--- title: "Is Leicester walkable? Walkability score 75/100" description: "Leicester scores 75/100 for walkability (Very Walkable) across its central 5 km: how far it reaches and what's near the centre." url: https://howwalkable.com/cities/united-kingdom/leicester updated: 2026-10-22 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ --- 1. [Cities](https://howwalkable.com/cities) 2. [United Kingdom](https://howwalkable.com/cities/united-kingdom) 3. Leicester # How walkable is Leicester? By [Oscar Higson-Spence](https://howwalkable.com/about#author). Updated 22 October 2026 Leicester has a walkability score of 75 out of 100 across the 5 km around its centre, which makes it very walkable: most errands can be done on foot. It is the joint 13th most walkable of the 20 cities ranked in the United Kingdom, with 2 others. 75 out of 100: Very Walkable Most errands can be accomplished on foot. * #13 of 20 tied, in the United Kingdom * #201 of 690 tied, worldwide * 100 at the centre [Open on the map](https://howwalkable.com/?lat=52.63471&lon=-1.12799&q=Leicester%2C%20United%20Kingdom) ## What's within walking distance of the centre 2,309 shops, restaurants, parks and other everyday places are mapped within a 30 minute walk of central Leicester. The nearest grocery is about 3 minutes away on foot. Every category earns full or nearly full points. ### Groceries 3.0 of 3 points * Tesco Express, 3 min * Sainsbury's, 4 min * Europe Store Leicester, 4 min ### Restaurants & bars 3.0 of 3 points * Manhattan34, 1 min * The Real Ale Classroom, 1 min * The Exchange Bar, 1 min ### Shopping 2.0 of 2 points * Dean Hartwell Photography, 1 min * Okayla, 1 min * The Gap, 1 min ### Coffee 2.0 of 2 points * Grays Coffee Shop & Kitchen, 1 min * Curveside Bistro, 1 min * Macca Telecom & Internet Service, 3 min ### Banks 1.0 of 1 point * Leeds Building Society, 3 min * Nottingham Building Society, 3 min * Bradford & Bingley, 3 min ### Parks 1.0 of 1 point * Town Hall Square, 5 min * Museum Square Park, 9 min * Prebend Gardens, 10 min ### Schools 1.0 of 1 point * Goldstar Tutors, 2 min * The Woodland Pre-school, 6 min * Welcome Nurseries @ Millstone Lane, 9 min ### Books & libraries 1.0 of 1 point * Got Enough Books, 1 min * TGJones, 5 min * WHSmith, 5 min ### Culture & entertainment 1.0 of 1 point * Curve, 1 min * Highlight Comedy Club, 3 min * The Soundhouse Leicester, 4 min Measured from the centre at 52.6347, -1.1280, the point near Leicester's middle with the most places in walking range. Walking times assume 80 m per minute along an estimated street route. ## Street layout Within 800 m of the centre there are about 220 street intersections per km², and blocks average 64 m long. That is a well-connected street grid, so the score is not reduced. ## How far walkability reaches Leicester's score of 75 is the average across the 5 km around its centre, the point with the most everyday places within a walk. Walkability averages 97 within 1 km of the centre, 85 from 1 to 3 km out and 66 from 3 to 5 km out. 63% of the sampled area scores 70 or more, where most errands can be done on foot. Walkability falls off steeply away from the centre, so check a specific address on the map. ![Walkability scores across the 5 km around central Leicester, one hexagon per square kilometre. 63% of points score 70 or more; the lowest, 28, is 4 km to the south-east.](https://howwalkable.com/maps/united-kingdom/leicester.svg?v=a20c7fb5a47c) Each hexagon is the score at a point, 1 km from its neighbours, across the 5 km around central Leicester. Rings mark 1, 3 and 5 km from the centre. Gaps are water or land without streets. | Area | Score | Scoring 70+ | Points sampled | | ------------- | ----- | ----------- | -------------- | | Centre | 100 | 100% | 1 | | Within 1 km | 97 | 100% | 7 | | 1 to 3 km out | 85 | 86% | 29 | | 3 to 5 km out | 66 | 44% | 48 | ## Nearby cities | City | Distance | Score | | --------------------------------------------------------------- | -------- | ----- | | [Nottingham](https://howwalkable.com/cities/united-kingdom/nottingham), United Kingdom | 35 km | 81 | | [Coventry](https://howwalkable.com/cities/united-kingdom/coventry), United Kingdom | 36 km | 73 | | [Birmingham](https://howwalkable.com/cities/united-kingdom/birmingham), United Kingdom | 55 km | 82 | | [Sheffield](https://howwalkable.com/cities/united-kingdom/sheffield), United Kingdom | 86 km | 75 | | [Manchester](https://howwalkable.com/cities/united-kingdom/manchester), United Kingdom | 119 km | 86 | ## Questions about walking in Leicester ### Is Leicester a walkable city? Around its centre, yes. Leicester has a walkability score of 75 out of 100 across the 5 km around its centre, which makes it very walkable: most errands can be done on foot. Its centre scores 100. The score covers about 80 km² around the busiest point rather than the whole city, and suburbs further out are usually less walkable, so check a specific address on the map. It ranks joint 13th of 20 cities in the United Kingdom and joint 201st of 690 worldwide on How Walkable. ### What is the most walkable city in the United Kingdom? London is the most walkable of the 20 cities ranked in the United Kingdom, with a score of 98. Leicester ranks joint 13th with 75. ### How does Leicester compare with nearby cities? Leicester sits between its nearest ranked neighbours: it scores 75, against Nottingham (81, 35 km away), Coventry (73, 36 km away) and Birmingham (82, 55 km away). ### Which part of Leicester is most walkable? Leicester's most walkable area is its centre, the point near the middle of the city with the most places in walking range, which scores 100. Walkability averages 97 within 1 km of it. Beyond 2.5 km, it holds up best to the south (averaging 79) and falls most to the south-east (60). ### How is Leicester's walkability score calculated? For Leicester it is the average of 84 points spaced 1 km apart within 5 km of its busiest point, leaving out water and land without streets; 53 of them score 70 or more. Each point counts groceries, restaurants, shops, cafés, banks, parks, schools, libraries and cultural venues within a 30 minute walk, gives nearer places more weight, and loses up to 20% where streets are sparse or blocks are long, using open map data from Overture Maps (release 2026-09-23.1) and OpenStreetMap. It measures what is within a walk, not what the walk is like: pavements, traffic, safety, hills and heat are not part of the score. This page is generated from open map data with a published walkability method, explained in the [methodology](https://howwalkable.com/methodology). Places from Overture Maps release 2026-09-23.1. City position and population from GeoNames. Ask about walking anywhere in ChatGPT with the [How Walkable app](https://chatgpt.com/plugins/plugin_asdk_app_6accc634bcf8819189c1bcaf0e227f0f), for example "How walkable is Leicester?" Scores, rankings and text by How Walkable (https://howwalkable.com), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/); credit How Walkable and link to this page when reusing them.