Every city dreams of being ‘walkable’. Passing endless iconic landmarks on your way to the city’s shops, cafes and restaurants. That’s what citylife is all about, isn’t it? But not everywhere can be Florence, Bath or even New York. In places like Birmingham, there’s a reason that ‘car is king’, as this new study shows.
To determine which European cities are easiest to explore on foot, Radical Storage analysed the average distance between the five most popular attractions in each location, along with elevation, estimated travel time and step counts. Joint most walkable European cities are Porto and Milan, while no UK city cracks the top 10.
In Milan, the five most popular attractions take 34 minutes to walk to, with a total elevation gain of only 11 metres, making it a largely flat and highly walkable route. The journey in Porto is slightly less than that, taking only 30 minutes, but with a higher elevation gain of 25 metres
What are the least walkable cities in Europe?
The worst city for walking is Oslo in Norway. If you want to see the Oslofjord, alongside the Fram Museum, the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History, followed by the Vigeland Park and the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, the route will take over 20 hours to complete on foot.
Other terrible walking cities include Marseille in France, Helsinki in Finland, Hamburg in Germany and Lisbon in Portugal, but the worst in the UK is Birmingham. The sixth least walkable city in Europe takes just under three hours, involves 92 metres of elevation gain, and averages 27,821 steps between its top five attractions
Realistically, the route is too much for one day, but the top attractions are the chocolate-themed Cadbury World, theatre at Birmingham Hippodrome, Birmingham Back to Backs’ preserved historic courtyard, the National SEA LIFE Centre’s interactive marine exhibits, and the city’s iconic football ground, Villa Park.
The most walkable cities in Europe:
=1. Milan, Italy
=1. Porto, Portugal
=2. Athens, Greece
=2. Copenhagen, Denmark
=2. Bergamo, Italy
=2. Antwerp, Belgium
=3. Nice, France
=3. Amsterdam, Netherlands
=3. Lille, France
=3. Palermo, Italy
The least walkable cities in Europe:
1. Oslo, Norway
2. Marseille, France
3. Helsinki, Finland
4. Hamburg, Germany
5. Lisbon, Portugal
6. Birmingham, UK
=7. Turin, Italy
=7. Bordeaux, France
=8. Prague, Czech Republic
=8. Toulouse, France
To see Radical Storage’s study in full, head here.