Walking is often a great way to get under the skin of a destination.
But in some places, this activity is, at best, a monumental faff – and at worst, taking your life in your hands.
And the locations? Over to the travellers of Reddit, who took to the site to share the places where they had their least enjoyable experiences as pedestrians.
User ‘Lakuriqidites’ started the discussion on the ‘Travel’ forum when they asked: ‘In what city/country did you have the “worst experience” as a pedestrian.’
From a European city where ‘bikes will run you down’ to a spot where one contributor had to take a taxi to get across a road, scroll down for the world’s least walkable places…
One Redditor described Egypt’s capital city, Cairo (pictured), as like ‘hell on feet’
Egypt’s largest city, and its capital, has left some pedestrians distressed, with Redditor ‘mscherrybaby007’ describing it as ‘hell on feet’.
User ‘Wandercay’ concurred: ‘Drivers often drive on the opposite side of the road and most don’t seem to follow any rules. Plus we got hassled so much by people trying to make money off us when walking around the city. They would follow us and wouldn’t leave us alone.’
‘Elegant-Passion2199’ added: ‘In Cairo, I spent so much money on taxis, the lack of sidewalks, being constantly harassed to buy stuff, the heat the trash, the smell.’
Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas (pictured), was described as the ‘worst pedestrian city’ in the U.S by one Redditor
Houston, walkers have a problem.
Redditor ‘Refrito_perdido’ described Houston as ‘by far’ the ‘worst pedestrian city’ in the U.S.
The user explained: ‘[There are] either no sidewalks or they’re right up against a road (no boulevard), plus the zoning laws are either f***** up or non-existent. So walking from one place to the next just doesn’t make sense. And the city sprawl is no joke either.’
User ‘koreamax’ added: ‘I grew up in San Francisco and thought most cities were walkable. I visited Houston and went for a night out with friends. I drunkenly said I’d walk back to my hotel. It took me four hours.’
User ‘thrwaway75132’ added: ‘Even if you can see where you need to go there is an eight-lane road with no crosswalks between you and your destination.’
Hanoi, Vietnam
One Redditor said Hanoi (above) is ‘by far the worst walking experience I ever could have imagined’
Vietnam’s capital city, Hanoi, came in for criticism for forcing pedestrians onto the streets.
‘Aceholio404’ wrote: ‘Hanoi is by far the worst walking experience I ever could have imagined. Any sidewalks are literally covered with motorbikes or pop-up restaurant seating that they hide when the police come by since it’s not allowed. You can’t go a single block without having to walk into the extremely busy streets.
‘To be fair, it does add to the experience and I would like to note it’s a good city and great country, but I’m convinced there is no worse walking experience in a city.’
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
One user claimed that in Amsterdam (above) ‘the bikes will run you down’
With up to 400 kilometres (248 miles) of bike paths, Amsterdam is perfect for cyclists but – as some Redditors point out – not for pedestrians.
‘FroeverKangaroo’ wrote: ‘Amsterdam was stressful to me as a pedestrian. The bikes will run you down.
‘We stayed a little outside of the city centre so that probably exacerbated things as our daily walk to see the sights often shared the paths with cyclists on the faster parts of their commutes.’
User ‘AW23456__99’ said: ‘I’m from Southeast Asia and Amsterdam made me very anxious as a pedestrian.’
One enraged Redditor, ‘Golfandrun’, added: ‘The bicycle riders are ignorant f****s.’
The Philippines
Trying to cross the roads in the Philippines is like ‘taking your life in your hands’. Above is a busy street in the country’s capital, Manila
One country at the tip of many Redditors’ tongues was the Philippines.
‘A_panda_named_ewok’ wrote: ‘Manila was my knee-jerk response. The Philippines is gorgeous and the people are so incredibly friendly, but trying to cross those massive roads (that have no crosswalks) is literally taking your life in your hands to play frogger.’
User ‘Cgtdream’ agreed: ‘Crossing traffic in the [Phillipines] should be a sport. Could’ve died so many times out there.’
User ‘sudoku602’ added: ‘I once had to take a taxi just to cross the road because there was no way for pedestrians to do it.’
‘Gie_lokimum’ said: ‘Filipina here. Last time I went to visit, it took me 30 minutes to cross the road.’
Bali, Indonesia
Bali is ‘barely walkable’ according to Redditors, due to ‘traffic’ and ‘missing sidewalks’. Above is a typical street in the town of Ubud
Despite its popularity as a tourist destination, Bali is not pedestrian-friendly, according to Reddit users.
‘Legitamate_Map963’ wrote: ‘Bali is barely walkable at all in touristy areas – no sidewalks or at 90 per cent of places. And so much traffic.’
To which: ‘CityboundMermaid’ responded: ‘Yeah, the missing sidewalks of Bali are wild! I felt OK during the day but at night? Hell, no.’
User ‘bb79’ agreed: ‘Bali gets my vote too. In Ubud, I was constantly like, “Where’s the footpath?” Every building and shop seems to have its own makeshift strip of narrow disjointed tile, concrete or dirt, but most of the time, it’s easier to walk on the road.’
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