Cycling is becoming an increasingly popular mode of transportation. However, some cities are more friendly for cyclists than others. A recent study has ranked the best cycling cities in the world, and three German cities make it into the top 10.

Global Bicycle Cities Index 2022

Over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, thousands of people turned to cycling as a way of keeping healthy and avoiding public transportation. However, many people soon found that some cities were better for cycling than others. In order to determine which cities are best for cyclists, Luko, an insurance company, conducted a study of traditional cycling cities around the world, as well as cities that have been improving their cycling infrastructure.

90 cities were selected to be included in the study, based on their investment into and work on improving cycling infrastructure. Luko evaluated a number of metrics that were grouped into six categories: Weather, Percentage Bicycle Usage, Crime and Safety, Infrastructure, Sharing and Events. A weighted average was then used to calculate the final score for each category. These were then used to calculate each city’s final score.

Three German cities rank in top 10 cycling cities

Maybe somewhat surprisingly, the German city of Münster in North Rhine-Westphalia was ranked as the second-best cycling city in the world. The city scored highly across the board but did particularly well in the Crime and Safety category, as well as in the Event category. Two other German cities made it into the top 10 - Bremen and Hannover - coming in ninth and 10th place, respectively.

Several other German cities also performed well in the ranking, with 15 being ranked amongst the 90 cities included in the study. Hamburg (13) and Leipzig (14) were the first German cities outside the top 10, Berlin ranked 19th and Dortmund (45) was the worst-ranked German city.

Larger cities tended to perform worse than smaller cities in the rankings, with Bangkok, Medellin and Lagos ranking in the bottom three.

Best cities for cyclists in 2022

According to the study, these 10 cities were ranked the best for cyclists:

1. Utrecht, Netherlands
2. Münster, Germany
3. Antwerp, Belgium
4. Copenhagen, Denmark
5. Amsterdam, Netherlands
6. Malmo, Sweden
7. Hangzhou, China
8. Bern, Switzerland
9. Bremen, Germany
10. Hannover, Germany

For the full ranking and the complete methodology, check out Luko’s website.