European Bike-Sharing, Bio Restaurants and More

For the past three weeks (until this past Sunday), we've been gallivanting around Europe.

Sure, we sampled amazing Belgian chocolates (highly recommend the delicacies at Sukerbuyc in Bruges), gazed at fantastic French art in the Musee Marmottan, downed some Czech beer in Prague and consumed an immoderate amount of whipped cream in Vienna.

But hey, the trip wasn't just about gorging ourselves. This was work! We were on a mission to find eco-travel options across the European continent. Here's some of what we found:

- Europeans are embracing urban bicycling at a rapid clip. Paris gets lots of press for its famous Velib bike-sharing program, but lots of other cities seem to have the same concept. In Brussels, they call it Cyclocity. In Vienna, it's named Citybike.

In each case, the concept is pretty much the same. You use a credit card to borrow a bike from stations all around town and return the bike at any station where you find a free slot. Rates are very reasonable - 0.5 Euros for 30 minutes in Brussels, 30 free minutes with 1 Euro for the next 30 minutes in Paris.

Unfortunately, the systems in all three cities seem designed mainly for locals. The Vienna Citybike website is only available in German, while even the Paris Velib site uses a mishmash of French and English. If you're patient, persistent and perhaps speak a bit of the local language, this could be a great option for getting around town. (Certainly less expensive than the 5.8 Euros that Paris charges for a daily Metro Mobilis pass...)

On the other hand, you may find it easier to just rent a bike for the day. In Vienna, we got a great 2-hour guided tour of the city from Gerhard Strassgschwandtner using bikes from Pedal Power. With 1,000 kilometers of bike paths and routes and a relatively flat topography, Vienna makes an excellent biking destination. Our favorite parts - biking on a dedicated tree-shaded path along the famous Ringstrasse and cruising through the excellent Prater park.

So why can't the United States have some bike-sharing programs? Actually, we can. In August, Washington D.C. inaugurated its own bike-sharing program and several other cities, including Chicago and New York have expressed interest in the idea.

One challenge is that planners in the States will need to develop a safe and comprehensive bike-lane and bike-path program to go with any bike-sharing network. In Paris, some streets have illuminated bike lanes down the middle with pillars protecting the bikes from traffic. (Incidentally, Paris also has load of pillars along its curbs to protect pedestrians on the sidewalk from wayward cars - or perhaps just to keep people from parking on the sidewalk...)

Personally, I found the idea of biking in Paris a bit intimidating. Throughout much of the day, some Parisian streets seem almost as jammed as those in my home city of New York. As this article illustrates, it may be best to take a bike tour led by a guide who knows which streets are safest and most enjoyable for biking.

- All that biking can work up an appetite, but as mentioned above it's easy to find tasty ways to replenish your calories in Europe. If you're looking for organic food options, the key word to know is bio. People may recognize the term "organic", but "bio" is used far more frequently to denote the same thing.

In Paris, you can pick up award-winning baguettes made with organic flours at Du Pain et Des Idees (roughly translated "Of bread and ideas").

In Vienna, try stopping St. Josef on Mondscheingasse ("Moonlight Street") for a super-casual all-organic and vegetarian dining experience. Attached to the restaurant, you'll find a store filled with organic snacks, produce and other food items.

(PS - If you bring a refillable water bottle, you can stock up on pure Alps mountain spring water straight from the tap. Strangely, despite this natural bounty, the Viennese insist on drinking bottled waters in restaurants and cafes. I was actually refused table water at one of the most famous (i.e. touristy) cafes.)

Vienna also has a unique restaurant called Saint Charles Alimentary, which calls its itself Austria's first "pharmacy restaurant". All fruits and vegetables are picked from the wild, while animal dishes are prepared using meats that the restaurant staff has hunted itself. If you like the idea of knowing exactly where your food comes from - and supporting the locavore movement - Saint Charles Alimentary could definitely be worth a visit.

In Brussels, look for the EXKi chain of natural fast-food restaurants or browse this list of vegetarian and/or organic restaurants for other ideas.

And let's not forget Prague, where you'll find Bio-cafes all over town using mainly organic products to prepare a light and affordable menu based around sandwiches, salads and soups.

Stay tuned for more eco travel tips from Europe in an upcoming post...

Also, two bits of news to share:

1) We have loads of new product reviews to share with you, so expect to see a few more reviews than usual per week while we work through the backlog...

2) We hope to start at least one Sweepstakes later this month. Remember that you're automatically entered to win all 1GreenProduct.com Sweepstakes as long as you're an active email subscriber!