London loses top spot as Brits crown their favourite UK unexpected city in 2024

Posted by Admin April 15, 2024 Travel

When you think of the UK there are plenty of cities to go and visit.

But do you have a particular fave when it comes to nightlife, eating out or overall attractions?

Well, it turns out Brits have voted for their favourite UK city and the capital has lost out this year. This is according to a recent YouGov survey, which found York came top thanks to scoring a staggering 74% of the vote.

According to the York Tourism Board, just under 3 million people went to visit the city. There is plenty to see and do while you’re there with the National Railway Museum, York Castle and York Minister are just some of the attractions to name a few.

York saw a whopping 8.9 million visitors come to the city in 2022 – 1.2 million of them came from overseas.

It comes as no surprise that York came top thanks to being the UK’s ‘friendliest’ place according to travel site Restless.co.uk.

Let’s not forget that York was also dubbed one of the most ‘welcoming’ cities in the world by Booking.com.

Here are the most popular cities in the UK, according to YouGov.

York – 74%

Edinburgh – 71%

London – 60%

Cambridge – 60%

Oxford – 58%

Durham – 57%

Brighton – 57%

Manchester – 57%

Portsmouth – 55%

Newcastle upon Tyne – 55%

Liverpool – 54%

Bristol – 54%

Exeter – 54%

Cardiff – 51%

Plymouth – 51%

Glasgow – 50%

Norwich – 48%

Belfast – 47%

Poole – 46%

Gloucester – 46%

The research also found that 63% of people only had a positive opinion of London.

Overall, the capital dropped down to third place on the list. By the way, 17% of participants even went as far as saying they disliked the city and another 20% said they had no opinion of London at all.

This follows as London was rated the best city in Europe for 2024 by Resonance Consultancy last month.

The report said: “For the second year in a row, London reigns over all European cities. Despite crippling Covid lockdowns and economic devastation. Despite Brexit. Despite a war in Europe.

“The city is top of mind for students, foreign investors and tourists, all eager to get back out and plug into a place that topped all three of our overall indices: Livability, Lovability and Prosperity.”