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I work as a software developer in a part of the world that has a lot of road / traffic noise. I live in Europe and want to move countries, to somewhere quieter. Due to my job, it would have to be near a city (most likely) to get a job, but I want to move to the quietest place possible. After some research, I've noticed that several European cities have introduced 'car bans', but they don't apply to motorcycles (these create a lot more noise) and only apply to specific areas usually.

So what are the options, what European locations fit these requirements?

Further info: I would prefer western Europe location suggestions from the Scandinavian / Nordic regions, to as far down as Switzerland / Italy.

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    I expect your question be closed because it's not travel related and pretty subjective. By why have you not considered remote work?
    – Peter M
    Feb 23, 2018 at 17:11
  • Many cities in Europe have bans on all motorized (or even all) traffic in parts of the city center, which means less motor noise, but as these walking areas often have shops with loud music, many people walking and talking, I am not sure you will think them quiet enough. But outside the cities you will find many quiet houses in countryside, often no more than half an hour walking from the city, so much less distance when traveling by any kind of transport. Even the crowded ones like the Netherlands.
    – Willeke ♦
    Feb 23, 2018 at 17:58

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This is going to be extremely difficult to answer with certainty since you have not specified a distance from city limit or a minimum size of city.

In Croatia there are a number of cities or areas within a city that are pedestrian only. To me this was a huge eye-opening, particularly noticeable when I arrived in a city which did have traffic (Zagred). It was so much more noisy and smelly than Dubrovnik, Korcula, Split and Zadar. Yet not of those places are that quiet since they are quite dense and busy cities (except Korcula).

It would be better if you were out of city for overall quietness, so choosing a smaller city which allows you to be out of the city while not being far would probably be best. Maybe a small city in Switzerland or Montenegro. Due to the landscape, both these countries have small cities with sparse quiet areas around, instead of the more common enormous metropolitan areas that sprawls into suburbs which is common elsewhere.

Northern Denmark also has relatively isolated towns in the north yet some are big enough to support a good number of tech companies. So if you allow yourself to be 30-45 minutes away from the city, you can find quiet places.

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  • Great answer, thanks. Would you be able to suggest some specific towns / cities in Denmark as I have liked the look of that country the most... :)
    – Cloud
    Feb 23, 2018 at 17:36
  • @Cloud At Google I collaborated with the office in Aarhus which is a rather small city in northern Denmark. Also Odense is similar in size so should have some tech companies yet these are small enough that you can stay in rural areas which are very quiet and still have a reasonably short commute.
    – Itai
    Feb 23, 2018 at 18:00
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If you are a Software Developer, it's becoming very common to find 100% remote jobs, so you can then choose the location and do not even need to work close to a city.

Therefore, if you decide to work remotely, the choices are just limitless.

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