The paper discusses the perception of windiness in the urban environment and especially its visual aspects. Various urban spaces in two cities, both with a reputation of being windy, have been chosen for field studies. Perceived windiness of the spaces has been investigated through questionnaire surveys and on-site interviews simultaneous to climate measurements. Result: Windy has a negative connotation that interacts with other environmental aspects such as beauty and comfort. Also naturalness and mental images of what constitutes sheltered and windy places seem to influence the survey as well as the on-site assessments of windiness.