Sehr gut: Why cycling in Berlin is a dream

Wide streets, bikes in parks, cycling culture ... 10 reasons why the German capital is a marvellous place to cycle

A woman cycles along a section of the Berlin wall. Photograph: John Macdougall/AFP/Getty Images

Having found myself enjoying an unexpectedly long sojourn in Berlin this past week - courtesy of the Iceland volcano - I decided to make the most of it by hiring a bike to pootle around one of my favourite places in the whole world.
Berlin is not, on the surface of it, a classic cycling city. The public transport system actually works, so you don't need to saddle up to be sure of reaching your destination on time. A portmanteau of two capitals, it is also huge, and so getting from one side of it to the other by bike can really test your legs. Plus there are cobbles all over the shop. Despite all this, it is a really marvellous place to cycle. Here are 10 completely subjective reasons why.

1. The streets are crazily wide

Thanks to a combination of Allied bombing and the Communists' insatiable appetite for tearing down lovely old buildings and replacing them with brutal new ones, many of Berlin's streets are incredibly wide. Yesterday I pedalled from Alexanderplatz (site of the 1989 protests) down Karl Marx Allee, the archetypal example of East German roadbuilding. Constructed to show off Communist town planning after WWII, this imposing boulevard is almost 90m wide. Even the pavements are broad enough for tanks to drive down two abreast.

2. You can cycle on the pavement

Well, you usually, can, anyway. All but the narrowest pavements have bike paths built into them.

3. No one tells you off for not wearing a helmet

Helmet use is on the up in Berlin. When I was a student here seven years ago, I don't remember anyone wearing a helmet, but I've noticed the odd one this past few days. At least once a week in London a friend or colleague will ask: "Where's your helmet?" Not here.

4. You are allowed to cycle through parks

The other day I cycled through Tiergarten, one of Berlin's biggest parks, and no one tried to stop me. I've never managed to bimble through the middle of Regent's Park without getting at least told off.

5. You only get fined for cycling crimes if you cause an accident

Again: usually. According to a cycle-themed edition of Prinz magazine which I have before me, if you cause an accident going through a red light which has been red for longer than a second (love that German precision), you can be fined €100 and get a point on your driving licence. Hurt a pedestrian while hurtling through a pedestrian zone and you can be charged €20. Pay €30 if you cause havoc cycling in the wrong direction. Interestingly, you can also be fined €25 for talking on your mobile while cycling, and if you are caught cycling drunk you can be taken to court.

6. It's almost completely flat

On Monday I cycled all the way from Neukölln in the east right through to Wannsee, the placid lake where the Nazis planned the Final Solution. It was probably 30km or so each way, and only when I hit the woods near the lake was there more than the vaguest of inclines. Incidentally, if you ever come to Berlin in spring or summer, you must visit the ginormous strandbad (lake beach) at Wannsee. Germans are a bit wussy about temperatures so when I went for a dip, there was just me and one old lady. Nudity is optional.

7. All flats have bike parking

We can take some credit for this again with our bombing. Traditional Berlin tenements (Mietskaserne) are built with courtyards perfect for storing bikes.

8. You can take your bike on tubes and trains

As long as you buy your bike a ticket.

9. Drivers expect you to be there

In Britain drivers still seem to be surprised and puzzled to see a cyclist. Hence the CTC's SMIDSY (Sorry Mate I Didn't See You) campaign. Here, whenever cars are turning right – usually straight into the path of the cycle lane, as in Britain – the drivers look first to see if cyclists are coming through.

10. It is really easy to hire a bike

I plumped for Fat Tire Bikes, which has shops at the zoo station and Alexanderplatz. It cost €12 for the first day, €10 for the second and €8 thereafter. This sturdy orange bike has taken me from east to west, north to south, on pavements and rough tracks. Sehr, sehr gut.

Guardian.Co.Uk 

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