Top Car-Free Places to Visit
If you live in a city, you probably see hundreds of cars each day. But for people in these places, they're a rare sight! Check out these car-free destinations on your next holiday.
Halibut Cove in southern Alaska is a small fishing village that can only be reached by boat. The cove is part of Kachemak Bay State Park, which includes over 160,000 hectares of mountains and forests, and is home to many kinds of ocean wildlife.
With fewer than 100 residents, Halibut Cove only has one restaurant, The Saltry, which offers both delicious seafood and local art at its Experience Gallery.
Located at the bottom of the Zermatt-Matterhorn and Breuil Cervinia ski resorts – the highest ski areas in the Alps – the small town of Zermatt has been car-free since 1961.
An electric train brings visitors and locals from nearby Täsch to Zermatt's center, where horse-drawn carriages and electric taxis are the main form of transport.
Rottnest Island, Australia
Just a 30-minute boat ride from Australia's west coast lies the island of Rottnest. Cars are not allowed, and most visitors ride bicycles around the island's many bike paths. Rottnest's main attractions include hiking, diving, snorkeling, and whale watching.
While Oslo hasn't completely banned cars, the city center is nearly car-free. In order to reduce air pollution, the local government removed about 700 parking spaces in 2017 and 2018. It also created new bike paths and offered Oslo residents $1,200 each to buy electric bicycles. By 2019, 43% more people were spending time in the city center than in 2017.
Since then, many other cities have taken steps to reduce or eliminate cars, including Amsterdam, Barcelona, and Paris.
