I heavily doubt this list. As a NL native, I would guesstimate that probably the first 50/150 on this list should be dutch cities. Ofc that would be a boring list, but I have been in somewhere between 50 and a 100 EU cities and it looks to me like we have an extreme luxury here with our biking situation.
I’ve seen some larger cities in EU that seemed doable on the bike, but even then, lanes end at random spots and the network is incomplete. Are you supposed to mount the curb in those situations? Or take your chances mixing in motorized traffic with your 20kg vehicle? And the smaller EU cities I’ve seen weren’t better.
Plus, Amsterdam could be fun to bike around if it wasn’t bursting at the seams from the high amount of tourist bike noobies trying their first few km on the pedals. I’m happy they’re here, but it’s not an improvement to biking 😄 better off taking the tram.
Exactly. Amsterdam at no4? Above Groningen? Above Houten, the city designed around traveling by bike? Both of which aren’t in this top 10? I also call bullshit on this list
What you mean a NL indigenous person?
Yeah as in born and raised. I guess the raised part is most important for this.
I meant where, NL mean?
The Netherlands
Oh, okay, never seen the abbreviation. sorry,
Copenhagen is too heigh on that list I think. It could still be a lot better. Still lots of dangerous right turns and non protected bike lanes and poor parking options. I’m most salty about lack of parking actually. Train stations also often lack elevators with proper space.
Copenhagen is high because this list is from “Copenhagenize”, and their list is shit https://social.notjustbikes.com/@notjustbikes/115605190282240272
In general I’m surprised how pedestrian unfriendly Danish cities are given how much space bikes get.
With the snow there recently was, bike lanes where free, while sidewalks where a mess.It’s because keeping the road and bicycle paths clear of snow are municipal responsibilities but sidewalks are the responsibility of whoever owns the land the sidewalk runs adjacent to.
There’s basically no punishment for not clearing the snow, and there’s no metrics for how clear it should be, so the sidewalks are always a mess when it snows and doesn’t melt by days end.
My first thought looking at that list was that all those cities get snow. I hate the cold. Always have. I’d move to the equator if I wasn’t capable of getting a sunburn in upstate New York in about 5 minutes of exposure. Thankfully IB, CA, US is fairly warm, and installing pretty good isolated bike lanes on many streets currently.
Man, you are screwed, but you know I hated traveling in the cold too, not talking about just 50s, until I vacationed with brother’s family from Christmas to after New Years, outside of Seattle, WA. With South Florida. bought winter gloves, my hands were freezing during the fire works. I can now travel through, but not stay, in cold/40s-20s weather by that experience, maybe, you could find the same results? Of course to if I had stayed for years, I would be completely cold hardened, my brother been there for decades & he walks around in South Florida.’s summer gear during winters of Seattle, WA… I would suggest you take the weather for AWESOMENESS that Democratic Socialist Scandinavian country offers, the best of The USA sucks in comparison!
What does IB stand for?
Imperial Beach. It’s just north of Tijuana just south of San Diego.
Okay, thanks
NNNOO!!! Denmark is my favorite country, I would move there in a sec., if their immigration laws would take me. You cannot count snow against Denmark, they no control of that. Why would the sidewalks be a mess? In a Democratic Socialist Scandinavian country? I never of any bicycle lanes at any location directly costing riders money, taxes pay for them.
I’m not holding snow against them, but their pedestrian infrastructure.
It’s great for bikes, no doubt, but sidewalks are ridiculously narrow, are not cleared from snow, and in some areas don’t even exist, so you have to walk on the bike path.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s very possible to get around on foot, but walking longer distances does not seem to be part of the city planning.
If the bike paths would be equally terrible, I wouldn’t even complain, but streets and bike paths are both well maintained.Strange, that just does not make any sense, in Democratic Socialist & Scandinavian country.
It’s honestly still a pretty terrifying experience to the uninitiated. The way the cars, bikes, trams and pedestrians all flow around each other takes some getting used to.
Living in France, from what I know I disagree. Grenoble blows Paris away easily.
Montréal being at n.1 in NA but n.15 worldwide is representative of how sucky bike stuff is here. Although montreal’s central neighborhoods would definitely crack the top ten if they were counted alone.
Not Just Bikes on YouTube does a simultaneously loving and hateful video on Montreal biking. If I remember correctly, he basically says it’s a very small region of Montreal that is bikeable, and that it’s really piecemeal between neighborhoods as to what the infrastructure looks like. There was also something about disconnection from certain metro lines, but I don’t remember the details on that clearly.
Also, I need to say out loud to someone that Guadalajara is in North America too… Wonder how it compares with Montreal for biking, given that they’re somehow not on the same list?
tbf since that video Montreal has gotten significantly better, and the places he complained about not being connected to transit have since been connected to the network by the new light metro.
The image shows that Montréal is in 15th place worldwide while Guadalajara is n.73
That’s great to hear! You’re reigniting my desire to move to Montreal… If it was a Spanish speaking city instead of French I think I’d already be there.
The video had mentioned that the city was considering more car-free summer streets. Do you know if that has that come to fruition?
Frankly I haven’t paid too much attention to car-free streets outside of my neighborhood, where other than a few pilot projects nothing much has materialized. Given the progress in other aspects of the city though I wouldn’t be suprised though. I do know much of the downtown central road was redone to make it go from 4 lanes to 1 with the rest being given to pedestrians.
for the language thing if you move in to a more anglo neighborhood like mile end you can get away with not knowing any french for a while, and there are good (free!) french tutoring programs available to immigrants. You will need to learn french within like two-ish years though because then the Quebec government will stop sending you english versions of paperwork.
Paris at 5! Mon œil!
Utrecht at 1! Mijn hemel!
Helsinki? Lmao no.
Really, they have huge reputation for that?
The main network of wide bike paths is nice, but outside of that the painted on lanes and gutters can be unreliable. At times a lane just ends or abruptly turns into a one way lane. While bike infra is being improved, the city itself is still very much designed cars first. I suppose it’s definitely not the worst, but I am at least disappointed if there’s no more cities with better bike infra than that.
I cycle to work out of town when there’s no snow on the ground (I’m lucky in that it’s mostly parks, with only a couple of roads to cross on the 15km route), but it’s a lot easier to take public transit when heading downtown.
Oh yeah and Oulu in northern Finland should be mentioned for their exceptional winter maintenance of bike paths. Check out https://mas.to/@pekkatahkola
There Bicycle paths are do they not allow motorized vehicles? There bicycle paths are not complete enough, that riders have to leave them, for the stupid rest of bicycle riders options?
Yes, there’s nice dedicated bike paths where only bicycles (and also e-scooters and such) are allowed, but there’s not enough of them to be able to get everywhere.
That sucks! Sounds too much like South Florida.!
I was surprised to find it on the list. I would not want to bike in Helsinki
Just came here to check if there’s no polish cities. There shouldn’t be! But we often end up on such lists for no reason I could understand (lobbying? marketing?)
Helsinki #6? Hmm okay
The other ones must be very bad.
Uuutreg!
Interesting hearing bicyclist in the locations listed, I assume, calling BS on the list.
Are repliers hatred of this simply the result that there are yet to be places where bicyclist have what they should? These places are the best, maybe, but the best is just not good enough?
I just disagree with the order. Copenhagen is definitely not number 2! I could be persuaded to agree with putting it in 4th place, but I don’t know what metrics were used for this list. Yes, the bicycle lanes are great, but it’s still a car-first city. Busses aren’t simple to use and are massively de-prioritized, which I think is very important for bicycling in a city as big as Copenhagen; you have to take your bike on the bus every now and then, or else never participate in any events outside your comfortable biking distance.
AWESOME THANKS FOR THIS POST!!!
GO AWAY DAVRIELLE LOUNA
