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Vienna rides into top 20 cycling cities

The Local Austria
The Local Austria - [email protected]
Vienna rides into top 20 cycling cities
Photo: Copenhagenize Design Co.

Vienna has made it into the top 20 bike-friendly cities, according to a newly-released index.

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Released on Tuesday, the Copenhagenize Index praised the Austrian capital for “slowly but steadily working towards making the city better for cyclists”. It ranked Vienna in 16th place and noted that the city has cycle tracks and facilities “that put many other cities around the world to shame”.

However, the influential urban consulting firm said that further development could easily be accelerated, especially given the positive attitude at City Hall and a broad cultural acceptance of cyclists. 

Vienna must expand and upgrade its bike share system and generally improve bicycle infrastructure, it added. 

But any Viennese who has braved cycling in cities like London agrees that Vienna is a veritable cyclist’s paradise in comparison, with 1,200 km of cycleways, dedicated road lanes, and a traffic-calmed centre. Just outside the city, the Vienna Woods offer excellent mountain biking trails.

After coming behind Amsterdam the past two years, the Danish capital Copenhagen claimed the title of the best cycling city in the world.

This was the third edition of the Copenhagenize Index. The bi-annual study looked at 122 metropolitan cities around the world and ranked them according to 13 categories including bicycle advocacy, infrastructure, modal share and the local biking culture.

The top 10 cities in the 2015 Copenhagenize Index were:

1. Copenhagen

2. Amsterdam

3. Utrecht, Netherlands

4. Strasbourg, France

5. Eindhoven, Netherlands

6. Malmö, Sweden

7. Nantes, France

8. Bordeaux, France

9. Antwerp, Belgium

10. Seville, Spain.

Whilst Vienna is a great place to explore on two-wheels, we recommend escaping the city if you get the chance and using your bike to experience some other areas of Austria.

Picturesque riversides and lakes, idyllic villages, historical towns and magnificent mountains are on offer - and taking your bike on the train is no problem in Austria.

Austria has an extensive network of more than 10,000 km of well developed and mostly paved cycling trails, and many Bed and Breakfast providers are cycle friendly. 

Check out The Local List of nine spectacular Austrian cycle trails.




 

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