The most walking-friendly cities in the world

a pedestrian/bicycle street in center of Munich, Germany. Image Caitriana Nicholson, CC BY-SA license.
Munich (Munchen) in South Germany. Photo by Caitriana Nicholson.

It is amazing how long distances a humble human being can walk during a visit in an attractive city. If you want make your sightseeing tour on foot as pleasant as possible while trotting around, we bring you the ranking for the most walkable cities in the world.

An enterprise that provides price and other information about products and services, like insurances and banking, has collected data on factors that affect how safe and convenient it is to walk along the streets of cities across the world. Some of the factors that were included in ranking for the best cities were: number of walking trails, rainfall, and how safe cities are. Also public transport systems and cycling options were included in the study.

Here are the results: the most walkable cities in the world top 10:

  1. Munich, Germany
  2. Milan, Italy
  3. Warsaw, Poland
  4. Helsinki, Finland
  5. Paris, France
  6. Tokyo, Japan
  7. Madrid, Spain
  8. Oslo, Norway
  9. Copenhagen, Denmark
  10. Amsterdam, The Netherlands

It is not a big surprise that 90% of top ten cities where it is enjoyable to walk are in Europe. Old historic centers of many European cities were built long time ago when people walked or had a horse to take care of transportation needs. Later, of course, cars took over even the narrowest streets in cities, but now bicycles are pushing cars away. For instance, Paris, Copenhagen and Amsterdam are reporting there are more cyclists in city centers than drivers.

I have visited 8 out of top 10 cities, and I am surprised to find Milan ranked as the second best. Public transportation options are very good in Milan – I can recommend a tram ride if you want to see the city, but walking wouldn’t be my first option to explore Milan.

copenhagen city center. photo by arihak.
Copenhagen, Denmark.