Hey TravelAddyx!

When we arrived in Copenhagen, as our first real stop on our adventure, figuring out how to easily and cheaply get around the city was super important.  After all, we were going to be staying here for a whole month.  We knew we would want to integrate into the culture here, and so we figured we'd try to get a bike somehow, but then the question was how.  After looking at a bunch of different options, we found our best and cheapest option because we were looking for a monthly bike rental (or even for a week's bike rental) would be through Swapfiets.  

Because we were here for the month and wanted to do a long-term bike rental, Swapfiets had the best plan.  For the month, the total all-in price for us was about $60 each.  Most of the other stores we went to would have cost us more than $300 for the month because they concentrate on day-to-day rentals.  It is probably still a better deal to use Swapfiets if you are planning on using a bicycle for over a week.  There are some great options for day-to-day rentals that we'll list at the end of the article for you if that's the kind of rental you're searching for.  In fact, it was an employee at one of these shops we stopped into who recommended Swapfiets to us.

Swapfiets offers a membership where they charge a membership fee but you can cancel at any time (Flexible) or a membership where there is no fee, but you are required to contract for a bike rental for at least 6 months (Regular).  Since we were only going to be here for a month, we chose the Flexible plan.  We went online and joined as a member, paid the monthly membership fee, and then selected our bicycle.  They have a variety of bike options to choose from, including e-assist bikes.  As soon as we picked up the bicycle, we immediately cancelled our recurring membership so that we wouldn't be charged next month (they require 1 month's notice for membership cancellation, so we had to do it that day).  When we picked up our bikes, they were in excellent condition (and we were able to include a basket for a small extra fee for the month).  The monthly membership includes guaranteed 48 hour service if your bike needs repair, and the bikes come with two different locking mechanisms for safety and security.

We used our bikes to go to the grocery store, the gym, sightseeing around town, and for some fun rides out in nature.  We felt like locals as we joined packs of riders stopped at red lights, signaling turns with our hands, and making a Copenhagen left hand turn (although you could tell they knew we were still getting our bicycling feet wet).  You can read about our Copenhagen cycling adventures and all the other cool things we did in Copenhagen here.  If you're interested in some of our other great travel tips and related gear, click here.

Swapfiets is available in other countries as well.  We had thought about using them in London, but when we saw how close the buses came to the cyclists, we thought we'd stick to the Tube.  You can read more about our London adventures here.  

If you're looking to rent a bicycle short term, here are our suggestions:

Bike Rental Copenhagen

Copenhagen Bikes

Copenhagen Bicycles

Lime (for hourly rental)

Bolt (for hourly rental)

Also, consider Donkey Republic, which has an interesting membership option which may work for you.