Happiness doesn’t come from just one thing. That’s why Time Out’s annual best cities survey asked 18,500 city dwellers across the world for their thoughts on everything from the quality of their city’s transport and green spaces to the vibrancy of its culture and nightlife, to its sense of community and inclusivity. Basically, any aspect of the city that could contribute to their overall contentment.
But that wasn’t enough. On top of all that, we wanted to know how far our respondents agreed with the following statements: ‘I feel happier in my city than other places I’ve lived’, ‘the people in my city seem positive’, ‘I find joy in the everyday experiences my city offers’, ‘the sense of happiness in my city has grown a lot recently’, and overall, ‘my city makes me happy’.
We gathered responses from all corners of the continent – from Vienna to Zurich, Tallinn to Tbilisi and Bilbao to Porto. And now the results are in. We can reveal that London is the sixth happiest city in Europe for 2025. While it’s certainly not all sunshine and rainbows in the Big Smoke, Londoners do have plenty of things to feel good about.
Sure, everyone loves to complain about the Underground, but our survey found 86 percent of Londoners feel positive about our public transport, making the Big Smoke the number one city in Europe for transport right now. Elsewhere, 93 percent of Londoners rated the food scene here ‘good’ or ‘excellent’, 75 percent rated the city’s nightlife highly and 78 percent agreed that they’d describe it as ‘inclusive’. It also emerged as the third best city in the world for green spaces, with 87 percent of residents agreeing that its offering of and access to parks, forests, gardens and natural beauty is ‘good’ or ‘excellent’.
Of course, there’s plenty of room for improvement, and London lost major points for its high costs. Just 35 percent of our London-based respondents agreed that eating out here is budget-friendly and a mere 15 percent agreed that a night out is good value. And good luck finding love – only 28 percent of Londoners told us that the dating scene here is decent.
Europe’s 10 happiest cities in 2025, according to locals
- Seville
- Brighton
- Porto
- Valencia
- Glasgow
- London
- Bilbao
- Lisbon
- Edinburgh
- Madrid
Read the full ranking of the happiest cities in Europe in 2025 here.
What is the happiest city in the world?
Our survey didn’t just gather opinions from European cities, it spanned the entire world. Overall, Abu Dhabi emerged as the planet’s happiest city, with a near perfect 99 percent of locals agreeing that their hometown makes them happy. The only two UK cities that made the top 20 globally were Brighton and Glasgow.
The world’s happiest cities in 2025, according to locals.
Get the latest and greatest from the Big Smoke – from news and reviews to events and trends. Just follow our Time Out London WhatsApp channel.
Stay in the loop: sign up for our free Time Out London newsletter for the best of the city, straight to your inbox.
