Cycle Hire pricing in London

Whilst I mostly cycle around London on my own (clapped out) mountain bike, occasionally I need to hire a bike.  And since I couldn't find a useful comparison of bicycle hire companies - I decided that I should compile my own!

These prices are as at the end of September 2025.  Different prices may apply in different parts of London if your local borough has negotiated special prices - such as Hackney.  Most hire companies don't make it easy to find their prices - you often have to download the app, and company PAYG prices and bundle prices to find out how to get the best value.

Forest - formerly Human Forest

First off let's start with Forest - which operates across 18 London boroughs - from Heathrow borders in the west to Greenwich in the east.  The different colouring on the map relates to the different bike parking rules - dark blue for Mandatory Parking bays and light blue for Preferred Parking areas.

With Forest the first unlock each day normally costs £2.50 with each subsequent unlock costing you £1 - and each unlock gives you 10 minutes of free cycling (ignore the 60 minutes in my screenshot below).

But Forest also have random bikes which only cost £1 to unlock - and these come with 30 minutes of free cycling.

After you've used your 10 minutes / 30 minutes free cycling you're then paying a whopping 29 pence per minute - which quickly adds up and becomes uncompetitive.

So Forest, like all hire companies, sell bundles.  Apparently you need to purchase these in advance - it's not like Oyster price capping!

And the bigger the bundle, the longer the expiry time - 24 hours / 72 hours / 7 days / 30 days

These bundles also remove the unlock fee and the daily fee, so if you're going to use Forest bikes in the next 24 hours for 16 minutes [£2.50 + 6x£0.29 = £4.24] or 41 minutes for discount bikes [£1 + 11x£0.29 = £4.19] ... then you should get the £3.99 bundle before you unlock your first Forest bike.

When I first looked at the Forest pricing I thought that a couple of 20 minute rides would cost me £9.30 [£2.50 + £2.90 + £1 + £2.90] ... but as long as you purchase the 40 minute bundle in advance, you can get the two rides for £3.99

TfL - Santander Cycles

The original Transport for London bicycle hire system requires significant of docking infrastructure investment and has a much more limited coverage.

But if you're cycling from Hammersmith in the west to Stratford in the east, then it could work for you.  Just remember that the vast majority of these bicycles are not ebikes!  And you need to use the app to hire an ebike - you can't hire ebikes at docking stations.

TfL's charging system is straight forward - unlocking a pedal bike costs £1.65 and unlocking an ebike costs £3 with 30 minutes of free cycling.  After that it's £1.65 or £3 for each extra 30 minutes.

But TfL have a (very simple) range of bundles, starting with the £3.50 Day Pass which covers all your pedal bike usage (up to 60 minutes each time), and just £1 per 60 minutes for ebikes.

So if you're going to use a TfL bike twice in a day, you're probably better off getting a Day Pass.  I used a Day Pass a few weeks ago, and found that it was reasonably convenient to dock and undock bikes within every 60 minutes - even taking one from the eastern edge of the TfL zone out to Manor Park and back without getting charged!

Lime Bikes

The green behemoth currently operates in 17 boroughs across London - but this changes regularly, and it recently lost the license to operate in Hounslow.

Lime is also blocked from operating in certain areas (including Richmond Park), and has different parking rules in different boroughs - so watch out!

The basic unlock fee with Lime is £1 and they charge £0.29 per minute.

Lime also have their bundles - starting at £3.99 for 30 minutes

These bundles also remove the unlock fee, so if you're cycling for 11 minutes [£1 + 11x£0.29 = £4.19] then you're better off getting a bundle.  Apparently Lime are better than Forest at offering you the bundle price if your cycle goes over 10 minutes.

Whilst all the apps take a toll on your phone battery - I found Lime's app particularly brutal!

Voi

When you open the Voi app it looks like they cover a decent chunk of London - but they don't separate their scooter and ebike areas.  So the reality is a lot smaller than their misleading app implies - just Ealing, Hounslow, Kensington & Chelsea, Southwark and Hackney.

If you find yourself on the right side of the train tracks - Voi don't charge an unlock fee and they initially cost £0.20 per minute.

Voi's bundles start at £2.99 for 30 minutes (24 hours), £5.99 for 60 minutes (72 hours) and £10.99 for 120 minutes (7 days).

So if you're cycling for 15 minutes [15 x £0.20 = £3.00] then you're better off buying a 30 minute bundle.

Bolt

Whilst Bolt is well known for taxi services and cycle hire in other cities, it was only in June 2024 that Bolt announced it was entering the London cycle hire market.  Currently Bolt only seems to be available in Kensington & Chelsea!

If you happen to be cycling within the borders of the royal borough, then Bolt don't charge an unlock fee, and initially cost a more reasonable £0.18 per minute.

Bolt's bundles include £2.99 for 30 minutes (24 hours) and £5.99 for 60 minutes (72 hours).

So if you're cycling for 17 minutes [17 x £0.18 = £3.06] then you're better off buying a 30 minute bundle - just don't try and sneak out of K&C.

Conclusion

Unless you are doing a single trip on a single day, then you will almost always be better off buying a bundle.

And make sure you use a company that will work in the boroughs you're cycling through!

Terschelling and Vlieland islands - Daytrips

After extensively investigating the different options for visiting Tershelling and Vlieland islands - I eventually settled on being based in Harlingen and doing daytrips ... which worked out well.

Getting to Harlingen

The extensive rail network in the Netherlands means that it's fairly straightforward to get anywhere in the country by rail.  I flew into Eindhoven Airport from Stansted - which meant taking one of the regular buses to the Central Station (2.83 euro using a Contactless card) ... and then a couple of trains (31.20 euro using Contactless).

The Dutch railway system is so user friendly that you don't have to buy a ticket - you just tap your Contactless payment card at the gateline when you enter, and again when you leave ... and the relevant price is charged to your card.  The NS app is very helpful - and shows the destination of the train that you should board.  Don't make the mistake I did a couple of years ago and board a train for Zwolle just because you know you need to change in Zwolle!

Just be aware that Dutch trains don't have any catering facilities - so you need to buy your coffee in the station before boarding.  And most of the NS trains that I used over the weekend didn't have any power sockets.  Both the Arriva trains did provide power.

To get to Harlingen you must change in Leeuwarden - where you need to tap out of the NS network (yellow), and tap into the Arriva network (turquoise) - with the NS app reminding you to do it.  There are card readers at the end of most platforms in Leeuwarden, and lots of other travellers were doing the same.  I had no problem changing trains and doing the tapping within the scheduled 6 minutes.  And the Harlingen train does wait if your train into Leeuwarden is late.

If you're travelling in the evening you may have a half hour wait at Leeuwarden - but there's an Albert Heijn To Go in the station itself.  You can go through the barriers to wait in the station - worth the small extra charge for splitting your journey!

Arriving into Harlingen you have the choice of getting out at the town station - apart from the Jumbo supermarket there isn't much around the station. The Haven station is right on the western edge of the town and close to the ferry terminal.

Staying in Harlingen

I started looking for two nights accommodation a couple of months before arriving, and didn't find a lot of choice.  Eventually a few weeks before arrival the only reasonably priced good options were an AirBnB place in the centre of town and the B&B Zeehoeve just to the south of town. We went for the "tiny house" in the centre of town - which turned out to be a good choice.

Harlingen itself is a lovely town, full of canals and old houses, with plenty of food and drinking opportunities.  It was relatively quiet in May, but I'm sure it gets busier in the Summer - especially in the school holidays.  Many of the restaurants shut surprisingly early starting from around 9pm - and many were fully booked when we tried to get a table.

Eetcafe Noottgedagt is the number one rated restaurant on Tripadvisor, and looks great both outside and inside - but they were fully booked when we tried.  We ended up eating Cafe Restaurant t'Noorderke - which was a lovely place, with friendly staff and great food.

There's also a good size Albert Heijn supermarket near the Haven train station.  It stocks a decent range of goods and is open until 10pm Monday-Saturday and until 6pm on Sundays.

Ferries to the Islands

Our AirBnB host reminded me that booking daytrips to the islands online in the advance gives a better price as well as giving the option of a "package" including bicycle hire for just 5 euro extra.  We did this both days, although we misunderstood the 10% voucher that came with the "package" - and failed to get reductions on the coffee and beverages we bought on the ferry!  And the fast ferry doesn't have a cafe!

Some of the ferries back to Harlingen do get fully booked - especially on a Sunday evening, so keep an eye out on how many spaces are left, and try and book once you've seen the weather forecast and decided what you're doing.

The ferry terminal is close to town and is an excellent facility.  The staff at the ticket desk were pretty helpful (although they could have better explained the 10% voucher) when printing our tickets.  There's a handy little shop in the building, which even includes mobile phone cables in case you (also) forgot yours!  The ferry company operates a nice looking cafe restaurant in the building where the 10% voucher is also valid.

Downstairs in the basement (lift available) the toilets are clean - although they did get very busy when a boat load of people arrived into port.  And there are 12 huge left luggage lockers down next to the toilets - which never got full over the weekend.

The ticket desk staff happily exchanged my two 1 euro coins for the 2 euro coin I needed to pay for the locker for the day.

Vlieland

Doing a daytrip to Vlieland is very simple - there's a ferry departing Harlingen at 9.10am and the last ferry back to Harlingen departs at 4.50pm (with a later fast ferry on a Sunday that gets into Harlingen at 8pm).  The six hours on Vlieland is a decent amount of time to cycle around most of the island, stopping off to see the main sights.

Whilst the ferry website tells you to be at the terminal 30 minutes before departure - you really only need to be there about 15 or 20 minutes ahead of time.  There were still people boarding around 10 minutes before we pushed off.

The tourist information office "VVV Vlieland" is just as you come off the ferry - but we forgot to hand over our "package" voucher to receive our freebies!  The most useful thing in the VVV office was this big island map on the wall showing the bicycle routes in red.

The bicycle hire voucher from the ferry company can be used in any hire shop on the island.  We just went to the nearest one to the ferry building - Jan van Vlieland.  Their bicycles weren't great - a bit uncomfortable after a couple of hours, with rather stiff gears, and not enough suspension.  I would definitely try one of the other nearby hire shops if going again.

The voucher can alternatively be used for a day long bus pass.

The main street through the village (there is really only one village on the island) is a bit Disney esque - even in the rain it was charming!  There are plenty of places to eat, caffeinate, buy tourist stuff and even a small supermarket.  Just be aware that some shops (including the bakery) shut for an hour or so over lunchtime.

One of the main sights on Vlieland is the Lighthouse - which officially closes at 12.30pm at weekends, whilst some days it's only open in the afternoon.  Luckily the day we were on the island there was a big group visiting, so the lighthouse stayed open late, and we managed to get in.  It's well worth the 3 euro fee to climb up the inside, get some great views across the island, and descend the vertiginous stairs on the outside of the building.

From the lighthouse we cycled along the "main road" right the way to the most westerly point on the island we were allowed.  The western third of the island is a military zone - Kamp Vliehors.

The most westerly human habitation is the Posthuys - a cafe restaurant.  We stopped for a coffee and to use their facilities!  There were plenty of people eating full meals here.  This is also the most westerly point served by the Vlieland public bus.  And it's also the point where day trippers from Texel island are deposited.

After our mediocre coffee, we took the wonderfully deserted cycle track along the northern side of the island back towards the east.  Along the way we stopped at the Bunker Museum Wn12H.  This is a seriously impressive establishment - with a mix of excavated original concrete structures, and reconstructed wooden huts.  Apart from a handout map in english with brief descriptions, all the displays in the different huts and buildings are exclusively in Dutch.

The displays inside and outside the buildings are a rather eclectic mix of wartime items - including this wonderfully displayed propellor.  The standard entrance fee is 8 euro - so it's worth spending the best part of an hour to take in the extensive site.

With the rain starting in earnest, we donned our waterproof trousers and continued cycling to the eastern end of the island in search of the Fortuna brewery.  I had hoped to source some local beer, but they didn't have a shop, and the upstairs bar was quite busy.  With limited time until our ferry, we left empty handed!

We had actually started our day with a visit to the Commonwealth War Graves in the grounds of Nicolaaskerk.  The church itself is worth a visit - I've never seen so many model ships inside a place of worship!  And the helpful member staff hands out a leaflet in english explaining the different items in the church.  The cemetery is also worth a visit.

Overall I'd highly recommend Vlieland for a day out if you like this sort of thing!

Terschelling

The choice of ferry to Terschelling is a bit more complicated than Vlieland - you have to choose between the 8.15am fast ferry or the slow one which only gets to the island at midday.

We got up early and arrived at the ferry terminal at 7.50am to put our bags in the locker - having collected our tickets and vouchers the evening before.  The Sunday morning fast ferry wasn't busy, but be aware that you're supposed to stay seated for the 50 minute journey - and there's no cafe!

We were a bit more organised this time (monkey learns) and went straight to the tourist office on arrival in Terschelling and presented our "VVV voucher".  This meant we each received a handy drawstring backpack bag, as well as some brochures.  Again the most useful thing was the huge map of the island on the wall of the VVV office.

The helpful staff member suggested that with the strong wind, we'd be better cycling against it on the inland cycle path rather the more exposed main road or polder dyke - which is what we did.

The bicycle voucher can be used in any hire shop - we just went to the Tijs Knop shop near the VVV office.  Their bicycles were definitely a cut above the ones we used on Vlieland, with more comfortable saddles and better suspension.  Just like on Vlieland, the voucher can alternatively be used for a day long bus pass. 

Cycling east (with the wind on our backs) we did a mix of dyke cycling (great fun) and used the bike path beside the main road to see some of the villages.  I didn't find the villages as interesting as the ones on Ameland or the main village on Vlieland - but maybe a Sunday morning with everything closed isn't the best time to visit!

The village of Formerum does have a good size Jumbo supermarket - but only "smart" shoppers are welcome!

Before long we were at the eastern navigable limit of the island - the last quarter of the island is a nature reserve for hiking only.  We'd cycled 20km by now - so probably enough with the wind against us on the way back.

With the village of Oosterend being the end of the main road, it was probably the busiest place on the island with people stopping for lunch in the sunshine.  We skipped the crowds and cycled back along the excellent cycle track with a parallel horse track.

Along the way we stopped to caffeinate (strangely no toilets at the Patatelier Prell cafe) and we also stopped at the Bunker Museum / Tiger Stelling complex.  You can visit the outdoor section (including this German "Rettungsboje" rescue buoy) without entering the Museum.  After visiting to the Bunker Museum on Vlieland the previous day we opted not to visit this one.

Before long we were back in the main town of West Terschelling and we stopped at the Commonwealth War Graveyard on the way into the centre.

The main point of reference in West Terschelling is the lighthouse at the top of the town - you can see it from the far end of the island.  It's not a bad looking structure, but probably won't win any design awards!

Then it was time to hand back the bicycles, and grab a quick drink at the beautiful Raads Cafe before getting the Tiger fast ferry back to Harlingen.  We needed the quicker option because we had to catch a couple of trains to get to Amsterdam.  If you can take the extra 70 minutes, then worth getting the slow ferry - and using your 10% discount voucher on food and drink!

Another great island daytrip - with the added bonus of lots of sunshine.

  

Ameland Island

In May 2023 I visited Ameland island - here is how I did it!

I decided to stay in the city of Leeuwarden for the weekend, and make a daytrip to the island.

Getting to Leeuwarden is straightforward - with Dutch trains being frequent and not even requiring a ticket.  Pretty much all mainline train stations now accept Contactless cards - so you just tap in and tap out.

The only mistake I made was jumping on the first train to Zwolle, rather than the Groningen train that ran fast to Zwolle!  But there's so many trains that it wasn't much of a problem.

The city of Leeuwarden is great - canals, old houses, little shopping streets ...

And an excellent ceramics museum - Princessehof

Getting to Ameland from Leeuwarden starts off with a bus to the port of Holwerd.  This departs from the very well organised bus station adjacent to the train station.  Bus bay letters are so big you can't miss them!

It was a pleasant bus ride to Holwerd, where you purchase your ticket for one of the regular ferries over to Ameland.

There were lots of families with kids and dogs going for a few days - so they put their own luggage onto the cart ...

Which drives onto the ferry first ...

And then it's a self service collection system at the far end - all very straightforward and Dutch !

Whilst lots of the locals brought their own bicycles onto the ferry - there are also plenty of bicycle hire shops on the island, including some near the ferry harbour.

Ameland has numerous cycle tracks - most of which are fairly flat - so you hardly ever even see a vehicle.  Some of the high quality tracks are parallel to main road, with bicycles banned from the road.

Ameland is mostly a low key relaxed island - the highlight is probably the impressive lighthouse.

Amongst the other sights is an impressive propellor sculpture.

And of course the World War II cemetery containing Commonwealth Graves.

At the end of the day I dropped off my hire bike, caught the ferry back to the mainland, and the connecting bus back to Leeuwarden.  A very enjoyable day out.