When you think of city life, towering skyscrapers and concrete probably come to mind. But this isn’t the case for all cities.

Many places across the world are inundated with green spaces and parks that break up the grey monotony of cities. In fact, the greenest city in the world is just a short flight away from the UK. According to travel experts at Iglu Cruise, Oslo in Norway is the greenest city in the world.

They analysed a number of cities across the world and ranked each on its percentage of greenery, accessible green space and air quality to create the Green City Index. At the top of this list is Oslo with an overall score of 77.3 out of 100. 

The city has high air quality and the highest percentage of green spaces and public parks. In fact. 95% of Oslo residents live within a 300-metre walk of a green area. This makes Oslo one of Europe’s most walkable capitals.

Visitors to the city can wander through one of its many ‘pocket parks’ – old parking spaces that have been transformed by community volunteers into green spaces in the more built up areas of the city. 

There are big parks too – Royal Palace Park and Vigeland are both popular choices. Vigeland is also home to the largest sculpture park in the world that was created by a single artist.

Outside the city, the lush greenery continues. An easy 20 minute train will take you out of the city and into Oslomarka forest and its stunning walking trails around the Sognsvann Lake. 

Oslo isn’t just great for visitors and residents – it’s great for pollinators too. The city is home to the wor;d’s first ‘bee highway’. This is a corridor of native flowers and bee hotels that run through the city streets to encourage insects to make their home here.