it’s a bike! it’s a bar! it’s…totally german.

Leave it to the Germans to come up with new and inventive ways to do sightseeing tours without leaving the bar behind:

The Beer Bike.

That’s a monster bicycle with space for 16 people. It features a bar, roof, sound system, and beer tap. The beer bike carries its own supply in the form of a 50-liter keg at the front. The twelve people on both sides of the bar have foot pedals for propulsion, and there’s space for four non-pedaling people in the back. The driver has a steering wheel and brakes. (Yes, the driver has to stay sober.)

You can rent those for tours in many German cities. People use them for sightseeing trips or special occasions like bachelor parties, graduations, or birthdays. And yes, they’re (still) legal to operate on public streets. (I say “still” because there’s legislation under consideration to ban the beer bikes from public roads.) When you rent one, it comes with a driver who steers you around and makes sure the rules are being followed. (Their code of conduct is actually pretty strict—no rowdy behavior, no harassment of pedestrians, no leaving the bike, and so on. Failure to follow the rules will result in an immediate end to the tour and a 200-euro fee.)

I’ve never been on one—they came up with that idea long after I moved to the United States—but I hear they’re a lot of fun. It’s certainly a different way to do a sightseeing tour, that’s for sure.

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