B.C.’s capital has been ranked the second most walkable city in Canada for tourists, according to language teaching website Preply.
Preply says immersion is tied to language learning, so it took a look at which cities would be best for visitors to walk and immerse themselves in across the country.
The list is based on how long it would take to walk to the top five most popular attractions and landmarks in each city on foot.
Using this metric, Victoria was ranked the second most walkable city for tourists, largely because of its dense Inner Harbour and downtown core, which are home to many local attractions.
“Top attractions to visit include Craigdarroch Castle, the Royal BC Museum, the Inner-Harbour Pathway, the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, and Beacon Hill Park,” said Preply in its list.
“Walking between all of these locations should take an average of only 60 minutes, which equates to around 5,720 steps – not bad for an in-depth walking tour of the city.”
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Meanwhile, Halifax was crowned the most walkable city in Canada for tourists.
Described as “compact,” the capital city of Nova Scotia boasts the shortest distances between attractions, according to Preply.
“From its historic waterfront and charming cobblestone streets to the vibrant cultural hub of downtown, the city’s pedestrian-friendly layout allows visitors to easily wander through its most popular neighborhoods and attractions.”
Across the Georgia Strait, Vancouver was considered the sixth most walkable city for visitors, while the very worst city to explore on foot went to Hamilton, Ont.
“Hamilton tops the table of Canada’s least walkable cities, with a total route of almost 60 km between its five most popular attractions – pedestrians would be required to walk 75,000 steps, on average,” said Preply.
Hamilton was followed closely by Surrey, which was ranked the second least walkable city for tourists.
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The company says it narrowed its list down to the 21 largest cities in Canada, then found the top five tourist attractions in each city based on visitor ratings on TripAdvisor. From there, Preply used Google Maps to create the shortest walking route to visit all of the top five attractions, and compared those distances by city.
The full list of top 10 most walkable cities, and top 10 least walkable cities, in Canada according to Preply can be found below:
Adam Chan
