in your opinion, which european city has the best public transportation?
July 14, 2024
while by global standards, european cities have amongst the best public transportation, what city do you think takes the top spot in the continent?
30 comments
I don’t think a lot of European cities can rival the density and frequency of the Berlin public transport network. 3-5 min frequency during peak time is priceless.
Do you really need “the best” though? Or just one based on the needs of your city and travelers? You can’t really compare the needs (and size) of Paris to London, or Madrid, or Copenhagen, or Amsterdam.
Vienna is pretty good, and the best thing is the annual pass for 365€, meaning 1€ a day.
What’s “the best”?
I mean the Dutch NS are amongst the most reliable, despite not being viewed very well.
The German DB is less reliable, but I’ve been in an instance where they would pay for a taxi ride from Germany to the Netherlands, fully paid by the DB
I’m always blown away at how expansive the London Underground system is and how frequent it is. London lacks on other fronts (the slow as hell, infrequent buses and the fact that you can only find trams in Croydon nowadays), but the tube is amazing.
I’ve lived in several big cities in Europe and so far, definitely Vienna.
Oslo has a very good public transportation system. Think their metro is the largest adjusted for capita.
Definitely Vienna. And at 1 euro per day, the annual pass is also very cheap.
Never had any problem in Prague, but wasn’t there in last 4 years.
If you include the bike ride and free bike storage at every station, the Netherlands does well (ignoring the pricing). You can easily live without a car.
Switzerland has the most punctual system that includes not only trains and buses, but also cable cars, funiculars, even buses you can phone (cool) to nearly every little village on a hill. (Again, ignore pricing).
Italy has excellent pricing, that’s all I recall.
France and Germany (despite delays and strikes) have the most epic high speed rail network. The S-bahn is often very high tech, smooth and dangerously silent (they sneak up on me).
Great Britain has the most expensive and most unreliable rail infrastructure… But London has an excellent metro (tube/underground) network, despite it being the unhealthiest to travel on (brake dust, old stock and no air-conditioning).
I remember Austria, Norway and Denmark having comfortable, calm, affordable trains and plenty of clean buses going everywhere you want. Vienna has trams and metro, very easy to get around, you can live there without a car.
I don’t recall Greece having any public transport post Olympics 😂 I never saw or used it.
Paris. High prices, funny looking people, Parisians love it, so many cute animals, Parisians, cleanest part of the city…. Should I go on??
Prague and Zürich, at least in my limited experience. And unlike in some other cities mentioned here, I’ve never felt unsafe there and it wasn’t a complete nightmare as a wheelchair user.
Hard to say which is the “best” as others mentioned each city has different needs and circumstances that affect the public transport experience. Additionally, there are specific situations like with De Lijn in Flanders and La TEC in Wallonia in Belgium that handle public transport in all their respective regions (unfortunately they are pretty shit due to many decades of budget cuts, corruption and incompetence).
I will say tho, for value for money it’s hard to beat Prague, 3650 czk (144 euros) PER YEAR with great metro, train and tram connections inside the city. Only issues are there is no airport train and only 3 metro lines (4th is under construction). If they manage to keep a decent price after both get resolved it will be an absolute dream. Also shout out to Warsaw who has great public transport including a sparkling new metro system that is a pure pleasure to use.
Budapest is relatively good. Four metros, large tram and bus network, all are well connected and operate relatively frequently. It’s also quite cheap, about $26 a month, and $2.60 for students. Some lines have a public safety issue, though, which needs to be improved upon.
Genuinely think London is the best by far.
Unfortunately it’s the only city in the UK with an underground.
It might not be the best one but I really liked Toulouse transports when I was a student there.
The metro is automatic, there’s a frequency of 3-4 minutes, it closes at 03:00… The frequency of buses is also quite nice, one each 12 minutes.
The tramway is pretty slow on another hand.
The cable car can take you on the best point of view on the city…
Strasbourg and Geneva trams are also pretty good.
Munich is amazing for a city its size to have such a comprehensive public transport network of underground and overground rail, trams and buses, as well as decent roads and bearable traffic. No excuse why Manchester, Dublin or similar sized cities don’t follow suit.
Although, Munich was heavily levelled during WW2 so I think they were able to incorporate more modern urban planning when they were rebuilding.
call me biased but its Vienna, hands down. been to most of Europe‘s capitals and no other comes even remotely close.
Can I vote for the worst? Slovenian, in general. On Sundays, you better start setting up an emergency shelter at a bus stop because you will wait until Monday. Bonus: bad and expensive international train and plane connections :'(
Can I vote for the worst? Slovenian, in general. On Sundays, you better start setting up an emergency shelter at a bus stop because you will wait until Monday. Bonus: bad and expensive international train and plane connections :'(
Can I vote for the worst? Slovenian, in general. On Sundays, you better start setting up an emergency shelter at a bus stop because you will wait until Monday. Bonus: bad and expensive international train and plane connections :'(
Not sure if the best but Madrid is pretty damn good. Especially since they halved the price a few years ago. €21.80 a month for unlimited travel in centre.
Can I vote for the worst? Slovenian, in general. On Sundays, you better start setting up an emergency shelter at a bus stop because you will wait until Monday. Bonus: bad and expensive international train and plane connections :'(
Easily Prague for me. Not many delays or closures, public transport passes include trams, metros, buses, and the funicular and ferries are included when they’re open. Costs me 144€ for an annual pass, no discounts included. The public transport is safe and fairly clean.
Let me tell you about Sofia.
4 metro lines (- a stop directly at the airport. You can take it and go directly to the centre for – 0.80€ and you don’t need a ticket. You just tap your card or phone at the gates. Currently has 47 stations and 10 more under construction. Over 50 km in length. And all of that was built since 1998, stations are modern and pristine clean.
Massive tram network, buses are all electric, there’s trolleybuses too on top of these. All stations of any public transport are digital and have the remaining time and bus on the screen. Again, you can tap your card anywhere in any type of transport.
A yearly card costs 365 levs or 186€.
Not saying it’s the best though, I don’t think there’s something like that since every city has different needs.
It’s excellent in any Swiss city and, importantly imo, even outside main cities and into the countryside and up into the mountains. You can get to ski resorts by train no problem. Denmark and the Netherlands also seem very good in my limited experience.
Wuppertal!
Idk how useful that monorail actually is in daily use but it’s a lot of fun! 🙂
Of the ones I visited London, but I didn’t visit much
Bilbao has literally all means of transportation (bus, metro, tram, commuter trains, funicular and, even a transporter bridge) which I’d say is not very common for cities its size.
I live in Edinburgh and haven’t seen many places better. Istanbul for sheer scale and complexity with so many modes linked up. Brno for its fantastic tram system.
30 comments
I don’t think a lot of European cities can rival the density and frequency of the Berlin public transport network. 3-5 min frequency during peak time is priceless.
Do you really need “the best” though? Or just one based on the needs of your city and travelers? You can’t really compare the needs (and size) of Paris to London, or Madrid, or Copenhagen, or Amsterdam.
Vienna is pretty good, and the best thing is the annual pass for 365€, meaning 1€ a day.
What’s “the best”?
I mean the Dutch NS are amongst the most reliable, despite not being viewed very well.
The German DB is less reliable, but I’ve been in an instance where they would pay for a taxi ride from Germany to the Netherlands, fully paid by the DB
I’m always blown away at how expansive the London Underground system is and how frequent it is. London lacks on other fronts (the slow as hell, infrequent buses and the fact that you can only find trams in Croydon nowadays), but the tube is amazing.
I’ve lived in several big cities in Europe and so far, definitely Vienna.
Oslo has a very good public transportation system. Think their metro is the largest adjusted for capita.
Definitely Vienna. And at 1 euro per day, the annual pass is also very cheap.
Never had any problem in Prague, but wasn’t there in last 4 years.
If you include the bike ride and free bike storage at every station, the Netherlands does well (ignoring the pricing). You can easily live without a car.
Switzerland has the most punctual system that includes not only trains and buses, but also cable cars, funiculars, even buses you can phone (cool) to nearly every little village on a hill. (Again, ignore pricing).
Italy has excellent pricing, that’s all I recall.
France and Germany (despite delays and strikes) have the most epic high speed rail network. The S-bahn is often very high tech, smooth and dangerously silent (they sneak up on me).
Great Britain has the most expensive and most unreliable rail infrastructure… But London has an excellent metro (tube/underground) network, despite it being the unhealthiest to travel on (brake dust, old stock and no air-conditioning).
I remember Austria, Norway and Denmark having comfortable, calm, affordable trains and plenty of clean buses going everywhere you want. Vienna has trams and metro, very easy to get around, you can live there without a car.
I don’t recall Greece having any public transport post Olympics 😂 I never saw or used it.
Paris. High prices, funny looking people, Parisians love it, so many cute animals, Parisians, cleanest part of the city…. Should I go on??
Prague and Zürich, at least in my limited experience. And unlike in some other cities mentioned here, I’ve never felt unsafe there and it wasn’t a complete nightmare as a wheelchair user.
Hard to say which is the “best” as others mentioned each city has different needs and circumstances that affect the public transport experience. Additionally, there are specific situations like with De Lijn in Flanders and La TEC in Wallonia in Belgium that handle public transport in all their respective regions (unfortunately they are pretty shit due to many decades of budget cuts, corruption and incompetence).
I will say tho, for value for money it’s hard to beat Prague, 3650 czk (144 euros) PER YEAR with great metro, train and tram connections inside the city. Only issues are there is no airport train and only 3 metro lines (4th is under construction). If they manage to keep a decent price after both get resolved it will be an absolute dream. Also shout out to Warsaw who has great public transport including a sparkling new metro system that is a pure pleasure to use.
Budapest is relatively good. Four metros, large tram and bus network, all are well connected and operate relatively frequently. It’s also quite cheap, about $26 a month, and $2.60 for students. Some lines have a public safety issue, though, which needs to be improved upon.
Genuinely think London is the best by far.
Unfortunately it’s the only city in the UK with an underground.
It might not be the best one but I really liked Toulouse transports when I was a student there.
The metro is automatic, there’s a frequency of 3-4 minutes, it closes at 03:00… The frequency of buses is also quite nice, one each 12 minutes.
The tramway is pretty slow on another hand.
The cable car can take you on the best point of view on the city…
Strasbourg and Geneva trams are also pretty good.
Munich is amazing for a city its size to have such a comprehensive public transport network of underground and overground rail, trams and buses, as well as decent roads and bearable traffic. No excuse why Manchester, Dublin or similar sized cities don’t follow suit.
Although, Munich was heavily levelled during WW2 so I think they were able to incorporate more modern urban planning when they were rebuilding.
call me biased but its Vienna, hands down. been to most of Europe‘s capitals and no other comes even remotely close.
Can I vote for the worst? Slovenian, in general. On Sundays, you better start setting up an emergency shelter at a bus stop because you will wait until Monday. Bonus: bad and expensive international train and plane connections :'(
Can I vote for the worst? Slovenian, in general. On Sundays, you better start setting up an emergency shelter at a bus stop because you will wait until Monday. Bonus: bad and expensive international train and plane connections :'(
Can I vote for the worst? Slovenian, in general. On Sundays, you better start setting up an emergency shelter at a bus stop because you will wait until Monday. Bonus: bad and expensive international train and plane connections :'(
Not sure if the best but Madrid is pretty damn good. Especially since they halved the price a few years ago. €21.80 a month for unlimited travel in centre.
Can I vote for the worst? Slovenian, in general. On Sundays, you better start setting up an emergency shelter at a bus stop because you will wait until Monday. Bonus: bad and expensive international train and plane connections :'(
Easily Prague for me. Not many delays or closures, public transport passes include trams, metros, buses, and the funicular and ferries are included when they’re open. Costs me 144€ for an annual pass, no discounts included. The public transport is safe and fairly clean.
Let me tell you about Sofia.
4 metro lines (- a stop directly at the airport. You can take it and go directly to the centre for – 0.80€ and you don’t need a ticket. You just tap your card or phone at the gates. Currently has 47 stations and 10 more under construction. Over 50 km in length. And all of that was built since 1998, stations are modern and pristine clean.
Massive tram network, buses are all electric, there’s trolleybuses too on top of these. All stations of any public transport are digital and have the remaining time and bus on the screen. Again, you can tap your card anywhere in any type of transport.
A yearly card costs 365 levs or 186€.
Not saying it’s the best though, I don’t think there’s something like that since every city has different needs.
It’s excellent in any Swiss city and, importantly imo, even outside main cities and into the countryside and up into the mountains. You can get to ski resorts by train no problem. Denmark and the Netherlands also seem very good in my limited experience.
Wuppertal!
Idk how useful that monorail actually is in daily use but it’s a lot of fun! 🙂
Of the ones I visited London, but I didn’t visit much
Bilbao has literally all means of transportation (bus, metro, tram, commuter trains, funicular and, even a transporter bridge) which I’d say is not very common for cities its size.
I live in Edinburgh and haven’t seen many places better. Istanbul for sheer scale and complexity with so many modes linked up. Brno for its fantastic tram system.