Of course, there are rankings that measure the quality of life in general, but it doesn't translate the multiple differences between personal standards, maybe a big city has a high quality of life for a general index but one would live miserably because of its pace of life, or vice-versa. Or maybe a country has an amazing quality of life by general indexes, but it's cold and you wish ardently to live in a warm beach city.
So, by your personal standards, what are the best ones to live in? If possible, give an explanation of the reason.
32 comments
Switzerland or Austria, northern Italy
Great outdoor activities, cycling aso ….that’s what I need. Not overcrowded as some other places/regions. Safe, clean. Neither too hot, nor too cold.
I’m not a city person. I don’t care about cities, also wouldn’t want to live in a city.
Akureyri in Iceland.
You have everything you need there, but it’s a normal-sized city of 19 000 inhabitants, so, it hasn’t all the flaws of 100K+ metropolises.
Middle of nowhere in Estonia. They have digitalized public services above EU average.
I like warm weather and close proximity to the coast, so assuming I can afford to live in one of the nicer areas and that money is not a problem, coastal cities like Barcelona, Athens and Lisbon seem good enough to me.
Copenhagen. Such a friendly, nice town, low crime rate, semi-affordable.
Malta or croatia imo. good weather, good people, good food, beach anytime you want (depending on the location). expensive but what isn’t nowadays
Well Vienna has again been voted most liveable city. I live here, and I agree. I have visited so many other cities (due to my previous job) and although I love travelling and experiencing new cultures, I have a great homebase here.
Why?
Well, cultural activities. No matter, what is your favorite thing, you will find it here. From classical music to new and experimental. Theatres, musesums, cinemas, and and and.
Then – food. The Austrian cuisine is very good, but in Vienna you have the whole world in walking distance. From where I am now, I have in 5-min walking distance: Italian, Greek, Vietnamese, Japanese, Portuguese, Irish, French, Chinese (for sure forgot some)
Activities: You can walk between skyscrapers, in hundreds of years old streets and in deep woods, all within city center and all reachable by public transport within a few minutes
Some people say, that Viennese people, especially waiters and taxi drivers are grumpy and unfriendly, well – this is not wrong, but I like it, because those people are authentic, and it has some kind of charme, when you feel you have distrubed the waiter doing something important, when you ask for the menu.
Bordeaux, France. South enough to get the nice weather, but not too south that salaries are lower like Spain, Italy or Portugal. Close the beaches with good surf or calm water. Close enough to mountains for multi day hiking and skiing. The city itself is quite charming, lots of trendy cafes, bars and restaurants. Doesn’t attract the same events as Paris or larger European cities but still has enough for my liking, not that I go to that many concerts or festivals. Inland surrounding areas include lots of wine regions and forest. Has a reputation for lots of rainfall but it’s usually cleared up by mid morning and a sunny day follows. Airport has lots of available flights for travel at very cheap (although after November Ryan air is leaving, another low cost airline might sweep in though)
I think having a house and a job is important as well as having a social network. A place where you understand the culture and preferably speak the language.
Norway… like the fact that you get the 4 seasons to its full extents. Remember in desember there was temperature close to -30C with crystal clear air… today it has been close to +30C and that much that you can take a swim in the water. Having the best tap water in europe is also something. Something always get reminded of traveling outside scandinavia. Low unemployment rate, cheap education and a proper welfare system.. Not to speak of low population density, giving you more private space than in many other countries. And maybe top of it all.. not the cities but the countryside and the landscape. The [mountains and the fjords](https://assets.simpleviewcms.com/simpleview/image/fetch/c_fill,h_1080,w_1920/f_jpg/q_65/https://media.newmindmedia.com/TellUs/image/%3Ffile%3D65DCD6BDA6FA3A785A6122D79D5B272566E28326.jpg&dh%3D533&dw%3D800&t%3D4) are the typical touristy stuff.. Though rather prefer the [typical culture landscape](https://erikstenvik.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/tingelstad-r-41.jpg) which there are quite much of in norway totally free of tourists .. Some people will say that it’s the norwegian Toscana. Though instead of winegrapes.. its all about the potatoes.
… and last but not least the light.. there’s something special with the daylight when you get far north. Above the polar circle you can get the aurora borealis ([northern lights](https://www.visitsenja.no/sites/cb_visitsenja/files/styles/article_slide_large_uncropped/public/Nordlys_Dyr%C3%B8y%20Holiday.jpg?itok=C8Q2mBRj))… Though just regular daylight can be quite spectacular when sun sets and rises.. In contrast to further south in europe when it turns dark almost like switching on/off a switch.. you have those spectacular in norway that last some time and the different angles versus the earth.. a bit like [this one](https://eu-assets.simpleview-europe.com/lillehammer/imageresizer/?image=%2Fdmsimgs%2FIMG_20220613_223532_1103686520.jpg&action=ProductDetail2020). Shares the wonderful sunlights with both finland and sweden. So could probably lived in one of those as well.
And the food-culture. Got to love that not the rest of the world try to make copy of the norwegian food, like they do with every other nations food (chinese, indian, french, italian etc.).
I live in Bologna Italy and I’m super-happy of it. It’s always ranked one of the top cities in Italy in terms of quality of life & gdp/wealth, but by my standards I love Bologna because of its unique social and cultural life.
It’s the largest university city in Italy and 2nd in work attractiveness after Milan, we have so many young people from all over Italy (we’re “North of the south, south of the north” we say) and Europe, almost all of them eager to meet new people in a vibe of tolerance, progressive mindset and mutual acceptance, especially in the city center that is the youngest area of Italy.
Excellent cultural offer, very varied, from alternative/counterculture kind (every type of art, politics, theatre, many cinemas, concerts of a every genre…) to the posh ones (shopping, cafes, clubs, tastings, trendy restaurants..), passing through the popular activities liked by everyone (trattorias/osteries ’cause of course amazing food, sports such as football and lots of basketball, pubs, markets, parks..).
There’s something for everybody, especially for those who don’t conform to a single category but like to vary, like me.
Where I live currently in northern England. The weather is mild and in a good position to withstand the worst effects of climate change.
It’s in the most convenient location because I can get to Ireland, the Isle of Man, the rest of Europe and the northernmost part of the UK most easily. If there’s a national crisis it means I have a better sense of where I can go if I want to leave.
The people are friendly and there’s a strong sense of community. I find that being surrounded by people who have your back, even if they’re not necessarily your family or your best friend, really makes a difference to quality of life.
There’s good “living space” and lots of nice countryside and national parks. But if you need a city and all its offerings, then there are plenty to choose from, from Liverpool to Newcastle.
Safe roads, no other types of threats such as street dogs to be found (but this applies to the whole of UK).
It’s a bit more affordable.
Air pollution is low by European standards and the water also tastes good here.
It’s not perfect by any means, but I wouldn’t want to live in any other type of environment.
Countries or regions with similar or the same characteristics to what I’ve described here, and therefore would consider a perfect life for me, include: Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Spain’s Basque Country, the southwest of England, East Anglia, and the Anglo-Welsh border.
Low rent, good job opportunities, vibrant and culturally active, GOOD public transportation.
If you know a city like that please tell me
Not objective, but I find Munich such a nice place. Decent weather, good job market, next to the Alps, beautiful city, it combines the best from small and big places. Expensive real state and German bureaucracy on the bad side.
I find also Vienna very nice regarding what I said above.
I’d say France and Italy. They are culturally similar to Hungary (not as rigid as Germanic countries, not as conservative as Slavic countries, not as Americanised as Britain, Ireland, and the Netherlands), but the lifestyle is not as depressed as in Hungary, and public services work better (even in Italy lol).
I might be biased but I think Helsinki is amazing and I always enjoy visiting there, especially in summer
Slovenia if you love nature. You can see mountains and sea in one day trip.
I loved Helsinki. They know how to blend nature and city in Finland. I don’t have any personal experience, but I would love to try out Oulu one day. I find Northern weather agreeable, the nature beautiful and the people respectful and civilised.
I spent about a month in Sevilla some 10 years ago. Probably not enough time (and too long ago) to know about actually living there, but still:
As a Dutch person, it surprised me in a pleasant way how clean, well organised and walkable the city was.
Helsinki and Copenhagen. Safe, small enough to walk or bike anywhere, by the sea and good social systems.
I like my hometown, I refuse to move anywhere else
Spain – caveating that I know salaries are low, however I’m confident to be in a position where I can be transferred through my international company.
Latin culture and lifestyle but light years ahead of Italy in terms of socially progressive policies, rich culture and wonderful nature/landscape, overall good quality of life and great healthcare system.
very hard to tell Bratislava could be average in most instances but if have job in Vienna with good home office options and you don’t care about Slovak politics and that many courts in Slovakia are biased towards some people and governament institutions in general than Bratislava is great place to live
Estonia!
Well-functioning services, moderate climate, beautiful wild countryside and generally sensible people. The only downsides are that it feels a little bit like the ‘edge of the world’ over there, and food is pretty expensive.
Honestly, I am biased because I’m Hungarian, but I really do think Budapest is among the best. A very pretty city, good public transport that’s dirt cheap with a monthly pass, minimal traffic, relatively good private services at affordable prices, compared to western europe. Political sentiment is also rather progressive in the capital.
Salaries and most gov services are below rats ass tho, so Hungarians are priced out at home which sucks ass.
The very northern and snowy bits of Finland, Sweden or Norway as I’m not much of a city guy myself. I also LOVE cold weather and consider it paradise, so any other Northern European country is where I would choose to go.
Bit of a cop out, but I’d probably stay in Stockholm. I miss the winters of a few decades ago, but I’m not sure I would want to live further north. I’d rather be on the edge of the capital with the ability to travel north if I want to.
The wealthy cities of West and North Germany. Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Frankfurt. Great nightlife, low crime (yes, even Frankfurt), good infrastructure (hospitals, public transport), friendly people. Weather can be shit (especially Hamburg), and winters can be very cold, but I prefer that over extreme heat.
Siena is the best city I’ve lived in in Europe. At least the Siena of 15 years ago. It has probably changed a lot since.
It took a little while to get used to the locals, who have a reputation for being cold and hard to connect to, but once I broke the ice, I made lots of good friends. It really helps that the city is gorgeous, safe and situated in one of the most beautiful region of the world. Don’t be fooled by its size: it’s small, but in terms of history and exploration, it’s on par with Florence. A really amazing city I miss every single day since I left.
Good transportation infrastructure, good low cost medical, good jobs, beautiful water to play in.
Amsterdam
Prague. Great Nightlife, Culture, different Mountain Ranges not too far, big City life, affordable, great food, located quite centrally in europe
Not Dublin despite that I absolutely love the place