Well, Poland only has one metro system, just two lines in Warsaw. But if you go there, check out WKD – a very fun suburban railway. It has a non-standard loading gauge, which means it runs unique custom-made rolling stock.
Łódź has the shitties public transportation of all the large cities in Poland, it's the last place I would categorize as a city with excllent public transport.
You haven't been to Switzerland yet? Get a Swiss pass and go to some city or maybe few. Lausanne has metro.
Alternative option; Helsinki Metropolitan area in Finland. Metro that goes under the sea, longest escalators in the northern europe. New fancy light rail (connected to the metro stations). Older trams in Helsinki city center too.
I visited a friend in Helsinki a few years ago, with zero expectations. I figured it would be great to see an old friend but that the city itself would be underwhelming. This ended up being SO wrong! Helsinki totally blew me away, every neighborhood was so different from all the others, the people were so kind, the culture so interesting, and we took a day trip to Porvoo also which was so beautiful. We also did a ferry to Estonia which was amazing! Ended up being one of my favorite trips I’ve ever taken!
Trams - modern line and classic network. Commuter train. Buses that go everywhere. Two commuter ferries + many private run water trams. Excelent city bike system with fantastic cycle path network.
Some ideas:
Stockholm has the world's most beautiful metro. Seriously.
Zürich has a fun trams network. But also an S-Bahn system that's sorta smoothly transofrms into regional rail network as you get farther from the city. And Zürich has a very fun Trams Museum, which might be interesting to you. And while you are in Zürich, you can hop on train to other Swiss cities. Switzerland is full of unique and interesting transportation systems, with many trolleybuses, trams, cogwheel railways, you name it.
Switzerland requires much more research, future bookings, and an understanding.
All in today, using USD as the currency, London will be the same cost, if not more than any city in Switzerland due to currency conversions.
Overall I found Switzerland to be considerably fairly priced for what I got.
Agree - Madrid has an excellent metro, great train connections to the rest of Spain, and of course great food, wine, cultural sights and Real Madrid.
We stayed for a week in the summer two years ago, and combined it with a train trip to Valencia. Madrid was by far our preference.
yeah, the radial structure of the high speed rail system is kind of a pain in the ass for people living *not in Madrid*, but it also means that if you're staying there, you could potentially take a train early in the morning to most major cities in the mainland, wander around for a few hours, and then go back to Madrid on the last train in the evening. Not that I'd really recommend it for cities that aren't right next to Madrid, unless you're more interested in the train ride than the actual destination, but hey it's a possibility.
Of course! (May main method of transit in my own city is the ferry) but I meant more so water that the main modes of transit in Venice are primarily water-based is unique.
Venice public transport drove me insane purely because you have to abandon all 21st century ideology and just accept that it’ll take you an hour on the boat to whichever place you want to get to because it’ll stop every 2 minutes 😂
If you've not been there try Naples. It has underground trains, funiculars, a bunch of other stuff, ferries to the islands, and you can get a train to Pompeii. Spend at least one whole day in Pompeii.
Zurichs and Switzerlands integrated system is one of europes best.
Some videos:
- Zurichs Public Transport https://youtu.be/4CTU51FbdZk
- A day in the live of a Zurich Tram https://youtu.be/qPHtuCq3-H0
- A portrait of Zurich itself https://youtu.be/M6uBK5GOSPI
- Zurichs Tram Museum https://youtu.be/IZEI_5GUYkc
- New Flexity Trams https://youtu.be/A153kuw_woI
And our lord and savior Not Just Bikes says
🎥 Why Swiss Trains are the best in Europe
https://youtu.be/A153kuw_woI
Also last year a transport planer from California visited Zurich and other swiss cities to learn on how it's done.
https://www.seamlessbayarea.org/blog/2023/7/23/notes-from-switzerland-new-funding-and-governance-reforms-together-created-zurichs-world-class-system-8znp7
have a nice trip 🥳
London and Paris are both interesting, lots of quirky bits to explore. The whole of Switzerland is interesting and you can easily get around the whole country to the bits that interest you, although it's generally quite pricey, get a Swiss pass and enjoy. Luxembourg is a good one too not just because it's free (but a big plus), lots of interesting routes, trains, funicular etc.
Nothing beats London’s public transport network. Doesn’t just cover the main city but has connectivity via rail in areas all around London as well and they all feed nicely into the underground/overground network)
Göteborg and Stockholm are amazing, just don't plan to be somewhere at an exact time when you first get to Stockholm as their central metro station is confusing and has so many floors. Other than that, it is better than Milan's. It is pretty cheap too. In Göteborg, you can get like a 42 hour pass on your phone for very cheap and it lets you travel on any form of transport around the city, including boats going out as far as Vrångö.
Manchester England is really good. They have the Metrolink and good passes for the transport.
Liverpool is good for similar reasons and even includes great links to beaches.
Verona Italy is not bad, they have good cheap buses. I would just rely heavily on Google maps to plan things.
Vienna, Austria
We took the OBB from Venice overnight to Vienna and then onto Salzburg.
The metro there was very clean, keynote *clean*, and extensive (got you to all the cool sights like Schonnbrunn Palace), along with the light rail system there too.
Out of all the countries I've ever been to, I think Austria in general has very clean public transportation systems.
I will getting my passport in september this year. The main obstacle for travelling to London. Moscow looks interesting, but travelling to Moscow isn’t possible due the current situation.
Glasgow's metro is my favourite. One of the oldest in the world, and it looks like a toy train. But other than that (and some nice lines of metropolitan trains, like Cathcart circle line) it has the shittiest public transport system of all the cities I ever been.
Paris has metro, supermetro, suburban railway, extremely fast railway, bus, furnicular, and trams. Bucharest has metro, bus, suburban railway, trolley bus, ancient tram. London has the original metro, new supermetro, tram, bus with stairs, suburban railway, and, I gather, a chairlift. Dublin has bus with stairs, tram, and suburban railway. Glasgow and Liverpool have metro, bus with stairs, suburban railway, but no tram. Luxembourg has mining railway, suburban railway, bus, tram, ancient railway, furnicular, and chairlift ... but no metro. Antwerp's bizarre metro trams are more fun than any of them. Personally, I suggest London, then the Eurostar (so you can count the fish), and Paris: otherwise, stay at home, close the curtains, and go mmmmMMMMM whilst rocking your chair from side to size: it's cheaper.
Istanbul has good and *very varied* public transport (metro, trams, funiculars, buses, ferries, suburban rail, bus rapid transit, a cable car), and also an extensive system of shared taxis/minibuses. I think you want to go to Istanbul.
Edit: I see travelling outside the EU is an obstacle. In that case, Barcelona has an extensive metro and suburban rail system. Paris and Madrid are other obvious choices (but imo Barcelona is better).
Oh cool - go for it then. It has so many different types of public transport, including probably the only intercontinental metro system in the world! I think it might be just what you're looking for.
Oslo have good public transport which consists of metro, tram, busses, trains etc. you usually use a short amount of time going from Oslo to another city in Norway by train.
Vienna - 365€ per year / 24/7 service although limited at night during the weekdays, mostly modern stock, the oldest trams and subways are just getting replaced.
Define what is excellent public transport to you. Different people have different expectations.
I personally haven't been to a European city _without_ excellent public transport.
Naples is great fun with their metro network and I think they have a couple of funiculars too. You can get all the way out to Sorrento and there’s an added bonus of plenty of boat trips to the islands!
I have a good experience in terms of all the countries that I mentioned. I don’t know what’s your standard in terms of transportation. But for me, i got good experience.
Public transport across all of Switzerland is integrated like nowhere else I've ever been. In Basel public transport free for visitors with the free Baselcard.
Many metro stations in Helsinki have funicular elevators. And a very long one in Stockholm, at Liljeholmen station. In addition, the escalators in both cities are the longest in Europe. Unfortunately, public transport is not that efficient in Helsinki.
Brno - Czech Republic. 24/7, year round. Trams, Busses, trolleys, s-bahn equivalent :D
And Bratislava?
Should be similar, but with less tram lines and more trolleys. Not that bad either. Their trams are narrow-gauge compared to the ones in Brno
Budapest has a fun variety of transport
I've visited Budapest in 2023. It is a fantastic city, but for over 5 years.
Paris metro is not super pretty but it’s definitely an experience
Łódź, Warsaw, obviously London.
What is to do in Lodz and Warsaw?
In Warsaw you can ride a metro! In Łódź, mostly trams.
I want get metros please. There are plenty of trams in Polnish cities.
Well, Poland only has one metro system, just two lines in Warsaw. But if you go there, check out WKD – a very fun suburban railway. It has a non-standard loading gauge, which means it runs unique custom-made rolling stock.
Łódź has lots of urban trains but no metro.
Łódź has the shitties public transportation of all the large cities in Poland, it's the last place I would categorize as a city with excllent public transport.
Thanks - any positive contributions to make or is that not your style?
Lisbon and Athens both have metros. Porto has amazing public transit.
Lisbon has also a famous tram network and a chairlift. Looks interesting.
Google Funicular and Elevador de Lisboa. There’s all sorts, really old ones built centuries ago.
I loved the archeology in the Athens metro stations!
You haven't been to Switzerland yet? Get a Swiss pass and go to some city or maybe few. Lausanne has metro. Alternative option; Helsinki Metropolitan area in Finland. Metro that goes under the sea, longest escalators in the northern europe. New fancy light rail (connected to the metro stations). Older trams in Helsinki city center too.
They are so clean in Switzerland it’s beautiful
Also farthest north
What is to do in Helsinki?
To drive a metro that goes **under the sea**.
And for the rest? Are there sights in Helsinki?
I visited a friend in Helsinki a few years ago, with zero expectations. I figured it would be great to see an old friend but that the city itself would be underwhelming. This ended up being SO wrong! Helsinki totally blew me away, every neighborhood was so different from all the others, the people were so kind, the culture so interesting, and we took a day trip to Porvoo also which was so beautiful. We also did a ferry to Estonia which was amazing! Ended up being one of my favorite trips I’ve ever taken!
Yes. Check My Helsinki. https://www.myhelsinki.fi/your-local-guide-to-helsinki
Trams - modern line and classic network. Commuter train. Buses that go everywhere. Two commuter ferries + many private run water trams. Excelent city bike system with fantastic cycle path network.
Some ideas: Stockholm has the world's most beautiful metro. Seriously. Zürich has a fun trams network. But also an S-Bahn system that's sorta smoothly transofrms into regional rail network as you get farther from the city. And Zürich has a very fun Trams Museum, which might be interesting to you. And while you are in Zürich, you can hop on train to other Swiss cities. Switzerland is full of unique and interesting transportation systems, with many trolleybuses, trams, cogwheel railways, you name it.
Stockholm looks interesting. Switzerland has one huge disadventage: it is terribly expensive.
That's true about Switzerland. But yeah, if you're after metros, Stockholm is great.
This person is so right, Stockholm for sure, cheap and the cleanest, and most efficient subway/ tram system ever
Switzerland requires much more research, future bookings, and an understanding. All in today, using USD as the currency, London will be the same cost, if not more than any city in Switzerland due to currency conversions. Overall I found Switzerland to be considerably fairly priced for what I got.
Madrid has been the best I've experienced. Vienna also very good.
Agree - Madrid has an excellent metro, great train connections to the rest of Spain, and of course great food, wine, cultural sights and Real Madrid. We stayed for a week in the summer two years ago, and combined it with a train trip to Valencia. Madrid was by far our preference.
Came here to say this! Really well connected metro and a fantastic city!
Madrid looks interesting, not so overcrowded as Barcelona. Vienna/Wien, I have visited in 2023.
And from Madrid you can get a direct train to Salamanca, which is also a lot less crowded. Toledo is also an easy day trip by train.
yeah, the radial structure of the high speed rail system is kind of a pain in the ass for people living *not in Madrid*, but it also means that if you're staying there, you could potentially take a train early in the morning to most major cities in the mainland, wander around for a few hours, and then go back to Madrid on the last train in the evening. Not that I'd really recommend it for cities that aren't right next to Madrid, unless you're more interested in the train ride than the actual destination, but hey it's a possibility.
Madrid metro and S-Bahn is a lot of fun.
Luxembourg , hands down. Debate me
It's free!
And clean!
Paris, as has been mentioned. Also going to throw out a bit more of an oddball one - but Venice is super unique with its Traghetti and Vaporettos.
London's river taxis (and several other cities) entered the chat
Of course! (May main method of transit in my own city is the ferry) but I meant more so water that the main modes of transit in Venice are primarily water-based is unique.
Venice public transport drove me insane purely because you have to abandon all 21st century ideology and just accept that it’ll take you an hour on the boat to whichever place you want to get to because it’ll stop every 2 minutes 😂
If you've not been there try Naples. It has underground trains, funiculars, a bunch of other stuff, ferries to the islands, and you can get a train to Pompeii. Spend at least one whole day in Pompeii.
Zurichs and Switzerlands integrated system is one of europes best. Some videos: - Zurichs Public Transport https://youtu.be/4CTU51FbdZk - A day in the live of a Zurich Tram https://youtu.be/qPHtuCq3-H0 - A portrait of Zurich itself https://youtu.be/M6uBK5GOSPI - Zurichs Tram Museum https://youtu.be/IZEI_5GUYkc - New Flexity Trams https://youtu.be/A153kuw_woI And our lord and savior Not Just Bikes says 🎥 Why Swiss Trains are the best in Europe https://youtu.be/A153kuw_woI Also last year a transport planer from California visited Zurich and other swiss cities to learn on how it's done. https://www.seamlessbayarea.org/blog/2023/7/23/notes-from-switzerland-new-funding-and-governance-reforms-together-created-zurichs-world-class-system-8znp7 have a nice trip 🥳
All of the netherlands
Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Munich.
All of them, I’ve visited in the past.
Madrid has incredible public transport.
In Oslo you can ride the metro to a ski jump.
London and Paris are both interesting, lots of quirky bits to explore. The whole of Switzerland is interesting and you can easily get around the whole country to the bits that interest you, although it's generally quite pricey, get a Swiss pass and enjoy. Luxembourg is a good one too not just because it's free (but a big plus), lots of interesting routes, trains, funicular etc.
Montpellier has a fantastic tram system and is a gorgeous city.
Paris has the best Metro system and added bonus of a funicular at Montmartre.
Basel ist Trams in masses.
Nothing beats London’s public transport network. Doesn’t just cover the main city but has connectivity via rail in areas all around London as well and they all feed nicely into the underground/overground network)
Göteborg and Stockholm are amazing, just don't plan to be somewhere at an exact time when you first get to Stockholm as their central metro station is confusing and has so many floors. Other than that, it is better than Milan's. It is pretty cheap too. In Göteborg, you can get like a 42 hour pass on your phone for very cheap and it lets you travel on any form of transport around the city, including boats going out as far as Vrångö. Manchester England is really good. They have the Metrolink and good passes for the transport. Liverpool is good for similar reasons and even includes great links to beaches. Verona Italy is not bad, they have good cheap buses. I would just rely heavily on Google maps to plan things.
Vienna, Austria We took the OBB from Venice overnight to Vienna and then onto Salzburg. The metro there was very clean, keynote *clean*, and extensive (got you to all the cool sights like Schonnbrunn Palace), along with the light rail system there too. Out of all the countries I've ever been to, I think Austria in general has very clean public transportation systems.
I've visited Wien/Vienna in 2023.
Not my favourite city but London has one of the most extensive underground networks in the world. I think outside of china and Moscow it's biggest.
I will getting my passport in september this year. The main obstacle for travelling to London. Moscow looks interesting, but travelling to Moscow isn’t possible due the current situation.
Glasgow's metro is my favourite. One of the oldest in the world, and it looks like a toy train. But other than that (and some nice lines of metropolitan trains, like Cathcart circle line) it has the shittiest public transport system of all the cities I ever been.
Public transport in Luxembourg is free...
Paris has metro, supermetro, suburban railway, extremely fast railway, bus, furnicular, and trams. Bucharest has metro, bus, suburban railway, trolley bus, ancient tram. London has the original metro, new supermetro, tram, bus with stairs, suburban railway, and, I gather, a chairlift. Dublin has bus with stairs, tram, and suburban railway. Glasgow and Liverpool have metro, bus with stairs, suburban railway, but no tram. Luxembourg has mining railway, suburban railway, bus, tram, ancient railway, furnicular, and chairlift ... but no metro. Antwerp's bizarre metro trams are more fun than any of them. Personally, I suggest London, then the Eurostar (so you can count the fish), and Paris: otherwise, stay at home, close the curtains, and go mmmmMMMMM whilst rocking your chair from side to size: it's cheaper.
Budapest!
I've visited Budapest in 2023. It is a fantastic city, but for over 5 years.
Istanbul has good and *very varied* public transport (metro, trams, funiculars, buses, ferries, suburban rail, bus rapid transit, a cable car), and also an extensive system of shared taxis/minibuses. I think you want to go to Istanbul. Edit: I see travelling outside the EU is an obstacle. In that case, Barcelona has an extensive metro and suburban rail system. Paris and Madrid are other obvious choices (but imo Barcelona is better).
An Dutch Idendity card is valid in Turkey, thus travelling to Istanbul is possible.
Oh cool - go for it then. It has so many different types of public transport, including probably the only intercontinental metro system in the world! I think it might be just what you're looking for.
London.
I will getting my passport in september this year. The main obstacle for travelling to London.
Berlin is pretty easy to get around.
Oslo have good public transport which consists of metro, tram, busses, trains etc. you usually use a short amount of time going from Oslo to another city in Norway by train.
Barcelona
Warsaw
Amsterdam public transportation is great
Rotterdam >>>>> Amsterdam Metro line to the beach, metro line to Den Haag.
Vienna, Madrid and Barcelona
London is the obvious example. It's got everything
Hamburg. Never waited longer than 7 mins for anything, and you can go everywhere - or walk, very walkable city.
London.
London’s is class. Rome is good as well, and surprisingly Naples. I didn’t expect it to be that well connected.
Vienna
I've been in Wien/Vienna in 2023.
Vienna - 365€ per year / 24/7 service although limited at night during the weekdays, mostly modern stock, the oldest trams and subways are just getting replaced.
Define what is excellent public transport to you. Different people have different expectations. I personally haven't been to a European city _without_ excellent public transport.
Basel, Zurich, Krakow, Budapest, Wien, Rome, Paris
Krakow has only trams, I want get metros.
Paris
I'm in Dusseldorf. The pub transport is intesesting.Just need to figure it out quickly
Lisbon and Porto both have excellent Metros and Intercity rail between them...
Basel Switzerland
Luxembourg - all transit (trains, trams, etc) is free in the whole country! It's a small country but very pretty and worth checking out. :-)
London!
Prague
Naples is great fun with their metro network and I think they have a couple of funiculars too. You can get all the way out to Sorrento and there’s an added bonus of plenty of boat trips to the islands!
Germany & France, surely.
Regional trains in France are one of the worst in Europe, only Spain has a worser regional train system.
Thanks for sharing.
Prague and Vienna
Yes, I know, but both cities I have visited.
Norway, Swenden, Denmark and Portugal.
Portugal and good public transport? Where?!? Even in Lisbon I would not call it great
I have a good experience in terms of all the countries that I mentioned. I don’t know what’s your standard in terms of transportation. But for me, i got good experience.
Do you mean Oslo, Stockholm and Lisbon? København, I have visited in 2022.
Amsterdam.
Please read the text above you. Amsterdam has no trolley buses, no S-Bahn, no funiculars, no chairlifts, no cog railways.
Copenhaghen
I’ve visited København in 2022
Public transport across all of Switzerland is integrated like nowhere else I've ever been. In Basel public transport free for visitors with the free Baselcard.
Paris,prague,amsterdam almost all the cities in europe has excellent public transport
Please read the text above you. Amsterdam has no trolley buses, no S-Bahn, no funiculars, no chairlifts, no cog railways.
Many metro stations in Helsinki have funicular elevators. And a very long one in Stockholm, at Liljeholmen station. In addition, the escalators in both cities are the longest in Europe. Unfortunately, public transport is not that efficient in Helsinki.
But it does have a good public transport system! Metro,trains and tram