Moped and Bicycle Rental

Almost every European city and town has a bicycle rental agency somewhere, which should be listed in your guidebook. Some of these places allow bikes to be dropped off at any of their offices throughout a city or region, allowing some great day-trips. In Holland, Belgium, and France it is often possible to rent bikes at tain stations. As I said in Chapter 1, “Planning Your Trip,” be care-lul about using bikes in cities, even if you see the locals doing so, and try to get a helmet. For those who don’t want to bring a hard shell helmet with them, the kind made from several flexible tubes ]s better than nothing, although not by much.

Where you should be careful with a bicycle, you should treat a m°ped as if it were a sworn enemy. Mopeds are a ton of fun, but can be very dangerous. Once a friend of mine and I were in Barcelona and noticed a large number of beautiful women wearing neck braces and large bandages on their arms and legs. Our waiter explained that these were the result of Spanish vacationers using mopeds during their holidays. Renting a moped is easy, while renting a helmet {or a safe helmet) can be difficult. Consider the risks carefully, and watch out for the other guy.