Exploring a city can be done in a multitude of ways: public transport offers us efficiency, while going for a stroll gets you the full boots-on-the-ground experience of soaking up the atmosphere of a place.
Cycling, however, grants you the best of both worlds. And thanks to policies that often go hand-in-hand with improving green spaces and making our urban areas more pedestrian-friendly, plenty of the world’s best cities are primed for zipping around on two wheels.
RECOMMENDED: The world’s best cities in 2026, according to
As part of our mega annual city survey, we asked over 24,000 urbanites about the ease of cycling in their city. The 20 hubs below had the highest number of respondents describing getting around by bike as ‘good’ or ‘amazing’. To reflect the best cycling cities globally, we included only the highest-scoring city for each country.
Keen to see which city in the world is best for exploring by bike? Pedal on.
The world’s best cities for cycling, according to locals
1. Cambridge, UK
🚲 Cycling score: 83.2 percent
A handful of factors are needed to make a city truly bike-friendly, and Cambridge, the impossibly quaint university city in England, ticks all the right boxes. Firstly, its flat geography and relatively dry weather mean you won’t be tackling too many dreaded hills or frequently arriving at your destination completely sodden, which is always a perk. But thanks to the compact nature of the city and innovative urban planning (which includes a massive, multi-story bike park at the station and ‘cycle streets’) one third of journeys here are taken by bike. No wonder more than 83 percent of the locals we spoke to agree.
2. Montreal, Canada
🚲 Cycling score: 82.5 percent
Okay, so Montreal is famously chilly – and hilly – but with an impressive 82.5 percent approval rating from locals when it comes to cycling, it easily ranks as the most bike-friendly city in North America. Why? Well, a whopping 25 percent of Montrealers used the city’s primary bikeshare system, BIXI, in 2023, and thanks to an ambitious infrastructure project – the Express Bike Network or ‘EBN’ – the network of protected bike lanes (which are cleared of snow in the winter months) will span 171 km. That’s on top of the existing 1,083 km of cycleways in the city.
3. Copenhagen, Denmark
🚲 Cycling score: 79.2 percent
According to Visit Copenhagen, city dwellers in the Danish capital cycle a staggering 1.44 million kilometres on the daily, and that jaw-dropping stat is thanks to decades of smart urban planning. While that obviously includes the vast network of dedicated cycle lanes and off-street paths, it’s also thanks to ingenious traffic slowing measures. Sure, there are signs limiting speeds to 20 kilometres per hour, but the use of textured roads and narrow lanes effectively encourages caution when it comes to speed, making the city a much more pleasant place to hop around by bike.
4. Shanghai, China
🚲 Cycling score: 78 percent
Not all cities are slow traffic havens like Copenhagen, and the number of cars and electric scooters which screech along Shanghai’s roads is definitely something to be aware of before hopping on your bike. However, 78 percent of locals we spoke to rated the ease with which you can cycle in China’s most populous city, and we reckon it’s got something to do with the river. Traversing the banks of the Hunagpu is the Pudong Riverside Greenway, a 24km-long car-free path which winds all the way from the Yangpu Bridge to the Xupu Bridge, with glorious city views towering above you the whole way.
5. Vienna, Austria
🚲 Cycling score: 77.7 percent
The Austrian capital is a pleasant place to enjoy the outdoors, with Vienna also claiming a top-20 spot in our list of the best cities for green space. The central European city brags an expansive 1,800km of cycle lanes, and you can browse them all, as well as spots to fix a puncture or find a pump, on this interactive map. If you’re just in town for a few days, make the most of WienMobil Rad, which is the city’s bike-share system, operated by city transport authorities.
6. Warsaw, Poland
🚲 Cycling score: 76.6 percent
Another city blessed with mostly flat streets and, therefore, pleasant cycling conditions, Warsaw scored well among local people with an approval rating of 76.6 percent. There’s an impressive network of cycling paths, which stretch to around 500km, but the best thing about cycling in Warsaw is how many of the city’s landmarks you can tick off en route. Follow the path along the left bank of the Vistula and you’ll pass sights such as the Copernicus Science Centre, Warsaw University Library (and its roof garden) and the Multimedia Fountain Park.
7. Marrakech, Morocco
🚲 Cycling score: 75 percent
While the higgledy-piggledy streets of Marrakech’s treasure-trove medina don’t exactly make for a great setting for hopping on your bike, we can’t argue with 75 percent of locals. After all, while you probably won’t get very far very fast on two wheels in the Old Town’s walls, outside is a different story. Gueliz has wider roads and dedicated bike lanes, and the Marrakech region is an excellent base for bike-packing trips in the Atlas Mountains. Away from the SUV and moped-filled streets of the Moroccan capital are stonking mountain views and peaceful roads, described by one cyclist as ‘disconcertingly quiet’.
8. Taipei, Taiwan
🚲 Cycling score: 74.5 percent
While Taipei is another city on this list notorious for busy traffic, clever design has helped it earn a solid 74.5 percent approval rating from locals. Many of the city’s cycle lanes are zones shared with pedestrians, who have the right of way, but Taipei’s parks and rivers are lined by designated bike paths (which come with gorgeous views thrown in). The five main lanes are Keelung, Tamsui, Jingmei, Xindian and Shuangxi Riverside Bikeways. Head to Taipei’s official tourism site for a map of the bikeways and the routes they follow.
9. Stockholm, Sweden
🚲 Cycling score: 73.7 percent
Stockholm is one of those cities that feels like it was made for cycling. Across the hub’s fourteen main islands are several cycle lanes, waterfront paths and plenty of green spaces. The Södermalm Island Loop, the Norra Djurgården Loop and the Vaxholm Loop are just some of the most established, which enable you whizz past landmarks, enjoy lovely views of the water, and (the latter specifically) properly venture into the archipelago. There are also handy details that make cycling less of a headache, such as the free air pumps dotted all over Stockholm if you happen to puncture your tires.
10. Seville, Spain
🚲 Cycling score: 72.3 percent
Thanks to its flat terrain and estimated 180km of bike lanes, the Andalusian capital is one of Spain’s most cycling-friendly cities. Some of Seville’s must-see landmarks, like the Plaza de España and the Real Alcázar, are connected by an expansive bike lane network, making hopping on a bike one of the best ways to go sightseeing. But that 72.3 percent approval rating from locals is also likely thanks to how well-integrated cycling is into the city’s infrastructure: there are urban greenways, a vast bike-share rental system called SEVici with lots of docking stations, and traffic lights at junctions that are specifically for cyclists.
11. Seoul – 72.2 percent
12. Medellin – 71 percent
13. Rotterdam – 69.3 percent
14. Helsinki – 69.3 percent
15. Abu Dhabi – 69.2 percent
16. Orlando – 68.7 percent
17. Frankfurt – 65.3 percent
18. Luxembourg – 64.7 percent
19. Ljubljana – 64.4 percent
20. Brasilia – 64.4 percent
🌎 Read ’s ranking of the world’s best cities for 2026.
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