Bike Rentals on the German Danube

Have you ever seen your beloved bicycle put on a conveyor belt at the airport's oversize baggage counter and disappearing in a big black hole? It makes you cry! We never got a bicylce back without the slightest damage? (Of course: A cardboard box would be a valid but cumbersome solution.) Therefore we recommend to rent a bicycle locally.

Bike rental service in Donaueschingen

  • Radcenter Rothweiler: You will find the bike shop in the center of Donaueschingen, just about 800 yds away from the main station. Bicycles get rentet out at €18 per day (E-bikes: €30 a day). The shop is open Mo/Tu/Th/Fr from 9.30 am to 6 pm (with a lunch break from 12.30 pm to 2 pm). Wednesdays only 9.30 am to 12.30 pm and on Saturdays from 9.30 am to 2 pm. A bicycle pick-up service from any place between Donaueschingen and Passau is available and costs €60 per bike. Use the form on their website to request your bicycle. Don't forget to put in your height and where you intend to leave it at the end of the cycling. (If you rent your bicycle(s) for more than a week, consider asking for a discount. Other rental stations along the Danube take less money! - and receive less unflattering reviews)

An alternative to renting a bicycle in a city along the Danube is to rent and return it in Munich. Trains from and to Munich make it possible and a rather convenient affair. We describe this option in detail on our 'Getting started' page.

Bike rental service in Regensburg

  • Rent A Bike Regensburg: Situated next to the main station on the left when you get out of the building (Hauptbahnhof Regensburg), a bike is between €11 to €15 per day, open Mondays to Saturdays from 10 am to 7 pm, a pick-up service from Passau is available at a surcharge of about €35 per bike
  • Zweirad Ehrl: Situated at the edge of the old town north of the Danube, bicycles are available from €10 to €12 per day, open Mondays to Saturdays, e-bikes available (around €25 per day)

Bike rental services in Passau

.. can be found in the Austria section of this website: Bike rentals in Passau

If you plan to cycle for two weeks or longer

Consider traveling towards the start of your cycle tour with all your gear inside your panniers, buy a bicycle and start cycling. At the end of your holidays, go to a bike shop or second hand shop and resell it, or donate it to an organisation of your choice. Seriously! Bike rental for a week is about €80 to €100, not including the cost for having the bicycle picked up by someone.
Bring your lock and your saddle from home and get the saddle mounted to your new friend. Plan an additional day and ask the dealer to change the tyres for puncture proof ones. Bring a 5 mm and a 6 mm allen key to adjust and fix what might get loose after the first 20 or 50 miles. Estimate € 600 to € 700 for a suitable hybrid. (Stadler is a bike shop chain with two outlets near the Danube.)
Bikebringer.de, a bike rental in Munich, occasionally sells its bicycles for about € 400 to € 500.

Some final thoughts

Check the bike that you get thoroughly. Do the brakes work properly? Are the gears shifting precisely? Is something rattling or squeaking? Also, ask for a saddle that feels good. One more minute spent here might safe the hassle later.

Rental services in Germany provide bicycles with either derailleur gear systems or internal hub gear systems. Both work perfectly for what you intend to do. But keep in mind that the hub gear systems often will not allow you to back-pedal. When back-pedalling you will operate the brake. (It's a German thing.) Check this beforehand or get used to it.