There are seemingly endless pros to traveling by bike and cons are few and far between. It’s good for your health, and good for the environment. You can see more details than from a car, bus or train and can choose to stop and look closer. You can also cover more ground than by walking around. Bikes are easy to store and usually reasonable to afford (especially in comparison with cars or public transport), whether you’re renting, touring or buying for long stay travelers.

The only real concerns travelers might have when considering seeing a city by bike are safety and weather. Okay, so the weather is sort of beyond our control, even if you plan your trip at the right time of year, but there are a number of cities that you can choose where general bike safety is becoming a non issue. Many cities are taking steps to encourage locals and visitors alike to travel primarily by bike in order to ease traffic and pollution. They’re putting in on and off road bike lanes, they’re setting up racks and rental stands, and they’re maintaining road repairs in order to help convince people that their city is a bike-friendly one.

Here are some favorite examples of bike-friendly cities where travelers, whether for a weekend visit or a six month stay, might prefer to travel by bike.

1. Hamburg, Germany

bike germany

Photo via Flickr/jacme31

2. Seville, Spain

bike spain

Photo via Flickr/Steven Vance

3. Ljubljana, Slovenia

bike slovenia

Photo via Flickr/rhobinn 

4. Copenhagen, Denmark

bike denmark

Photo via Flickr/Jae C.

5. Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

bike USA

Photo via Flickr/Mike Juvrud

6. Amsterdam, Netherlands

bike netherlands

Photo via Flickr/Andrés Nieto Porras

7. Bordeaux, France

bike B France

Photo via Flickr/Álvaro

8. Antwerp, Belgium

bike Belgium

Photo via Flickr/sunbeer

9. Buenos Aires, Argentina

bike Argentina

Photo via Flickr/Rajesh_India

10. Strasbourg, France

bike S France

Photo via Flickr/Claudia Brauer

What are your favorite bike-friendly cities?


American by chance, but Roman by choice, Sarah is currently feeding her adventurous soul with expatriatism and pizza. Her finest moments are always on the wrong bus with a backpack and an upside down map, waiting to see what the world’s got for her next, so long as she can blog about it. She likes writing more than talking, dolphins more than humans, old movies more than new, and Rome more than anything else.

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