Britain’s most beautiful places
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder: you may find it in historic architecture, a glittering lake or a mountain view. Luckily, Britain has a lot to offer, whatever your tastes.
Compare the Market has created an index of beautiful places by looking at features including listed buildings, lakes, walking trails and hills and mountains, as well as Instagram hashtags. So, to find out where the most beautiful places are in Britain read on…
The Scottish Highlands is the most beautiful place in Britain
- Scottish Highlands - Known for its glorious scenery, the Scottish Highlands has the most lochs (303) and hills and mountains (4,887) in Britain, making it the most beautiful location. The Highlands also boasts 776 walking trails and 4,513 listed buildings.
- Devon – It’s not just beaches and coastline – Devon also has the most listed buildings (19,206) of all the locations we looked at. With so much history to explore, it's no wonder it ranks in second place.
- Cornwall – Tourist hotspot Cornwall has over eight million hashtags on Instagram. The region’s 248 hills and mountains make for stunning backdrops to its dazzling coastline. And there are 380 walking routes to choose from.
- Edinburgh - The fourth most beautiful place in Britain (and second in Scotland) is Edinburgh. The city boasts 9,871 listed buildings, so it’s no surprise it also has the most hashtags overall on Instagram, topping 10 million.
- Kent - Known as the ‘Garden of England’, Kent takes the fifth spot with 17,347 listed buildings rich in history and over 500 walking routes for taking in the stunning surroundings.
- Essex - Located in the east of England, with its southern borders running along the River Thames, Essex ranks in the sixth position with 14,014 listed buildings and 271 walking trails.
- Glasgow - A cultural hub full of 19th-century Victorian architecture, the City of Glasgow has 4,699 listed buildings.
- Greater London – Greener than the city centre, Greater London has 532 walking trails to choose from. It also features over 18,000 listed buildings, second only to Devon.
- Norfolk - Known for its scenic coastline, picturesque countryside and spectacular beaches, it's no surprise to see Norfolk featuring in the top 10. There are nearly 300 walking trails for taking in the area’s natural beauty.
- Suffolk - This south-eastern county is home to beautiful countryside with 279 walking trails available to take it all in.
Although 30th in the overall index, Powys ranks as the most beautiful place in Wales, encompassing a wild landscape of valleys and 801 mountains and hills. The largest county in Wales, Powys also has 5,489 listed buildings and 260 walking trails.
Here’s a full list of the top 20 most beautiful locations:
|
Rank
|
Place
|
Country
|
Number of Lakes
|
Number of Hills & Mountains
|
Instagram Hashtags Volume
|
Number of Listed Buildings
|
Number of Walking Trials
|
|
1
|
Scottish Highlands
|
Scotland
|
303
|
4,887
|
79,687
|
4,513
|
776
|
|
2
|
Devon
|
England
|
6
|
441
|
4,817,627
|
19,206
|
595
|
|
3
|
Cornwall
|
England
|
5
|
248
|
8,728,288
|
12,627
|
380
|
|
4
|
Edinburgh
|
Scotland
|
1
|
24
|
10,272,888
|
9,871
|
139
|
|
5
|
Kent
|
England
|
6
|
43
|
4,705,177
|
17,347
|
524
|
|
6
|
Essex
|
England
|
6
|
25
|
5,655,593
|
14,014
|
271
|
|
7
|
Glasgow
|
Scotland
|
0
|
9
|
7,932,725
|
4,699
|
104
|
|
8
|
Greater London
|
England
|
7
|
41
|
50,638
|
18,643
|
532
|
|
9
|
Norfolk
|
England
|
10
|
22
|
4,091,225
|
10,917
|
291
|
|
10
|
Suffolk
|
England
|
3
|
4
|
2,440,983
|
13,445
|
279
|
|
11
|
Lancashire
|
England
|
9
|
98
|
1,463,230
|
14,014
|
497
|
|
12
|
Cumbria
|
England
|
21
|
1,216
|
1,874,049
|
7,639
|
1,327
|
|
13
|
Somerset
|
England
|
5
|
153
|
2,191,866
|
11,760
|
417
|
|
14
|
Surrey
|
England
|
13
|
44
|
4,621,754
|
6,623
|
767
|
|
15
|
North Yorkshire
|
England
|
13
|
235
|
1,164,760
|
12,291
|
844
|
|
16
|
Dorset
|
England
|
1
|
123
|
2,801,544
|
9,725
|
293
|
|
17
|
Gloucestershire
|
England
|
3
|
82
|
950,371
|
12,988
|
402
|
|
18
|
Oxfordshire
|
England
|
6
|
30
|
1,186,717
|
12,215
|
383
|
|
19
|
Hampshire
|
England
|
2
|
77
|
1,889,109
|
10,921
|
887
|
|
20
|
Wiltshire
|
England
|
2
|
88
|
1,052,852
|
12,325
|
261
|
Brought to you by our life insurance experts at Compare the Market.
Methodology:
To find the most beautiful places in Britain, a weighted ranking system was used based on the number of listed buildings, lakes, hills and mountains and Instagram hashtag data. We did also look at the number of walking trails for each location. Every factor was looked at for 102 locations across Great Britain excluding Northern Ireland due to unavailable data. To calculate the overall most beautiful places ranking, each factor was scored out of 10 before taking an average for each location.