In the words of the famous Fifties song, "Ma dove vai bellezza in bicicletta, così di fretta pedalando con ardor"… out and about in Milan, to discover its greener, more pastoral aspect.

Bicycles are sustainable, flexible and cheap, so they can be an interesting alternative way of discovering the sights of Milan. What is more, if you don't have your own wheels and don't want to join a guided tour (there is an interesting one along the Navigli canals organised by Neiade), you could use BikeMi, a low-cost bike sharing service, created by the Municipality of Milan and ATM, to give you freedom of movement. The hire points can be found in various points of the city. One of them is in Piazza Duomo, starting point for this itinerary. After visiting the cathedral and its panoramic terraces, you take your bike and pedal along Via Torino, where you can stop at the Church of Santa Maria presso San Satiro, a masterpiece by Bramante, famous for the false perspective offered by its trompe l'oeil apse.

The itinerary continues with relaxed pedalling – unless you get distracted by the countless boutiques and shop windows along the street – up to the Colonne di San Lorenzo, a meeting place for the young crowd, but also a corner of history, where we can see rare Roman remains of Imperial Milan, with their fascinating Corinthian capitals and the large Basilica of paleochristian origin. Before continuing, enjoy a refreshing and delicious pause at Grom, slightly further on in Corso di Porta Ticinese 51, to enjoy the ice cream flavours of the month. Then back in the saddle, heading for the Basilica di Sant'Eustorgio which, tradition has it, conserves the relics of the Three Wise Men. From here it is just a few minutes to the Darsena, where the Naviglio Grande cycle track begins. To ride along the Alzaia (towpath) is to step back into history, to the old Milan of waterways that so fascinated Leonardo da Vinci and which were used in building the Cathedral – always truly exciting. Here are picturesque views to be discovered, for example from Vicolo dei Lavandai, where you can still see some ancient outdoor washhouses, where Milan women brought their washing up to the Fifties. Or from the little double-nave church of San Cristoforo, patron saint of pilgrims and travellers, to whom is dedicated a festival on 25th July, which has been celebrated since the days of the Visconti (1428).  Continuing along the route, you can get as far as the picturesque village of Gaggiano, with its pastel-coloured houses. Or instead, you could leave your bike at Alzaia Naviglio Grande 4 and get on board a boat sailing the Conche line. But that's another story altogether…

Bicycling is an enjoyable, environmentally-friendly and practical way to travel around the city. Milan offers circa 144 kilometres of lanes and bicycle routes for bike lovers.

Bike Sharing in Milan provides two types of service: bicycles available at docking stations or free-flowing (dockless) bicycles located around the city streets or on racks positioned throughout the city.

BICYCLES AVAILABLE AT DOCKING STATIONS

The BikeMi Bike Sharing service enables you to rent bikes via a daily, weekly or yearly ticket available at all Atm Points in Duomo, Cadorna, Loreto, Central, Garibaldi and Romolo, via an app, a website (optimized for mobile phones) and on the ATM  Infoline.

The service offers both traditional bicycles and 1,000 pedal-assist bicycles.

This is the first example in the world of an integrated Bike sharing system with both traditional bikes and pedelecs, unique in terms of size, complexity and innovation.

With just one subscription you can make use of both traditional and pedal-assist bikes at all docking stations. Tariff conditions depend on the type of bike chosen; all tariffs can be consulted on the official website.

The map of the vehicle pick-up stations is available online at www.bikemi.com.

Rental is available for all users (from 16 years of age upwards) in possession of a credit card. In the case of annual membership, the card will be delivered directly to the home address.

Weekly or daily subscriptions can also be purchased: an email with a user code will be sent to the email address or the phone number entered at the time of registration on the website; together with a password, this code is then typed directly into the keypad on the column of any BikeMi station.

The service operates 365 days a year from 07:00 to 24:00. The timetable is sometimes extended in spring/summer and during special events (for further information please go to the BikeMi News section).

BikeMi: +39 02 48 607 607

FREE FLOATING BICYCLE SHARING SERVICE 

The free floating bicycle sharing service is provided by Mobike and Ofo.

At full capacity there will be 12,000 bikes available to users, 8,000 from Mobike and 4,000 from Ofo.

The free floating bikes can be picked up by means of a dedicated app and then dropped off at the end of the ride. Bicycles can be parked along the sides of roads without reserved parking or in areas where parking is allowed and in all the bike parking spaces in the city.

It is important that bicycles are always parked appropriately so as not to cause obstruction to vehicular and pedestrian traffic.