Staff Reporter
Whether you live here, or are visiting, Valencia is a city with many corners to discover.
Set up in 2017 by Chris and Klara, an anglo-Hungarian couple, BikeAlao has become one of the most complete bike and e-scooter rental companies in the city.
A nod to the infamous Ruta de Bakalao, a hedonistic party trail in Valencia beginning in the 90s, the company’s name is a hybrid of bacalao or cod in Spanish and ‘bike’. This led to the stylish logo of a fish on a bicycle, proving or disproving the famous line, “a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle”. 
BikeAlao began by renting bikes and offering six fantastic guided bike tours and has kept up–to–date by introducing e-scooter rental and tours, as well as providing a repair service for bikes and e-scooters.
During their first summer season, Chris and Klara’s progress at BikeAlao was tracked by Channel 4’s “A New Life in the Sun” (see Series 4 episodes 9 and 10). In the show we were able to see the day-to-day workings of a new business in Valencia and the highs and lows of a busy first summer.
BikeAlao’s owners are committed to providing environmentally friendly transport and ensuring customers enjoy Valencia in the best possible way. Their shop is located near the port of Valencia and Cabanyal on Calle Abastos 5. Much of the port area was used as a Formula 1 circuit for the European Grand Prix until 2012, and is now a broad avenue lined with bars and restaurants surrounded by the sea. The F1 circuit is complete with bike lanes, making for a fun ride, with ample opportunities to stop for refreshments.
Valencia is flat, has hundreds of kilometres of bike lanes and enjoys 320 days of sun, making it the perfect city to get around by bike or e-scooter. Ride along Malvarossa beach then turn into the streets of Cabanyal, full of fishermen’s cottages and creative graffiti, before crossing the Turia park, which extends for 9 kilometres of traffic–free riding each way. Highlights of the park include Santiago Calatrava’s City of Arts and Sciences, Gulliver – a giant play area made of up slides and swings on top of Gulliver’s enormous body, and the Bioparc. From the park you can enter the historic centre through the medieval Torres Serranos and enjoy the old town neighbourhood of El Carmen, leading to the Cathedral and Plaza de la Virgen.
For an evening drink, check out the many cool terraces of Ruzafa, before riding home.
Due to the extensive network of bike lanes it is largely unnecessary to use roads in Valencia so renting a bike or an e-scooter is a smart choice.
If you would like a guided bike tour call BikeAlao on 0034 693227007 or book online at https://www.bikealao.com/
