Great walking cities

[shortstop14]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Some of these I know and agree with, others are new to my list - which is getting pretty long now.

 

[ocean view]

I used to walk as much as 15-20 miles a day working in Chicago.

15-20 miles a day! Were you a mail carrier? No matter the occupation, that's impressive.

 

[audreyh1]

Vienna was very walkable. Especially if you went all the way up to the Vienna woods and walked back to town.

 

[6miths]

I agree that there aren't too many European cities that I wouldn't love to walk in. We just spent 10 days in London and put on about 20 km a day in all different directions. Excellent public transit dramatically extends one's range.

 

[FUEGO]

Buenos Aires, Argentina for your South American walking city. Most areas are relatively safe (Boca neighborhood/vicinity IIRC being the standout - cuidado!). We walked 10 miles on our last day there trying to see everything we had missed earlier in the week. Fairly comprehensive transit system too. Although I think they have one of the widest roads there too, which is fun to cross on foot (18 lanes wide).

Cafe culture in many neighborhoods. Tree lined streets. Parks, promenades. Great people watching.

 

[shortstop14]

Buenos Aires, Argentina for your South American walking city.

Given that most of my travel is during US wintertime, Buenos Aires and Montevideo, Uruguay might be an interesting option.

 

[brett]

We did a lot of walking in Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Santiago, Valparaiso.

In SE Asia we very much enjoyed Hanoi, Saigon, Bangkok, and Penang. To a lesser degree Kuala Lumpur

Our favourite European walking cities are Paris, London, and Rome. We have spent time in each. Some of our most enjoyable visits have been when we had no set plans. We simply set out and walked in various parts of those cities not really knowing what our end point would be.

 

[shortstop14]

Some of our most enjoyable visits have been when we had no set plans. We simply set out and walked in various parts of those cities not really knowing what our end point would be.

My favorite kind of day in an unfamiliar city.

I like bicycle friendly cities, as well. Hard to beat Amsterdam for that. My first trip out of the US was solo with my road bike, to Lisbon. That's where I discovered cobblestones - not road bike friendly.

 

[Scuba]

Paris, Florence, New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sydney, New Orleans

 

[Ronstar]

15-20 miles a day! Were you a mail carrier? No matter the occupation, that's impressive.

I was a surveyor doing permit applications for digital signs/billboards around town. Needed to make a sketch and take photos of each sign location. Then to the Cook County building to get zoning. Lots of walking. I started walking to the sites after a day of +$20 parking per location. Later I started using the L train as much as possible, cutting walk distance in half.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

I recently came across a local article that referenced a website that listed Vancouver as one of the more walkable cities in North America. New York scored tops in the US. The site is called Walk Score and I think it favours cities where most daily errands can be done on foot.

 

[braumeister]

We visited several smaller cities in the Netherlands this year like Maastricht, Leiden and The Hague. We really enjoyed walking around the historical old parts.

I learned something in Amsterdam recently. When you hear a bicycle bell, it's a sign of celebration because the cyclist has just run over a tourist.

 

[Luck_Club]

My experience is that all these cities can be navigated easily by public transport and walking:
Hong Kong
Shanghai
Guanzhou
Washington, DC
Boston
Dublin

 

[jonat]

Some of my favorites:

Reykjavik
Sydney, Australia
Brussels
Vancouver, Canada
London
Amsterdam
Zurich

Boston is eminently walkable, but is quite hazardous to pedestrians from the drivers and bicyclists who routinely ignore traffic rules and signals.

 

[jollystomper]

Beijing has a good subway system and is very walkable. They have built pedestrian bypasses around some of the crazier intersections. However their are still spots where crossing the street you need to be very alert, as (in my experience) "yield to pedestrians" seems more a suggestion than the law.

I also found Perth in Australia very walkable and interesting, with a lot of friendly people.

 

[YakGrl]

Great travel memories. Early morning jog through Kensington Garden, bike tour of downtown London. Early morning walk over the Golden Gate Bridge.
SanFrancisco was a great walkable city with public transport and cable cars. You do need to be in shape to handle the hills.

 

[Sunset]

Ottawa, Canada
- bike friendly, has bike paths, excellent public transit, and across the bridge is Quebec Province (French). Lots of Federal parks and city parks in Ottawa and surrounding area. Ottawa is the capital of the country so Parliament sits there, and lots of Embassies, and it's been around for over 150 years, was called By-Town before it became the capital.

Canada is celebrating it's 150th year, this year so there are events in various places.
ps - the exchange rate is good for the USD (about $1.22 CDN)

 

[pb4uski]

New Orleans exceeds Savannah IMO......

And if I recall correctly each has their dicey areas...

 

[audreyh1]

I learned something in Amsterdam recently. When you hear a bicycle bell, it's a sign of celebration because the cyclist has just run over a tourist.

Oh - I missed my chance to do that (run over a tourist). But I did ring my bell at quite a few tourists as they stepped into the bike lane without looking - sometimes a very close call. The worst place was just outside the "Heineken Experience" where physical barriers were placed to keep pedestrians/visitors out of the bike lane, but you still had people trying to stand in or walk down the bike lane!

But I heard plenty of bicycle bells as cyclists rushed past me on the narrow bike lanes. Most of them are in a hurry.

 

[jonat]

It took less than 30 seconds after stepping onto a Munich sidewalk for the first time to realize that the sidewalks in many European cities are partitioned into bicycle and pedestrian lanes, and woe upon those who don't honor the difference. Even after figuring this out (luckily no bruises were involved), negotiating street corners were still a hazard as one had to cross the bicycle path and watch for cyclists coming from two directions.

Delft and Amsterdam (and presumably other Netherlands cities) generally do it better with separated bicycle paths and even separate crossing lights for cyclists. I didn't feel as anxious about cyclists there as I did elsewhere in Europe.

 

[FUEGO]

Oh - I missed my chance to do that (run over a tourist). But I did ring my bell at quite a few tourists as they stepped into the bike lane without looking - sometimes a very close call. The worst place was just outside the "Heineken Experience" where physical barriers were placed to keep pedestrians/visitors out of the bike lane, but you still had people trying to stand in or walk down the bike lane!

About the only time I got some nasty curse words slung at me during our 2 months in Europe was in Amsterdam. I was crossing the bike path as the ped light was turning green (so I thought). 3 kids in tow, so I couldn't exactly rush. I thought the pedestrian signal was counting down from 20 and when it got to zero it meant the ped signal turns red and the bikes/cars get the green. Nope - it was 20 second countdown till the next pedestrian green light Never seen a bicyclist so angry... and especially in a place where the beer and weed flows so smoothly!

It took less than 30 seconds after stepping onto a Munich sidewalk for the first time to realize that the sidewalks in many European cities are partitioned into bicycle and pedestrian lanes, and woe upon those who don't honor the difference. Even after figuring this out (luckily no bruises were involved), negotiating street corners were still a hazard as one had to cross the bicycle path and watch for cyclists coming from two directions.

Same problem in Munich and I never figured out exactly where on the sidewalk I was allowed to walk. Bicyclists would ring their bell so I'd move to the other side. Then I thought maybe it was "stay to the right of the sidewalk and let oncoming bikes/peds pass you to your left" like motorized traffic on roads. Eventually I walked in the grass when I saw a bike speeding my way.

Driving in Munich was much easier.

Delft and Amsterdam (and presumably other Netherlands cities) generally do it better with separated bicycle paths and even separate crossing lights for cyclists. I didn't feel as anxious about cyclists there as I did elsewhere in Europe.

Amsterdam had these huge roadway cross-sections. 2 way tram traffic in the middle. Then a layer of car lanes (with the inside lanes being bus lanes IIRC). Then a layer of bike lanes on each side that were separated with skinny medians. Then a final layer of sidewalks on the outside. I guess it works for them but it made me anxious crossing all of that with the kids.

 

[audreyh1]

Amsterdam had these huge roadway cross-sections. 2 way tram traffic in the middle. Then a layer of car lanes (with the inside lanes being bus lanes IIRC). Then a layer of bike lanes on each side that were separated with skinny medians. Then a final layer of sidewalks on the outside. I guess it works for them but it made me anxious crossing all of that with the kids.

Yep - it is really wild.

Whether as a pedestrian or a cyclist, navigating Amsterdam street takes you whole concentration. And never a dull moment!

 

[braumeister]

Same problem in Munich and I never figured out exactly where on the sidewalk I was allowed to walk. Bicyclists would ring their bell so I'd move to the other side. Then I thought maybe it was "stay to the right of the sidewalk and let oncoming bikes/peds pass you to your left" like motorized traffic on roads. Eventually I walked in the grass when I saw a bike speeding my way.

Normally, the bike lane is the "outside" of the sidewalk between the pedestrian lane and the motor vehicles. That's generally the rule. In many areas the color or texture of the sidewalk pavement is different for pedestrians and bicycles, or there is sometimes a painted line to separate them.

 

[IMATERP]

Philadelphia, San Francisco, Barcelona, & Prague!

Michael

 

[check6]

Minneapolis

Pedestrian mall in town, walk along the Mississippi River with several bridge crossing. Bike/pedestrian paths interconnect via several lakes in uptown. Can literally ride around the town from the burbs without ever riding on a road.