Best EU countries for public transport and car-free living

Last updated: 2026-08-21

Giving up your car is one of the quiet luxuries of moving to the right European city. No insurance, no parking, no traffic, just a metro card and trains that turn up on time. But it only works where the network is genuinely good. This guide ranks all 27 EU countries on how easy life is without a car.

What car-free living gives you

Lower costs: no car payments, fuel, insurance or parking, which frees up a real chunk of your budget.
Walkable, well-connected cities: where daily life happens within a short ride or walk.
Easy travel: fast trains that make weekends away simple.

All 27 EU countries by public transport

Here is where MoveMap’s model rates each EU country for public transport, best first (illustrative scores only):

Country	Public transport*
Germany	88
Luxembourg	88
Austria	85
Denmark	85
Netherlands	85
France	82
Sweden	82
Belgium	80
Czechia	80
Finland	80
Spain	80
Estonia	70
Hungary	70
Italy	70
Poland	70
Latvia	65
Lithuania	65
Portugal	65
Slovenia	65
Ireland	62
Slovakia	62
Greece	60
Bulgaria	58
Croatia	58
Romania	55
Cyprus	50
Malta	45

*MoveMap EU's rough relative score (0-100), illustrative only. Higher means a stronger network. It reflects the country overall, so big cities are usually far better connected than rural areas.

Cities and countryside are worlds apart

Even the best-ranked countries split sharply between their cities and their countryside. A capital can be a car-free dream while a village an hour away still needs a vehicle for daily life. If going without a car matters to you, choose the city as carefully as the country.

Match it to how you want to live

Whether you want to ditch the car entirely or just cut down, the MoveMap check weighs transport alongside cost, lifestyle and work to rank all 27 EU countries for you.

Frequently asked questions

Which EU country has the best public transport?

Germany and Luxembourg lead at 88/100, with Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands at 85. Luxembourg is the unusual case: in 2020 it became the first country to make all public transport free nationwide, so the network costs residents nothing to use. Germany and Austria win on reach instead, with rail that connects small towns rather than only big cities.

Can you live in Europe without a car?

In almost any European city, yes, and a large share of residents do. City centres are dense, distances are short, and cycling infrastructure in the Netherlands, Denmark and increasingly elsewhere makes a bike faster than a car. Rural Europe is a different country entirely: village bus services can run a few times a day, and the car you did not want becomes essential.

Where do you still need a car in the EU?

Our lowest transport scores are Malta at 45/100, Cyprus at 50, Romania at 55 and Bulgaria at 58. Malta and Cyprus have no rail at all, so buses and driving are the only options. The wider rule is that the national score describes the network, not your street: a well-connected country still has poorly connected suburbs, and a low-scoring one still has a workable capital.

How these numbers are made

Updated 2026-08-21

The 0-100 figures in this ranking are MoveMap EU's own comparative estimates, not official statistics or a third-party index. They are built to rank the 27 countries against each other from public cost, wage, language and institutional data, and they are calibrated to be directionally right rather than precise to the point. Where a figure comes from a dated external dataset, such as the tax pages, the source and check date are named on that page.

The full weighting is written up on our methodology page. Published by Dobreon sp. z o.o., Krakow, Poland (VAT PL6772528744). Spotted something out of date? Tell us.

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