Once you’re in Antwerp, you must have noticed the red and white VELO’s all around the city. Maybe someone almost hit you with it while you were walking at the Meir, or you’ve seen them standing in line, waiting for someone to pick them up. Perhaps you’ve even wondered how it works? Well, it’s easy!

What you need to do is go to the mobile website wap.velo-antwerpen.be, register and pay with your credit card (3 euro’s a day, 7 a week). You also could phone the customer service (+32 3 206 50 30) and ask them to help you register, or pass by the VELO office next to the Central Station (Kievitplein 7, open Mon.-Thu.: 11 till 17; Fri.: 9 till 15). It will only take a few moments before you could get on your bike and explore Antwerp like a local: free, fast and flashy!

Grab a VELO and ride along the Scheldt via all the quays to get from up North to 't Zuid. You’ll see, you’re not the only one using it! Want to be free from using a cab if you want to go some place that’s too far to walk? Go ride that red/white horse and you will see the city in a way you wouldn’t when you are in a cab or when you’re walking. It’s different. It’s better.

And if you’re on the VELO, you should definitely try to ride the streets with the cobbles. Then you’ll experience what locals have to go through every day when their going to work or University…It’s like you’re participating in the Paris-Roubaix bicycle race. But that’s the fun part of riding the VELO: the bike does not break when it has to defy these circumstances (unlike my own bike…). Oh, and when you do ride these cobbles-streets, listen to the sound the VELO makes. It’s like a little cat that purrs. Which is funny, cause my girlfriend hates cats, but loves the sound of the VELO. Oh well, maybe it has to do with the other differences between a cat and a VELO. Whatever.

One thing: be aware of the fact that you’ll have to return the bike within half an hour. If you don’t, the use of it is going to be a little more expensive than the 3 euro’s a day it’ll cost you normally. But on the other hand: who wants to sit on a bike for more than half an hour? By that time, drinking a Bolleke at a terrace is a better thing to do, don’t you think? Enjoy!