Is Paris a new Amsterdam for cyclists?

Paris, once drowned out by the hum of traffic from the Pont Neuf down to the arteries of the Champs-Élysées, is enjoying a renaissance. Under the sweeping hand of Mayor Anne Hidalgo, the city is unfurling into a people-friendly utopia.

The latest change has seen two square miles of central Paris returned to the pedestrian and the cyclist - only residents, local businesses, and essential services may pass by car or van.

Hidalgo’s plans embody the ‘15-minute city’ – an often-misunderstood concept that simply ensures amenities are close by. The plans aim to transform Paris into a grid of hyper-locality, in which people’s local shop, their pharmacy, their school, their place of work, lies a brief stroll or quick pedal away.

Last month, a striking statistic came out of Paris: during morning and evening rush hours, bicycles now outnumber cars on key main roads across the city - by nearly 50%. Building on the policies of her predecessor, Bertrand Delanoë, Hidalgo has overseen a drop in driving within Paris of almost half since the early 1990s, while public transport use has grown by 30%, and cycling by about 1,000%.

What Paris is sketching out is surely a blueprint for an entire continent, a vision for Europe in miniature - a world where the onerous demands of cars give way to something far more human.

The ethical choice

The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. Over 30 years on, we continue to offer cycle insurance , breakdown cover  and mobility scooter insurance while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all we do.

The Good Shopping Guide judges us to be the UK's most ethical provider.

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