Bicycle Station and other Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany Transportation Tips

1. Bicycle parking in the outer

ring

by Nemorino , 4 more photos

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Bicycle
Getting TO/AROUND:

THIS is what any and every self-respecting city ought to have!

The "mobile" in Freiburg is a purpose-built bicycle station and mobility center located directly beside the main railway station. It is a round building with two levels. On the lower level there are guarded parking spaces for 1001 bicycles, as well as a bicycle rental service and a bicycle repair shop ("small repairs done immediately"). On the upper level there is a café, appropriately called "Bistro Café Velo", also a Mobility Center where you can get information and tickets for travel by train, bus and bicycle, and an organization called "Freiburg Aktiv" which organizes bicycle tours of Freiburg and vicinity.

Bicycle parking costs EUR 0.50 for part of one day, or EUR 0.75 until the end of the following day. (This is less than it costs just to use the toilet in the station.)

Parking for an entire month costs EUR 6.00 in the outer ring, and EUR 7.50 in the inner ring. The difference is because there are no outer walls, as you can see in the photo, so theoretically the bikes in the outer ring might get a bit wet if there were a huge storm. I don't know if this ever happens, but it could.

Second photo: Bicycle parking in the outer and inner rings.

Third photo: Entrance to the lower level, with the office on the left. Here someone is on duty 24/7, so you can leave or pick up a bike at any time.

Fourth photo: I rented a bike here on two separate days, once for seven hours, which cost me EUR 11.00, and once for six hours, which cost EUR 9.50. This is more than it would cost across the river in Strasbourg, where bike rentals are heavily subsidized by the city and the regional transit authority, but still quite reasonable by German standards.

Fifth photo: "mobile" as seen from the bridge over the station. Note the Café Velo sign and the sun collectors up on the roof.

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Phone: 07 61 - 2 92 79 98
Website: http://www.mobile-freiburg.de/

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Transportation: Cycling in Freiburg

Tip Rating:

Written by Nemorino

on Apr 12, 2007

1. Cyclists in Freiburg

by Nemorino , 3 more photos

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Bicycle
Getting TO/AROUND: Bicycle use in Freiburg has tripled in the past thirty years, and they say that close to 30 % of journeys within the city are now done by bicycle.

By way of comparison: that figure is 40 % for Amsterdam but only 9 % for Frankfurt am Main -- but in Frankfurt we're working on it.

Like most German cities, Freiburg has an active chapter of the General German Bicycle Club (ADFC).

Additional photos: More cyclists in Freiburg.

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Website: http://www.adfc-bw.de/freiburg/

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Transportation: Public transport

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Written by Nemorino

on Apr 12, 2007

Tram number 3 at the main station

by Nemorino

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Train
Getting TO/AROUND: Freiburg has an excellent system of four tram lines and twenty-one bus lines serving all parts of the city and the surrounding countryside.

As a cyclist I haven't had any occasion to try them, but I'm told the trams and buses are comfortable and reasonably priced, and they certainly run very often.

The local transport authority says the number of passengers has doubled in the past fifteen years.

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Website: http://www.vag-freiburg.de/73.0.html?&L=1

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Transportation: Freiburg Main Station

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Written by Nemorino

on Apr 12, 2007

1. Freiburg Main Station from the

front

by Nemorino , 3 more photos

'Mode': TO
Category: Train
Getting TO/AROUND: Freiburg has a new railway station which has been built in several stages over the past decade or so. The last construction phase began in 2001.

Second photo: Looking down at the station from the bridge where the trams all stop.

Third photo: Inside the station.

Fourth photo: By the time you read this, these left luggage machines might be everywhere. But the main station in Freiburg was the first place I saw one, so I had to try it out and take a picture of it.

Instead of finding an empty locker, if there is one, and hoping it is big enough for your luggage, you simply insert four euros (double the old locker price!) into one of these machines, take out the card with the magnetic stripe and wait for the door to open. Then insert your luggage, and it disappears. To get it back, insert the card again and wait 30 to 40 seconds till the door opens, and there's your luggage.

I'm not sure how it works, but the actual storage must take place in the basement, because the machines take up hardly any space on the ground floor.

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Website: http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

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Transportation: InterCityExpress trains

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Updated by Nemorino

on Apr 22, 2007

1. Sitting on the floor

by Nemorino , 3 more photos