Where Are Some Of The Quietest Big Cities In The World? (apartment, hotel)

[tijlover]

As a member of Noisefree America, having read about Mayor Bloomberg's quest to become the quietest big city in the U.S., I recently visited there and was awestruck at how quiet such a big city can be. I noticed the signs in the neighborhoods ($250-$350 fines for honking your horn), the near abscense of those annoying loud, thumping boom cars (I stayed in Harlem when I was there) and the abscence of car alarms going off all hours of the day and night (I had read where car alarms were going to be illegal in NYC) and I was puzzled as to the few police sirens I heard.

Having taken a number of previous trips throughout Noisey Central and South America, it was such a great relief to my ears to spend 5 days in NYC.

So what are they doing about controlling the unhealthful effects of noise in other parts of the world? Where else can I travel to, one day, where it will be a relatively quiet place to spend time in?

[Xpat]

IMHO, it has more to do with the culture than anything else.

Zurich. Quiet electric trains, no honking horns, reserved, polite, non-noisy people.

Rome. Loud cars, horns, screaming in streets...but also passion, joy, and a great sense of humor.

[El Rhino]

Montevideo, Uruguay. Not the largest city in the world, but I believe it has a population around a million or so. That place is so quiet and tranquil it's almost eerie.

I guess it's also considered one of the safest large cities in the world. Honestly, the fact that it was so quiet and everyone just seemed to be stirring sketched me out and made it feel unsafe.

[chilaili]

St Paul, Minnesota
So quiet that several years ago it was nominated the most boring city in North America (VERY different to its reputation in the 1930s!)

[tijlover]

I was in Montivedeo last April, and now that I think about, it was one of the quieter cities I encountered in South America. Been to Rome years ago, and I remember it being very noisey. It wouldn't surprise me that Switzerland would be a quiet destination. St. Paul? I lived in the Twin Cities for too long and have no desire to return there for a vacation.

Some of the noisiest areas of the world I've traveled are Mexico and Central America: choruses of Roosters waking you up at 5 in the morning cockle-doodling all over town, the blaring loud speakers atop vans and trucks prowling the streets all day advertising this and that, the blaring loud speakers outside electronics stores which you can hear blocks away, the loud disco music at night from bars (make sure you don't have a room within 3-4 blocks of one of these), the chorus of car alarms, and my biggest pet peeve is these loud, thumping boom cars which completely un-nerves me everytime one passes by me in the streets. Even once inside your hotel room, you still may not get a good night's sleep as some desk clerk might be playing the TV or radio in the lobby extra-loud during the night. I love Central America but I always take along a good supply of 33 decibel ear plugs, and even then, they sometimes fail me at night.

I understand the cultural differences but not everyone in those cultures is comfortable with noise. I have had a Mexican tenant in my house for 10 years now and he hates noise, is always there to urge me to call the police if there's a loud party going on down the street. The large increase in gated, association-controlled residential areas throughout Latin America is very telling: they're tired of all the unwarranted noise?

[lucillenyc]

Guadalajara, Mexico sure wouldn't be on that list. Let's see - I'm woken up by barking dogs or cow bells each morning (the garbagemen announce themselves with cow bells). All day, I hear buses and traffic (not a lot of horns, surprisingly) and church bells. There are low flying airplanes and trucks making announcements. The gas truck comes around with a jingle. The guy who sharpens knives has a particular whisle. Car alarms go on and off all day. Sometimes they go on for hours. And then at night, a nearby rock bar has live music until 2:30 am. Luckily, it's a rare occurance that building alarms go off all night long. (But it has certainly happened.)

I'm pretty much used to it, but I do miss my QUIET NY apartment!

[pll]

Boise, Idaho.

[mrkool]

Originally Posted by pll

Boise, Idaho.

Yeah, now there's a large city! WTF?

[shreypete]

Switzerland
Finland
Norway
Iceland
Greenland
Faroese Islands

[jtur88]

Cities in the Arab world are very quiet at night---so quiet, you can hear the call to prayer from the nearby mosque.