--- title: Travel Ideas: World's Best Biking Cities description: From Amsterdam to Portland canonical: https://time.com/3982663/world-best-biking-cities/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-06T15:00:37.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:42:26.427Z og:title: These Are the World's Best Biking Cities og:description: From Amsterdam to Portland og:url: https://time.com/3982663/world-best-biking-cities/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Are the World's Best Biking Cities twitter:description: From Amsterdam to Portland twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # These Are the World's Best Biking Cities > Sponsored content. 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It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters. by [Kristine Hansen / Travel + Leisure](https://time.com/author/travel-leisure/) ## Kristine Hansen / Travel + Leisure Aug 6, 2015 3:00 PM UTC by [Kristine Hansen / Travel + Leisure](https://time.com/author/travel-leisure/) ## Kristine Hansen / Travel + Leisure Aug 6, 2015 3:00 PM UTC Whether you’re hungering for wide-open vistas, riverfront views, or access to cultural sites, here’s how to pound the pavement from your bicycle seat this summer. ### Malmö, Sweden  CXN99W Hedmanska garden the Hedman farm exterior at Lilla torg square Gamla Staden old town Malmo city Skane county Sweden Europe Peter Forsberg—Alamy As proof that Sweden’s third-largest city (pop. 318,000) adores bicycles, look no further than the free bike pumps along cycling paths. Then there’s the 300-plus miles of paths reserved for bikes (more than in Stockholm), which are used for nearly 30 percent of trips within Malmö. In under three hours you can easily tour the city by bike. ### Amsterdam, the Netherlands  B6NBKC Amsterdam multistory bicycle parking lot along canal near Centraal Station. Image shot 09/2008\. Exact date unknown. Dennis Cox—Alamy In central Amsterdam, bikes—as opposed to cars—are the norm, and 60 percent of people use the mode of two-wheel transportation. On the down side: bicyclists tend to whiz past you during a leisurely ride. Witness Dutch icons like windmills, fields of tulips, and storied castles by straying outward to North Amsterdam. With your rental bike in tow, hop a free ferry behind the central Amsterdam station and, once in North Amsterdam, travel through farm villages like Broek-in-Waterland and Uidam (11 miles total) before heading back to your hotel. ### Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.A.  AXH7GT BIKING ALONG A PATH IN BOOM ISLAND PARK ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA SKYLINE IN BACKGROUND. FALL. Greg Ryan—Alamy The Midwestern city counts five percent of its population (that’s 20,000 people, and the second-highest percentage in the U.S.) as two-wheel commuters—yes, even through the often bitter-cold winter. Local roaster [Peace Coffee](http://www.peacecoffee.com/pcs/0907/biketeamqa.html) even delivers its beans by bike. Visitors can tool around the city on shared bikes through [Nice Ride MN](https://www.niceridemn.org/), or try out some 118 miles of on-street bikeways and 92 miles of off-street bikeways. Try the 5.7-mile Midtown Greenway, which takes you over the Martin Olav Sabo Bridge and grants access to the Chain of Lakes. ### Portland, Oregon, U.S.A.  A7MX9F US, OR, Portland. Couple biking near I-5 Bridge and Columbia River, connecting Portland and Vancouver, view of Mt Hood Danita Delimont—Alamy This Pacific Northwest city is crammed with cyclists—so much so that the city developed nine urban routes. The “[Short, Steep, & Sweet](http://www.portlandoregon.gov/transportation/article/340021),” a 15-mile hilly climb, winds through Portland’s West Hills neighborhood and affords views of Tualatin Valley before coasting downhill to Washington Park. Promoting paths like this is all part of the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030, which hopes that 25 percent of all residents’ trips will be done on bike. ### Copenhagen, Denmark  C4YC2W Young female cyclists passing the 190 m long and 5.5 m wide bicycle and pedestrian steel bridge over the port of Copenhagen Niels Quist—Alamy Copenhagen is arguably _the_ best biking city in the world, as evidenced by its 242 miles of designated bike lanes and the new Cycle Super Highway—a 13.7-mile stretch connecting Copenhagen with the suburb of Albertslund ,and the first of 26 “highways” just for bicyclists. There’s also the Instagram-worthy, year-old _Cykelslangen_, an elevated two-way bike lane painted bright orange, which connects the highway and harbor bridge. ### Montreal, Quebec, Canada  E1TE8E Old Port of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. All Canada Photos/Alamy Canada’s most French metropolis is naturally going to be _en amour_ with bicycles. Rent a two-wheeler through [Bixi](https://montreal.bixi.com/) and opt for a ride along the Lachine Canal, where a bike path debuted during the 1970s. To reach the canal, depart from downtown on either Guy or Peel Streets. Bonus: along the 18.6-mile trip, you’ll have the chance to pop into Old Montreal and Old Port, adding just six miles to the journey. ### Bordeaux, France  BXRA4F france, bordeaux, garonne river promenade, bicycles Vito Arcomano—Alamy In this bustling, pedestrian-friendly region, about 124 miles of bike paths satisfy a city of only 236,000\. For a quick five-mile route that straddles both left and right banks, depart from Place Gambetta for views of world-class monuments (Grand Théâtre, Place de la Bourse, Porte Cailhau and Place du Palais) from your bicycle seat along Cours de l’Intendance, Cours du Chapeau Rouge, and Pont de Pierre. ### Beijing, China  ACWCH8 Cyclists in Peking/Beijing capital of Peoples Republic of China. Image shot 2006\. Exact date unknown. maurice joseph—Alamy While the chief reason for bicycling in this city—home to 20.2 million people—might be automobile congestion, it’s nonetheless a valid one. To avoid Beijing’s auto-traffic crunch, cruise along the Tongzhou canal, a 10-mile flat route that’s mostly vehicle-free and kicks off from the Grand Canal’s east bank (where Yunhe Xi Dajie turns into Tonghu Nan Lu). From this route it’s easy to enter the Grand Canal Ecological Route. Expect to see wetlands, bridges, river islands, and garden sculptures. There are also many spots along the way to stop for a picnic, so long as you’ve packed your own food. ### Bogotá, Colombia  CFD4WF Colourful houses, Bogota, Colombia, South America Robert Harding World Imagery/Alamy Outfitted with a 211-mile network of bicycle paths, Colombia’s largest city is in the middle of a commuting renaissance. Plan your trip over a Sunday to experience car-free roads between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m., a tradition that’s been going strong since the 1970s. Among today’s most popular cycling routes in Bogotá are those on the Complementary Network, which showcases the city’s green spaces and traveling along riverbanks. [_Read the full list here._](http://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/best-biking-cities-on-earth/10?xid=PS%5Ftime) _This_ [_article_](http://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/best-biking-cities-on-earth) _originally appeared on_ [_Travel + Leisure_](http://www.travelandleisure.com/) _More from Travel + Leisure:_ * [New Paris Patisseries Proving Nobody Does Dessert Like the French](http://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/new-paris-patisseries?xid=PS%5Ftime) * [The Best Hotels for Solo Travelers](http://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/best-hotels-solo-travelers?xid=PS%5Ftime) * [How to Enjoy Europe with Kids (Really!)](http://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/how-to-enjoy-really-europe-with-the-kids?xid=PS%5Ftime) ### Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3982663/world-best-biking-cities/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3982663/world-best-biking-cities/"},"headline":"These Are the World's Best Biking Cities","datePublished":"2015-08-06T15:00:37.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:42:26.427Z","description":"From Amsterdam to Portland","url":"https://time.com/3982663/world-best-biking-cities/","keywords":["Living","China","Beijing","Travel","World","Portland","Minneapolis","sweden","oregon","The Netherlands","Minnesota","amsterdam","Biking"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Kristine Hansen / Travel + Leisure"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3982663/world-best-biking-cities/","name":"These Are the World's Best Biking Cities"}}]}] ```