Cycle Sundays is back, with Transport for London (TfL) and Santander Cycles offering free Santander Cycles Day Passes, giving everyone unlimited 60-minute rides every Sunday all month from 5th to 26th July. Launched in 2024 in collaboration with leading cycling organisations, the initiative is designed to encourage Londoners and visitors, especially those who are new to cycling, to try exploring the capital by bike.
It is quick and simple for everyone to enjoy free bike rides throughout Sundays in July. TfL Cycle Sundays offer codes are available on the Santander Cycles discounts page or the Santander Cycles app and can be redeemed at any docking station terminal by choosing a Day Pass and entering the code. Customers will need to use a bank card or their mobile phone to complete the process. The Day Pass – usually £3.50 – gives customers unlimited 60-minute rides within a 24-hour period.
Dedicated promo codes will be available for each event date:
CYCLEJULY5 (5 July)
CYCLEJULY12 (12 July)
CYCLEJULY19 (19 July)
CYCLEJULY26 (26 July)
Day passes for Santander e-bikes can also be redeemed as part of the Day Pass offer, but they must be hired via the Santander Cycles app or with a membership key and are only available to registered members. Membership is free and can be created online or through the app.
The initiative aims to enable both Londoners and visitors to try TfL’s electric bikes. TfL Cycle Sundays offers beginner-friendly routes chosen by TfL and partners including British Cycling, Cycle Sisters, London Cycling Campaign and Sustrans. There are more than 50 routes, which give cyclists of all abilities and walks of life a choice of leisure rides up to ten miles long. Routes include park rides in Hampstead Heath and Primrose Hill, an accessible cycle in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, a Cycleway loop from Clapham Common to Battersea Power Station, and many more spanning the capital, including outer London boroughs. Partners such as Bikeworks, Newlane, Our Bike, Try Before You Bike, and Local Buyers Club are also providing special discounts and links to their events, which can be found on the TfL Cycle Sundays website.
TfL has also partnered with Strava and komoot to make it easier to discover, plan, track and enjoy leisure cycling routes across London. A full list of routes available free of charge via the TfL Cycle Sundays Club on both apps. Riders can view the route map with directions in real time, and – depending on the app – track distance, check difficulty and elevation levels, and see how busy roads are. Bike rides logged on Strava also contribute to Strava Metro: an anonymised, aggregated, free dataset that supports TfL in planning safer, smarter cycling routes.
TfL’s cycle journey planner in the TfL Go app shows how much of a journey is on Cycleways, clearly highlighting them on the map to make planning a safe cycling route easier than ever. A full list of routes is also available on the TfL Cycle Sundays web page, where new cyclists or those looking for a refresher can also access TfL’s free online Cycle Skills course.
Last week marked London Climate Action Week, putting a spotlight on the global and local communities, taking action on climate change. Cycling continues to play a vital role in helping people travel more sustainably across the capital. Choosing to cycle instead of driving cuts carbon emissions, improves air quality and reduces congestion. By encouraging more Londoners to swap short car journeys for cycling, TfL is supporting a greener, healthier city, while also helping people build physical activity into their daily routines and improve their overall wellbeing.
TfL Image – Mete Coban, Will Norman, Lilli Matson, Danny Price, Seb Dance
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TfL continues to invest into the Cycle Hire scheme and London’s growing Cycleways network, making cycling safer and more accessible for people of all ages and abilities. TfL is working to improve the scheme, with a new operating contract starting later this year that will include the rollout of a new app, new ways to hire bikes, refreshed docking stations and more e-bikes. London now has more than 441km of strategic cycle routes, up from 90k in 2016, making the network nearly five times bigger. As part of this, TfL is investing £94.8m in London boroughs in 2026/27, including funding to deliver new cycle routes that will further expand and strengthen the capital’s Cycleways network. This investment is helping to connect communities across London and enables more people to take advantage of initiatives like Cycle Sundays, on routes designed with comfort and safety in mind.
Will Norman, the Mayor of London’s Walking and Cycling Commissioner, said: “I’m delighted that TfL Cycle Sundays is back, and this year it’s bigger and better than ever, so even more Londoners and visitors can enjoy exploring our great city by bike.
“Cycling is a fantastic way to get around London, especially now that we’ve grown our Cycleways network by nearly five times, helping people of all abilities to cycle safely across the capital. The Mayor and I encourage everyone – especially those new to cycling – to take up these free Sunday bike rides and to use our cycle routes to travel around our great city as we continue building a safer, greener, better London for all.”
David Eddington, Head of Cycle Hire at TfL, said: “We want everyone to enjoy the benefits of cycling, which is why we’re excited to announce that TfL Cycle Sundays is back, offering Londoners and visitors to our city free bike travel every Sunday throughout July to encourage more Londoners and visitors to explore the capital.
“Cycling is not only brilliant for your physical and mental wellbeing, but it’s also a greener way to travel, helping to improve air quality. Whether you’re new to cycling or a regular rider, we look forward to seeing people take advantage of the free Santander Cycles offer every Sunday in July and discover just how easy and enjoyable it can be.”
