Italian City Named the Best Walking City for 2025

As a former Los Angeleno, I can confidently say that some cities are best experienced by car. In a spot like LA, a vehicle is a must as it allows you to get to its furthest corners to hike in Griffith Park in the morning, followed by lunch in Silverlake, and spend the evening having a drink in Venice. On the flipside, as a newer resident of Lisbon, Portugal, I can also confidently say that cities like this are best experienced on foot to ensure ease of access through its tiny streets and oldest neighborhoods. And if you're after the latter, GuruWalk has a few more recommendations for you. 

In May, the free walking tour website released its list of the 100 best walking cities for 2025. It created its list using its internal booking data, which it collected between March 21, 2024, and April 1, 2025. “To ensure the reliability of the list, the number of page views each city received on the platform was also analyzed and cross-referenced with booking trends,” it added.

It's some rather robust data, too. According to GuruWalk, the report is based on the preferences of more than four million travelers. And after looking at the preferences of those people, GuruWalk named Rome the No. 1 walking city for this year. 

“Rome tops this ranking once again,” the report explained. “The Eternal City remains a key destination for travellers fascinated by ancient history. The Colosseum, the Pantheon, and the Baroque squares make Rome an open-air museum that deserves to be explored thoroughly, step by step.” 

Joining Rome at the top of the list is Budapest, with the website noting that “the Parliament, the Fisherman’s Bastion, and the thermal baths are some of the best places to discover on foot” in the Hungarian city.

Madrid also earned high praise and took the No. 3 spot thanks to the ease of strolling from places like the Plaza Mayor to the Retiro, along with Prague, Czech Republic, with the Charles Bridge, the Jewish Quarter, and Old Town Square as top walking destinations.

Barcelona rounded out the top five, thanks to its plentiful Gaudí’s architecture, along with “the charm of the Gothic Quarter and its Mediterranean lifestyle.” The findings added, “It is an ideal city to lose yourself in, strolling through narrow streets, colourful markets and lively squares.” 

Ready to see the rest of the world on foot? Check out the full list of the 100 best walking cities for 2025 at blog.guruwalk.com.