Wrocławski Rower Miejski], there is an instruction how to use the rental point in three languages: Polish, English and German. HERE.
Routes on the Oder and through parks
On the cycling map of Wroclaw, there are must-rides – routes along the Oder and its canals are popular. Many cyclists have their favourite routes that run through parks. The bicycle is an easier way to visit districts and housing estates located farther away from the city centre – Osobowice, Brochów, Krzyki, Karłowice, the areas of the former harbour on the Oder. It is also worth taking a ride to the city borders to reach Pawłowice, Wojnowice or Trestno.
In the capital of Lower Silesia there are no elevations – height differences are minimal.
Wroclaw cycling lovers regularly initiate campaigns to promote this kind of activity. Bike exchange events and the cyclic Critical Bike Mass are organised. The staircase of one of the tenement houses in the city centre is decorated with carefully restored city bikes or their parts. The effect is amazing.
Among projects being carried out under the Wroclaw Civic Budget (it is up to Wroclaw inhabitants to decide what is worth spending a few dozen million zlotys from the city budget), those involving vehicles with a gear rack, a bell and a derailleur gear constitute a very large part.
It is not the only idea supported by the authorities of Wroclaw. In the European Bike Challenge – an initiative promoted by the city council (its local version is “Ride for Wro") where inhabitants of a few dozen cities from Europe try to ride the longest distance possible, Wroclaw inhabitants regularly rank in the forefront.
You can find yourself in the exclusive company of Wroclaw cyclists, too.
