In their annual listing of the most convivial places in the world to live, specialists working for the research and analytical division of the influential London-based weekly placed Budapest neighbours Vienna at the top – with the Hungarian capital the highest ranking from this part of Europe.

The criteria for their decision focused on health care, education, public safety, infrastructure and environmental factors. Just behind Vienna came Copenhagen, Melbourne and Sydney, followed by Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary in Canada, Zürich and Geneva in Switzerland, and finally Osaka in Japan.

Budapest, with its network of new cycle lanes, scored high in the next list spanning 80-90 points, above other regional capitals.

Source: HVG


Graphic: The Economist Intelligence Unit

Words by Peterjon Cresswell for Xpatloop.com
Peterjon has been researching the byways of Budapest for 30 years, extending his expertise across Europe to produce guidebooks for Time Out and his own website liberoguide.com