What is Europe’s most walkable capital city?

Helsinki has been named Europe’s most walkable capital city based on metrics including air quality, green space and personal safety

Helsinki in Finland is Europe’s most walkable capital city, according to research by British footwear retailer Schuh. The Nordic capital topped the rankings based on several metrics including air quality, cleanliness, street lighting, green space and noise pollution. The study also considered how safe a city is for walking alone by both day and night.

I’ve spent a lot of time in London this year and while training for Denali, have been doing a lot of urban walking. I’ve been using the WK400 walking shoe from Keen, one of my favourite outdoor brands. The shoe is specifically designed for city walking and features a curved sole and cushioned midsole that encourages forward momentum. Sadly, London isn’t super walkable, which made me wonder which cities are?

Overall, 48 European capital cities were assessed, with the Finnish capital coming out on top. Helsinki was followed by Reykjavik in Iceland, Vilnius in Lithuania, Copenhagen in Denmark and Vienna in Austria.

Edinburgh in 15th was the highest placed of Britain’s national capitals, closely followed by Belfast and Cardiff – 18th and 19th respectively. London didn’t compare so well in 28th place. It performed poorly when it came to walking alone at night, air quality and, particularly, noise pollution.

In 2022, the UN declared London one of the noisiest cities in Europe with residents regularly being exposed to average levels of 86dB – well above the World Health Organization’s safety threshold of 53dB.

Helsinki is Europe’s most walkable capital city

For six consecutive years, Finland has been crowned the happiest country in the world while, in 2020, Helsinki was voted the world’s happiest city. With its distinctly maritime feel, Helsinki performs consistently well across the board without actually topping any of the individual metrics. It does score particularly highly for air quality, cleanliness and green space.

Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, Helsinki’s clutch of bays, inlets and islands ensures the city’s air remains fresh and the streets rarely feel claustrophobic. Just a short ferry ride away is the popular walking spot Suomenlinna, a UNESCO-listed archipelago of car-free islands connected by walkways.