Town beat contenders all over the world to prime the rankings for cleanest metropolis, however once I visited in late-2025, I seen one problem it wanted to deal with
I liked the spotless metropolis streets with no litter (Picture: Natalie King) This text comprises affiliate hyperlinks, we’ll obtain a fee on any gross sales we generate from it. Be taught extra
For those who communicate to anybody who has been to Poland, time and time once more the identical praise is made about its cities. Each time I’ve requested pals about their journeys, they’ll inevitably point out in some unspecified time in the future that their vacation spot was spotlessly clear.
And now it’s official, certainly one of Poland’s in style metropolis break locations has been topped the world’s cleanest metropolis based mostly on an evaluation of information by Radical Storage utilizing 70,000+ Google opinions. Krakow in Poland beat cities in Japan, the UAE, and Singapore to take the title, with 98.5% of opinions giving a constructive score to the town’s cleanliness.
I liked wandering across the clear, well-maintained streets (Picture: Natalie King)
It’s not the primary time Kraków has been praised for its public areas. In 2023, the European Fee launched a report known as High quality of Life in European Cities, which included surveying residents about their experiences dwelling of their native space. In Kraków, greater than 80% of residents stated they have been completely happy with their public areas, which embrace parks, squares, and markets, displaying there’s an actual sense of pleasure within the metropolis.
I had the prospect to go to Kraków in September of final yr, arriving late at evening, which any solo feminine traveller will inform you is a bit daunting. However even travelling to my resort at 2am, I seen the streets have been well-lit and freed from garbage, which is all the time a great signal.
One benefit that Kraków has over bigger cities is that it’s walkable, with a compact centre that has low cost, dependable public transport to zip you round. Whereas travelling round London at evening typically means taking an Uber on congested roads or braving a grubby evening tube, Kraków has common trams via the evening with quick single journeys costing simply 4PLN, about 80p.
Having fewer automobiles on the highway definitely makes a distinction. Town simply feels a lot cleaner with out idling site visitors and extra nice for pedestrians. A community of cycle lanes and underpasses means many residents get round safely by bike.
The subsequent morning, Kraków was wanting notably fairly due to the sunny climate, and I received to understand the town’s magnificence within the daylight. Strolling across the metropolis centre, there have been historic buildings on just about each road, and every one was fantastically preserved and effectively taken care of.
Even visiting a few of the metropolis’s oldest buildings, such because the Renaissance-era Fabric Corridor, I seen they appeared notably vibrant and the brickwork nearly appeared like new. Maybe it was the sunny climate, however the buildings didn’t have the dingy, drained look that some historic locations can develop over time.
Regardless of courting again centuries, buildings just like the Fabric Corridor appeared nearly new (Picture: Natalie King)
Kraków is a good metropolis for individuals who wish to wander with out an excessive amount of of an itinerary in thoughts. Inside minutes, I’d strolled down cobbled streets, discovered inexperienced areas shaded by timber, and located an extended path that runs alongside the river.
Up to now decade, Kraków, together with different Polish cities, has invested in waste administration and clearing up its public areas. Warsaw additionally managed to make it into the cleanest metropolis rankings at quantity 4, displaying that spending the cash on creating nice areas pays off within the long-term.
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A small blight on the town is its graffiti. Some areas resembling Kazimierz – the Jewish Quarter – have superb road artwork and murals which have clearly taken a whole lot of effort and time. Nevertheless, like many European cities, Kraków appeared to have a whole lot of graffiti tags, even on a few of its lovely previous buildings. Whereas its streets are swept and power-washed and its inexperienced areas trimmed, eliminating a few of the indicators of vandalism would make it even lovelier.
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