Ditch the rental car and get ready to explore Some of the world?s most popular cities are facing a manmade crisis: Cars are wreaking havoc, snarling streets, and contributing to increased air pollution. And while cities like London, Paris, and Seoul are doing everything from banning diesels to pedestrianizing streets, there are other places where there simply are no cars.
Car-free cities come in many forms. Some are historic city centers that have banned cars in an effort to fight pollution and increase tourism. Other cities are car-free because of necessity; the narrow streets of Fes-al-Bali, Morocco make driving impossible. Still other places are rural, out-of-the-way villages with small populations and a reliance on boats, donkeys, and bicycles. And of course there are the canal cities?Venice immediately comes to mind?where water is a way of life. But whether residents travel by gondola or horse-drawn carriage, these towns offer a change of pace from the whirling engines and constant traffic of other big cities.
We?ve rounded up 14 car-free cities that will make you want to book a plane ticket, stat.
Ghent, Belgium

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The Post plaza in the city center of Ghent.

As Belgium?s second largest car-free area, the city center of Ghent did away with cars in 1996 in an effort to tackle persistent traffic jams and declining air quality. Encompassing about 86 acres of land, the car-free area opened up new possibilities for cycling inf...