The Most Walkable Cities in the World

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What makes a city truly walkable? It’s more than just having attractions clustered closely together. A walkable city must have excellent air quality, low crime rates, and good access to public transit. It should be safe, clean, and pedestrian-friendly. To determine the most walkable cities in the world, investment site Insider Monkey created a consensus methodology, drawing on walkability data from sources like Tourlane and WalkScore and then mapping out the walking distance between each city’s top five tourist attractions. Analysts then factored in air quality, crime, and safety indexes for each city.

Florence, Italy, emerged as the world’s most walkable city in the study, thanks in part to its compact and pedestrian-friendly historic center. Narrow stone lanes and picturesque piazzas guide visitors from one iconic sight to the next—the Uffizi Gallery, Ponte Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria, Piazza del Duomo, and Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore are all within a 10-minute walk fo each other.

Florence also scores well for walkability due to its clean, well-maintained public spaces and moderate air quality. With a safety score of 60.24, visitors can still feel comfortable walking around alone, even after dark. 

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The world’s eight most walkable cities are all in Europe, with Riga, Hamburg, Porto, Madrid, Edinburgh, Tallinn, and Stockholm earning high marks. Just one American city makes it into the top ten most walkable cities—Boston. With a smaller city size and higher safety score than New York City, Boston is the most walkable city in the U.S. 

The 30 Most Walkable Cities in the World

1. Florence, Italy
2. Riga, Latvia
3. Hamburg, Germany
4. Porto, Portugal
5. Madrid, Spain
6. Edinburgh, Scotland
7. Tallinn, Estonia
8. Stockholm, Sweden
9. Syndey, Australia
10. Boston, United States
11. Amsterdam, Netherlands
12. Liverpool, England
13. Bordeaux, France
14. Copenhagen, Denmark
15. Istanbul, Turkey
16. Melbourne, Australia
17. Prague, Czech Republic
18. Budapest, Hungary
19. Vancouver, Canada
20. Bristol, United Kingdom
21. Reykjavik, Iceland
22. Munich, Germany
23. Jersey City, United States
24. Lisbon, Portugal
25. New York City, United States
26. Shanghai, China
27. Vienna, Austria
28. Toronto, Canada
29. Montreal, Canada
30. Dubai, UAE

Editor’s note: This story was originally published in 2017. It has been updated to reflect the most current information.

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