Luxury Serviced Apartments Serviced Luxury Apartments – Fully Furnished

1. 

   Cabal
   August 28th, 2010 - 16:24

   If you have a credit card you go to the grey column with the bikes like this one.

   Choose English then follow the instructions. Choose a 1-day or 7-day Vélib’ Ticket. Be careful, this gives you the right to use a bike and the first half hour is free, but after that your card is debited.

   If you want a bike for the whole day without puting it back every half hour, better rent somewhere else than Velib.
2. 

   dhbemis
   August 28th, 2010 - 18:25

   I am almost positive that you need to have a European-style credit card (with a smart chip in it) in order to use those Velib walk-up machines.

   According to the website you should be able to make a short-term subscription over the web by Clicking the link: “Abonnez vous ! – Cliquez ici pour vous pré-abonner en ligne” then hitting “S’abonner”

   However, the Velib bike may not be the best choice for a tourist that wants to pedal around Paris. As long as you ride less than 1/2 hour at a time, you don’t pay more than the cost of the subscription (either €1 for one day or €5 for seven days), the cost of the subsequent 1/2 hour increments increase rapidly… 1st additional 1/2 hr costs €1, the second is €2 and the 4th and on are €4.
3. 

   Sodem O
   August 30th, 2010 - 18:22

   I’ve used Velib bikes several times over the past year using an English Maestro/Solo card. Works fine. Obviously the card must have a chip in it – all French cards have had them for well over ten years.

   You pick up the bike at one Velib stand and you can leave it at any other velib stand, within half an hour. Believe me, those bikes are very heavy, so you’ll probably need a rest after pedalling for half an hour anyway. The important thing is, you can go from any stand to any other stand (provided there is space available), and there are hundreds of stands dotted around Paris. Half an hour will get you quite a long way. When you stop for a drink/lunch/museum/etc just check the bike back into a stand and then take another when you have finished.

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