Distrito de Lisboa Travel Answers

i would hope that your idea of a bike rental is not for use right in the city proper but rather to take it with you farther outside...by which in that case better to rent it in the town/village you want to cycle about Lisbon is a pretty hilly city thus terribly flawed and problematic for this type of sport

Agree with Gabriel - I would not think of biking in Lisbon, too hilly, too fast. You could, however, take the train to Cascais at the Cais de Sodre station and rent a bike and ride around the shore there - that is a great place for a bike ride. It takes about 30 minutes to get to Cascais - and you just walk about three four blocks straignt out of the station to the beach. ahh ... there's a great ice cream place there ... write back if interested. Many VT members that attended the Lisbon VT meet enjoyed it!

Cascais is certainly a good place/town for bicycling, it's got some slightly hilly section in the old core otherwise mostly flat and ideal for easy cycling and wonderfully scenic being by the ocean Great suggestion Martha And Cascais is a short half hour ride from Lisbon thru the speedy electric train. A great cycling path here is the one towards the Guincho promontory. The other flat surface area I could recommend to you worth pedalling around is the Costa da Caparica just across the River Tejo. A quick ferry ride from around the Baixa (next to Praca do Comercio) in Lisbon and you're right there; this coast is also famous as a better swimming option than anywhere the vicinity of Lisbon itself in case you hanker for a good swim as well before and after your cycling. There are bicycle rental shops in Costa da Caparica which would make your day outing easy no doubt.

While I agree that the traffic in Lisboa is a little crazy and the city rises from the coast so that you would have a good work out to head up into the city, if I were to go back I would think a bike would be awesome. From Lisboa to Cascais is roughly 30 km and you can take the coast road. Sorry I don't know about local rentals or hostels. Karl

You can have a bike for free at Cascais, look for the "Bicas" booths. At Lisboa there are biking paths by the river (the only flat area)both at Belém and Parque das Nações areas. The parking company EMEL has a service called "B’ina" for those that park their car at some of their parking spaces. Don't know if they'll let you to rent a bike if you don't park a car there. From 9am to 7pm, half day 2 euros, full day 3,5 euros and weekends 8 euros (you'll pick it up on late friday and return it monday morning. Site only in portuguese emel.pt/pt/mobilidade/bicicl...

Karl, you may think it a good workout to bike up the steep hills of old Lisbon but they can be dangerous actually what with the ancient narrow and tight-hugging streets. Generally people are advised to not do it. A good workout can be had surely using the better suited roads...and there are plentiful round Lisbon. Just not in the old city.

We met with Claus last night (VT member "Cachaseiro"). He is an experienced (Lisbon) biker ad he told us that he always rents bikes at "bikeiberia.com". Their website also gives tips for tours IN and around Lisbon. Claus also mentioned, that biking from Lisbon to Cascais is 85% on a bike-path and not on the mainroad. We always see a lot of bikers going from Cascais via Cabo da Roca, Almocageme, Sintra back to Cascais. This trip has some hills to climb but also a lot of great views and downhill parts.This is 5 km on a bike-path and ca. 20 km on ordenary road, which doesn't have too much traffic. Enjoy your trip.

I am picking up on this post - so Gabriel, in Cascais, do you just pick up the bike? I know Jerca and Peter got bikes - and we are planning to spend a day biking in Cascais, but I did not realize they are free. How does it work?

Hi, Martha, What you may have heard of free bikes in Cascais surely an info that's most likely untrue...unless one does have some connection with the bike rental place. But there's no shortage of bike rental places in Cascais and doubt if they're expensive at all. When you do, the best route for easy leisurely cycling would have to be along the ocean front and the coast onwards to Guincho. When you get to Guincho stop by for coffee/tea at the Hotel Guincho propped up on a rocky crag with a most awesome views of the coast and the ocean literally under you.

thanks Gabriel!

No sweat Martha Enjoy Cascais

Yes, you can get free bikes at Cascais. They are called BiCas, they belong to the municipality and you can get them at some spots in Cascais (by the train station, at the Cidadela). Here you can see the foto of the bikes lifecooler.com/edicoes/lifec...

well, if this is really true about free bikes in Cascais then this is great news Martha what a generous municipality Cascais that it is! in this day and age - who would have thought! just make sure Martha nothing is pulled under your rug with this

It's not new, it exists since 2001. But probably not well enough publicized.

Thanks Maria and Gabriel. Yes, I actually googled and they show in wikipedia - not too interested if they're free or not - just in getting a bike for a couple of hours to enjoy a morning ride. Thanks again!

Hey everyone Thank you for your help and info! Just following up on my trip to Lisbon, I ended up finding a great place to rent bikes (www.bikeiberia.com), they are just close to the bike lane that goes to Belem, which is flat by the way. They have really good bikes to rent that are better than what you usually find in rental shops. Plus not only can you choose from different types of bikes you also get plenty of advice from people who actually cycle in the city, which will make your trip. Highly recommend them to anyone who wants to bike in Lisbon.

HI David, thanks for the feedback and good info on the bike rental place. Be sure to a tip on the Lisbon page. Karl