A shop opening its shutters, the scent of freshly baked bread, a market coming alive at the corner of a street: these are the details that fade away when you move only by taxi or by metro, and that a city-centered, on-foot vacation can keep intact. Not all destinations, however, lend themselves equally well to being explored at a slow pace.
To understand which ones are best suited for this approach, Skyscanner has developed the Walkability Index, a ranking that compares 30 emerging cities around the world, deliberately overlooking the most popular destinations, and evaluating them on 14 different criteria: from the distance between the main attractions to the number of pedestrian routes, up to slope, air quality, safety and population density. The verdict held a surprise, because among the top ten there are also two Italian cities.
The two Italian cities on the ranking
The first surprise comes from Southern Italy: Reggio Calabria. Often regarded only as a ferry hub to Sicily, the city has nonetheless earned a spot among the best thanks to a compact center and a walkable layout. About 25 minutes of walking and a little over 2,300 steps connect the main points of interest, including the seafront, the Rabarama statue, and the National Museum of Magna Grecia. The analysts were also convinced by the excellent air quality, in a city that covers just 239 square kilometers.
The second city on the ranking is Bolzano, which instead impresses with its compactness. Nestled in a valley surrounded by terraced vineyards at the edge of the Dolomites, it offers over 500 pedestrian routes in the surrounding area and just an hour of walking to connect the major sites, from Walther Square to Via dei Portici, up to the Archaeological Museum of South Tyrol. Furthermore, it proved to be the safest city in the entire ranking.
The best cities to visit on foot
Completing the top ten are eight cities spread across Europe, Asia and North America. On the podium rises Córdoba, in Andalusia: with only 26 minutes to link the main monuments, from the Mezquita to the Palacio de Viana, it is the city with the shortest walking distance of all those analyzed.
From Japan there are two cities, Nagasaki and Hiroshima, both tied to the memory of World War II and appreciated for safety and the high number of attractions reachable on foot. In Monaco, Monte Carlo stands out: despite the uphill streets, the principality covers just 0.44 square kilometers, making it almost entirely walkable in a single stroll.
Among the less obvious destinations are Tartu, in Estonia, European Capital of Culture in 2024 and first for lowest air pollution, and Bursa, in Turkey, a spa city with an Ottoman past. The ranking also includes Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital with a compact historic center and strong cultural identity, and finally Victoria, in British Columbia, Canada, which boasts the best air quality in the entire ranking and more than 450 trails to explore.
This is the complete top 10:
- Cordoba, Spain;
- Nagasaki, Japan;
- Hiroshima, Japan;
- Reggio Calabria, Italy;
- Monte Carlo, Monaco;
- Tartu, Estonia;
- Bursa, Turkey;
- Bolzano, Italy;
- Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina;
- Victoria, Canada.
