Cycling in Amsterdam: bike rental, rules and fines

Renting a bike: companies, prices and ID

Rental companies in the centre

Rental shops are everywhere around Central Station, Dam Square and the Vondelpark. Two networks cover most of the centre and publish their prices online:

• MacBike, with five branches (Centraal Station, Dam, Waterlooplein, Oosterdok, Vondelpark): city bike at €11.25 an hour, €13.95 for 3 hours and €17.95 a day, then €14.95 per extra day; e-bike at €41.50 a day. Insurance is optional for regular bikes (€4.95 a day) and compulsory for e-bikes (€8.95 a day). Deposit: a credit card, or a passport or ID card plus €50 in cash per bike.
• Black Bikes, with around twenty branches across the city: hand-brake bike at €12.99 for 3 hours and €19.49 a day, e-bike at €22.99 for 3 hours. Theft and damage insurance is compulsory (€5.49 for 3 hours, €6.49 for 6 to 24 hours), locks are included, and booking online gives a 10% discount (no online booking for the same day). You need a passport or a European ID card; a driving licence is not accepted.

Many Dutch bikes are braked by pedalling backwards (a coaster brake, or terugtraprem). If you are not used to one, ask for a bike with hand brakes: it is safer in traffic. To find your way without holding your phone, a handlebar mount and mobile data are all you need: see our guide to internet and SIM cards in Amsterdam.

The Dutch railways' OV-fiets

The yellow and blue OV-fiets bikes are rented out by NS at nearly 300 stations and rental points, Central Station included. The price is low: €4.80 per 24-hour period, with a €5 daily surcharge beyond 72 hours and a maximum of 7 days. Returning the bike to another station costs €10 extra, losing the key €20, and a bike not returned after 7 days is charged at €350. An electric version, the OV-ebike, costs €13.50 per 24 hours.

The scheme is not designed for visitors, though: you need an NS Flex subscription (the NS Flex Basis plan is free) loaded onto a personal transport card, and an NS account paid by direct debit, verified with a €0.01 charge. A contactless bank card is not enough. Unless you already have such a card, rent from a private company instead.

No bike sharing for tourists

Amsterdam has no bike-sharing scheme comparable to the Vélib' in Paris. After a three-year trial, the city decided in 2025 not to roll out shared bikes city-wide, and Donkey Republic had to limit the number of its stations from 1 April 2026. Whether for a few hours or several days, renting from a shop remains the simplest option. Other ways of getting around are covered in our guide to public transport in Amsterdam.

Locks and theft

Bike theft is common in Amsterdam, and bikes are regularly fished out of the canals. Rental companies usually supply two locks: a wheel lock fixed to the frame and a chain. Use both every time you stop, even for five minutes:

• lock the frame, not just a wheel, to a bike rack or a fixed object;
• leave the bike in a staffed bike garage overnight, or in your accommodation's bike storage if it has one;
• leave nothing in the basket or panniers;
• never buy a cheap bike offered in the street: it is almost always stolen, and the buyer is breaking the law too.

If a rental bike is stolen, tell the rental company straight away; it will explain how to report the theft to the police, and without a police report the insurance will not pay. Other everyday risks are covered in our guide to scams and safety in Amsterdam.

Traffic rules

Dutch traffic law applies to cyclists just as it does to drivers, and the police do hand out fines.

• Cycle paths: keep right, and use the cycle path where there is one (it is usually red and marked by a round blue sign with a white bicycle). Pavements are off limits, and in pedestrian streets such as the Kalverstraat you get off and walk.
• Priority: without a sign or white triangles painted on the road (the "shark's teeth"), traffic from the right has priority, cyclists included. In practice trams always have priority, and tram rails should be crossed at a sharp angle.
• Traffic lights: cycle paths often have their own bicycle lights; a red light applies to you.
• Signalling: stick your arm out before turning.
• Lights: from sunset to sunrise and in poor visibility, a white or yellow front light and a red rear light are compulsory.
• Phones: holding a phone or any electronic device while riding is banned; a handlebar mount and earphones are allowed.
• Passengers: a passenger may sit on the rear rack, and children ride in a proper child seat. Helmets are not compulsory.
• Riding side by side: two abreast is allowed, no more, and you drop into single file to let others pass.
• Alcohol: the limit is 0.5 grams of alcohol per litre of blood, as for drivers, or roughly two drinks according to the Dutch police. Above it, you commit a criminal offence, not a minor traffic violation.

Fines: what an offence costs

Fines for cyclists aged 16 and over are set each year by the Dutch Public Prosecution Service. Here are the 2026 amounts for the offences visitors commit most often.

Amounts checked in October 2026, plus €9 in administration costs. Cycling under the influence is handled through separate criminal proceedings, with a heavier penalty. Other traps to avoid during your stay are gathered in our guide to mistakes to avoid in Amsterdam.

Parking: bike garages and the Fietsdepot

The Central Station garages

Since 2023, two large bike garages have opened at Central Station: Stationsplein, built underwater in front of the station, with 7,000 spaces, and IJboulevard, on the IJ side, with 4,000 spaces. The first 24 hours are free, after which you pay. The Stationsplein garage is open day and night and has a repair shop.

Elsewhere, park only in bike racks and bike parks. A bike locked to a bridge, a railing or in a no-parking zone marked by a sign can be removed by the city.

Getting a bike back from the Fietsdepot

Removed bikes are taken to the Fietsdepot, the city's bike pound, at Bornhout 8 in the Westelijk Havengebied, in the west of the city, far from the centre. Collecting a bike costs €26, on showing ID and the key to the lock. If it is a rental bike, call the rental company first: it is the one that can prove the bike belongs to it.

On foot: the cycle path traps

Even if you never rent a bike, you will meet them everywhere. The red cycle paths look like pavements, but they are not: do not walk on them, do not stop on them for a photo, and look both ways before crossing, just as you would on a road. E-bikes and cargo bikes travel fast, and many cyclists will not brake for a lost pedestrian. A ring of the bell means "move aside".

Recommended rides

• The Vondelpark: a few minutes from Museumplein, its paths are open to bikes. Ride slowly: it is full of walkers.
• The Amsterdamse Bos: the large forest in the south-west, about twenty minutes' ride from the centre, with a 14 km signposted loop and a bike rental shop on site.
• Waterland: behind the station, the free ferry takes you to Amsterdam-Noord, and the first meadows begin after about twenty minutes. Our guide to Waterland and its villages details the loop via Durgerdam, Ransdorp and Broek in Waterland.

In strong wind, common on the dykes, plan a short loop. Bring a water bottle: you can refill it for free from the tap, as explained in our article can you drink tap water in Amsterdam.

Bikes on trains, the metro and ferries

• NS trains: a regular bike travels with a Dagkaart Fiets ticket at €8.50, valid all day. On weekdays, bikes are not allowed on trains from 6:30 to 9:00 and from 16:00 to 18:30. A folding bike, once folded, travels free at any time.
• GVB metro: a bike supplement is required; trams and buses do not take bikes.
• IJ ferries: free for cyclists, no booking needed. On arrival, let pedestrians off first and leave without rushing.

Summary table

Prices checked in October 2026 on the websites of the rental companies, NS and the City of Amsterdam.

Further reading

To combine cycling with trams, the metro and GVB tickets, see our guide to public transport in Amsterdam. Other local rules, from drinking in the street to museum tickets, are summed up in mistakes to avoid in Amsterdam. And to catch a train or leave your bike in the underground garage, our page on Amsterdam Central Station covers the station and how to get there.