{"id":1309,"date":"2025-04-26T15:40:52","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T15:40:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/?p=1309"},"modified":"2025-04-29T13:06:25","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T13:06:25","slug":"europes-least-walkable-city-has-hills-so-steep-they-leave-tourists-backsides-screaming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/26\/europes-least-walkable-city-has-hills-so-steep-they-leave-tourists-backsides-screaming\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe\u2019s least walkable city has hills so steep they leave tourists\u2019 \u2018backsides screaming\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\t\"Lisbon\t<\/div>
Tourists described the city as \u2018very hilly\u2019 (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019ve got a European<\/a> holiday<\/a> coming up soon, you\u2019ll want to make sure you\u2019ve packed your comfy trainers<\/a> as well as your dancing shoes.<\/p>\n

While a number of places are perfect locations to amble around, taking in the sights as you stroll down quaint cobbled streets, and around historic old towns<\/a>, some places are a bit\u2026 well, steeper.<\/p>\n

Yes, you could find that your chilled trip suddenly feels a bit more like an intense workout after a day of taking in the sights in Hamburg, or Oslo, which have been revealed as some of the least walkable cities in Europe.<\/a><\/p>\n

However, the worst one is said to be so hilly that tourists claimed it left their \u2018backsides screaming\u2019.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re talking about Lisbon<\/a> in Portugal. The coastal capital will certainly keep holidaymakers active, with plenty of steep hills and slopes to climb up and down \u2014 after all it\u2019s not known as the \u2018City of Seven Hills\u2019 for nothing!<\/p>\n

And the city really does have seven notable hills; S\u00e3o Jorge, S\u00e3o Roque, S\u00e3o Vicente, Santo Andr\u00e9, Santa Catarina, Sant\u2019Ana, and Chagas.<\/p>\n

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Fuel your wanderlust with our curated newsletter of travel deals, guides and inspiration.\u00a0Sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\n\t\t\"Lisbon\t<\/div>
The streets are pretty but rather steep! (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It\u2019s perhaps for this reason that it was just named as the worst in Europe for walking by Preply<\/a>, an online language tutor platform. <\/p>\n

The team researched the walking distance between the top five tourist attractions in Lisbon and claimed that the hike between Oceanarium, Jer\u00f3nimos Monastery, the historic slopes of the Alfama region, the Praca do Comercio square and the vibrant street art of Bairro Alto requires at least 31,500 steps in total, which is the equivalent of 15 hilly miles. Yikes!<\/p>\n

And they aren\u2019t the only ones who think walking around the city is a pretty strenuous task. On Tripadvisor, a number of people who have visited also attested to it being extremely taxing to tackle on foot.<\/p>\n

One reviewer, known only as Fisherman\u2019s Wife, said: \u2018It is very hilly and my backside was screaming for a stop for a coffee or a wine every half hour, but it was worth the agony! It reminded me of San Francisco!\u2019<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\"Tramway\t<\/div>
There are plenty of public transport options to save your feet! (Picture: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Meanwhile, Winds Light To Variable replied: \u2018Lisbon is so hilly that even Chuck Norris doesn\u2019t walk when he visits!!\u2019<\/p>\n

And a third, Alface, posted: \u2018Extremely hilly and very very steep hills too, much worse than Budapest (picture Buda hill multiplied by seven hills some of them much worse than Buda).<\/p>\n

\u2018That being said it\u2019s a gorgeous city with very cheap taxis, trams, funiculars, lifts, metro and buses.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018It seems in this city if you aren\u2019t walking down, you\u2019re walking up,\u2019 added Carly B.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tThe least walkable cities in Europe, according to Preply:\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
\n
    \n
  1. Lisbon, Portugal<\/li>\n
  2. Zagreb, Croatia<\/li>\n
  3. Hamburg, Germany<\/li>\n
  4. Munich, Germany<\/li>\n
  5. Oslo, Norway<\/li>\n<\/ol><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

    Other spots that were ranked as some of the hardest to explore on food included Zagreb in Croatia and Munich in Germany.<\/p>\n

    At the other end of the scale, Seville in Spain was deemed the most <\/em>walkable city, with five of its biggest tourist attractions all located within a short walking distance from one another.<\/p>\n

    Visitors here can wander through the impressive Plaza de Espana public square onto the UNESCO listed palace of Real Alcazar and Seville Cathedral, then explore the maze of alleys in the picturesque Barrio Santa Cruz neighbourhood and admire the Torre Giralda bell tower looming above, all within a 20-minute stroll.\u00a0Dreamy!<\/p>\n

    Venice, Porto, Florence, and Athens, all ranked within the top five most walkable places in Europe, with Amsterdam, Milan and Rome also featuring in the top 10.<\/p>\n

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    \n\t\t\t\tThe most walkable cities in Europe according to Preply:\t\t\t<\/h2>\n
    \n
      \n
    1. Seville, Spain<\/li>\n
    2. Venice, Itaky<\/li>\n
    3. Porto, Portugal<\/li>\n
    4. Florence, Italy<\/li>\n
    5. Athens, Greece<\/li>\n
    6. Amsterdam, Netherlands<\/li>\n
    7. Cologne, Germany and Milan, Italy<\/li>\n
    8. Verona, Italy<\/li>\n
    9. Nice, France<\/li>\n
    10. Rome, Italy<\/li>\n<\/ol><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
      \n
      Comment now<\/title><span class=\"metro-comment-cta__text\">Have you ever visited a city that was too hilly to explore comfortably on foot?<\/span><\/span><a class=\"metro-comment-cta__button\" href=\"#metro-comments-container\">Comment Now<\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>This comes after the<a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/04\/23\/uks-walkable-city-a-creative-seaside-hub-one-hour-london-22953838\/\"> UK\u2019s most walkable city<\/a> was revealed and the title goes to Brighton, the beloved seaside city on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/east-sussex\/\">East Sussex<\/a>\u00a0coast, renowned for its creative heart and diverse culture.<\/p>\n<p>Time Out launched a survey searching for the world\u2019s most walkable cities. After asking over 18,500 people to rate how easy their city is to get around on foot,<a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/brighton\/\">\u00a0Brighton<\/a>\u00a0was crowned the third overall, and number one in the UK.<\/p>\n<p>Despite being incredibly hilly in places, the city\u2019s 82.88 km\u00b2 size means that everything is within walking distance. From shops to pubs to restaurants, and of course, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/03\/11\/best-maldives-alternatives-cheaper-three-europe-22706513\/\">beach<\/a>, nothing is too far away.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>This article was first published on August 20, 2024.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Do you have a story to share?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Get in touch by emailing <a href=\"mailto:MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk\">MetroLifestyleTeam@Metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tourists described the city as \u2018very hilly\u2019 (Picture: Getty Images) If you\u2019ve got a European holiday coming up soon, you\u2019ll want to make sure you\u2019ve packed your comfy trainers as well as your dancing shoes. While a number of places are perfect locations to amble around, taking in the sights as you stroll down quaint […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1311,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1309"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1315,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1309\/revisions\/1315"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mugfoundry.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}