Best and Worst Places you've Been

[bramling]

Luton at least is very well provided with ways to get out of it.

Yes if you don't get stuck in traffic first or breathe in too much pollution on the way!

I've never understood how Luton came to be so awful. Even some of the other suspects likely to end up on a 'crap towns' list have redeeming features, for example the likes of Burnley or Bradford are surrounded by beautiful countryside and aren't too densely populated. Luton has all the negative features, plus it's permanently congested. Yet it's in no way deprived relative to other places in the U.K.

 

[Cowley]

Luton at least is very well provided with ways to get out of it.

I don't think I've ever been to Luton and you folks are definitely not making me want to.

 

[FQ]

I tend to prefer rural areas that probably won't me known by many. My favourite place is probably Essex in Montana (USA), although there are some excellent places in the UK too. Going for towns/cities though in no particular order:

Favourites
Manchester
Glasgow
Vancouver (Canada)
Seattle (USA)
Milton Keynes
Blaenau Ffestiniog
Many other places that I can't think of at the moment.

Least favourites
Luton (probably my least favourite - It's absolutely horrific, as is Dunstable)
Dunstable
Holyhead
Blackpool
Coventry
Nottingham
Saskatoon (Canada)
Assiniboia (Canada)
Wigan
Doncaster
Nuneaton (not so bad, but still worth mentioning)
Wolverhampton (same as Nuneaton)
Leicester (again, not so bad)
Blackburn
Skegness
The list goes on.

 

[EM2]

Though I would rate Birmingham, Knottingley, Castleford & Newhaven as bad as well.

Newhaven would probably get my vote as the worst place I know. I lived in Peacehaven for a while, but that at least seems to have a growing population and some investment.
Newhaven, however, is dying on its a***. The ring road has basically become a moat, and that means the town centre is almost abandoned.

 

[mikeg]

Favourites
Edinburgh (The 'New Town' is always my favourite)
Inverness
Blaenau Ffestiniog (Not much to do but I found the scenery amazing)
Whitby

Least favourites
Hull (or at least the bit around the station)
Settle (overrated and far too twee)
Rochdale (Spent ages being led in circles by the signs for the pioneer museum, didn't find it in time for my itinerary, a huge waste of time).

 

[MidnightFlyer]

I tend to prefer rural areas that probably won't me known by many. ...

Care to share? I'm feeling left out as the only one whose done it do far!

 

[Cowley]

Too many places in the world to think of a single one.

I loved Sri Lanka with its mountains and tea plantations and amazing beaches and people. Also went to an enormous waterfall that had semi precious stones in the lake at the bottom.
I love some of the lakes and mountains in Northern Italy.
Devon and Cornwall do it for me even though I've lived here nearly all my life (going up to Dartmoor in a minute for some fresh air).
The West Highlands - Arisaig, Morar, well just so much of that area really. Stunning.
Parts of the South Island in New Zealand blew me away, although the West Highlands are arguably as impressive and a lot nearer!
I hear Luton's nice too.

Places I don't like: Just soulless dreary generic town centres really, with everyone walking around looking the same, with the same shopping bags, haircuts, styles and doing the same drone like things as each other on a dank grey day. There's quite a few places in the UK like it including some down here.

 

[Steveman]

Hackney, Peckham and Tower Hamlets take some beating for hell holes.

Having worked for 6 months in Canada I'd say it certainly has some of the most fantastic places to live in the world.

 

[me123]

In no way comprehensive:

UK

Best
Glasgow
Edinburgh
Elgin
York
Manchester
Conwy

Cardiff has the potential to join the above, but I haven't had much time to explore it.

Worst
Coatbridge
Aberdeen
Rhyl (how has this not appeared on anyone's list yet?)
Blackpool
Cumbernauld

Internationally

Best
Roma, Italia
Barcelona, Catalunya
New York City, USA
Washington DC, USA

Worst
Napoli, Italia
Roquetas de Mar, España
(I've actually been very lucky and not gone to many crap places outside the UK).

 

[Calthrop]

Least favourites

...Holyhead...

...Skegness...

I've been to Holyhead twice, in the sense of actually getting off transport and looking around: first in 1980, second a couple of months ago. I thought it a likeable-enough place, in agreeable surroundings, with inhabitants whom I encountered, perfectly OK; on my recent visit, though -- in contrast with that nearly 40 years before -- it looked and felt very economically depressed and run-down. Would that be what gave you bad vibes about the town?

From my only visit to Skegness venturing outside of the station: I got the feel of a brash, unashamedly down-market seaside resort -- albeit less popular than in former days -- so very "naff", as to be quite charming. This visit was on a bitterly-cold winter day, so I did less exploring, than if conditions had been nicer.

Parts of the South Island in New Zealand blew me away, although the West Highlands are arguably as impressive and a lot nearer!

And not infested with bloody hobbits...

 

[Calthrop]

Worst

...Rhyl (how has this not appeared on anyone's list yet?)...

Yes, Rhyl in winter, is mega-depressing; maybe it's more cheery in summer (one can hope)...

 

[Howardh]

I'm quite surprised no-one has said Venice - at least for worst tourist place. I only went once as a nipper, couldn't see what all the fuss was about, smelly place with dirty canals and overloaded with other tourists thinking what all the fuss was about.

 

[anti-pacer]

BEST BIG CITIES

London
Edinburgh
Bristol
Cardiff
Nottingham
Newcastle


WORST BIG CITIES

Bradford
Manchester
Stoke-on-Trent
Coventry

BEST OF THE REST

Broadstairs
Canterbury
Weymouth
St Ive's (both actually)
Cromer
Llandudno
Gower
Lincoln
Whitby
York
Harrogate
Tynemouth
Crail
St Andrews
Dornoch
Ullapool

WORST OF THE REST

Blackburn
Oldham
Bolton
Wakefield (where I live)
Dewsbury
Whitehaven
Barrow-in-Fitness
Blackpool
East Ham (in fact, much of East London)
Woolwich

 

[Merseysider]

I'm quite surprised no-one has said Venice - at least for worst tourist place. I only went once as a nipper, couldn't see what all the fuss was about, smelly place with dirty canals and overloaded with other tourists thinking what all the fuss was about.

Good point. I spent one night there last year - hideously expensive. Wouldn't go back unless I won the lottery or something. Ended up fare dodging "accidentally" forgetting to buy a ticket on one of the water buses - I'd already paid €7.50 for one ticket the day before, sod paying that again

 

[PeterY]

Luton at least is very well provided with ways to get out of it.

Luton and Slough locally. The best bit about Slough is cycling around the outskirts to stop off, for a tea at Windsor.

I love Northern Ireland, North Yorkshire and the Isle of Wight. I just love being thrown around in the LT stock

 

[Busaholic]

Newhaven would probably get my vote as the worst place I know. I lived in Peacehaven for a while, but that at least seems to have a growing population and some investment.
Newhaven, however, is dying on its a***. The ring road has basically become a moat, and that means the town centre is almost abandoned.

Unless Dover has improved dramatically since I knew it in the 1980s, then I would definitely include it in the worst. I believe Bill Bryson had a similar experience in 'Notes from a Small Island'! Chatham and Gillingham too.

 

[joshy.fre_2003]

*look at all the worst places, now look how many of those are in the north of England..* No surprise with some of those towns, it really is bad in some places up here!

 

[fowler9]

*look at all the worst places, now look how many of those are in the north of England..* No surprise with some of those towns, it really is bad in some places up here!

To be honest mate I thought the south seems to be very well represented for worst places. Can't say I have done the maths myself mind.

 

[Busaholic]

Maybe a 'most disappointing place' category might be included too. I didn't go to Newport expecting too much and my one experience of the place confirmed my expectations, but I did have slightly higher hopes of Swindon and much higher hopes of Torquay and, especially, Brighton. The latter can possibly be put down to the circumstances of my visit, being at a conference hundreds of miles from home where I knew none of the other participants and at a time when I was at a low ebb emotionally, but I did feel its virtues were oversold.

 

[NoMorePacers]

Best places: Scarborough. I just like the immersion and feel of it. Took the train there last week too. Beverley is also a nice place, and has a delicious cake shop inside Debenhams.
Worst place: Hull. I live here, and its godawful. Ugly, derelict buildings, dirty streets, looks like nobody ever cared about it. Marina the only half-decent place. In the city centre, they sticker the closed shops with city of culture stickers. I could take some photos to show you what I mean.

 

[anti-pacer]

*look at all the worst places, now look how many of those are in the north of England..* No surprise with some of those towns, it really is bad in some places up here!

As a Northerner, I agree.

It seems though that Northerners, especially those from Yorkshire will jump to its defence, without actually doing anything to look after it. I call that "talking the talk without walking the walk".

A previous post mentioned Hull's dirty streets and it not looking cared for. That's duplicated right across the North. I'm not saying the South and Midlands are spotless, but they're certainly cleaner and more looked after than the North, in most cases.

This said, a lot of the North is actually very nice. It's not all bitter and litter, grime and crime.

 

[bramling]

To be honest mate I thought the south seems to be very well represented for worst places. Can't say I have done the maths myself mind.

Yes there's just as many bad places down south. Parts of London for a start, and in my experience Luton has the edge over some of the notorious names up north - and I speak from the point of view of having been round some of the rougher parts of the likes of Hull, Burnley, Middlesbrough etc.

Having said that, Hattersley in Manchester is pretty bad, but again it's still only a relatively small area. Somewhere like Luton is bad pretty much throughout.

 

[flymo]

Best of favourite for me is Perth, Australia. Love that place.
I'd love to go back to Wellington NZ too again one day.

UK-wise, probably Torbay is my favourite place, the whole area, or at least it used to be.
Always had a soft spot for Fort William too.

Least favourite - Blackpool, Weston-Super-Mare and the least favourite of all is Holyhead. What a depressing place. !

 

[Calthrop]

Least favourite - Blackpool, Weston-Super-Mare and the least favourite of all is Holyhead. What a depressing place. !

As upthread -- poor unloved Holyhead ! I didn't find it that awful, even on recent visit...

 

[NoMorePacers]

This said, a lot of the North is actually very nice. It's not all bitter and litter, grime and crime.

I have to agree with you there, just outside Hull, there are some really nice places, problem is, persuading me to go back home...

 

[61653 HTAFC]

This is an interesting thread, I could have many candidates for worst and best, so I've decided to just list my top and bottom three, one of each being overseas:

best:
Hebden Bridge: inclusive, liberal and very friendly, with an excellent selection of watering holes.
Dusseldorf: very friendly with great transport links and lovely hostelries, especially in the "altstadt".
Manchester: a varied nightlife, and the closest the UK has to a modern European city.

worst:
Leeds: congested, full of far too much post-war architecture and road-schemes, and home to an obnoxious set of football supporters.
London: lots of good things such as a very cosmopolitan make-up, but an awful lot of self-important idiots who assume anybody with a regional accent is an idiot.
Hameln, NordRhein-Westfalen: other than the fairy tale connection, there's nothing about this small town to recommend it. Very suspicious of outsiders and the town seems to have put all it's eggs in the tourism basket leading to widespread youth inactivity and drug abuse. Like an inland version of Blackpool.

 

[Bletchleyite]

As upthread -- poor unloved Holyhead ! I didn't find it that awful, even on recent visit...

Holyhead is just a typical North Wales "local's town" - i.e. not really for tourists. If anything I find Bangor to be rougher.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Having said that, Hattersley in Manchester is pretty bad, but again it's still only a relatively small area. Somewhere like Luton is bad pretty much throughout.

I don't know, Leagrave is sort-of part of Luton and that's quite nice.

 

[yorksrob]

Best places: Scarborough. I just like the immersion and feel of it. Took the train there last week too. Beverley is also a nice place, and has a delicious cake shop inside Debenhams.
Worst place: Hull. I live here, and its godawful. Ugly, derelict buildings, dirty streets, looks like nobody ever cared about it. Marina the only half-decent place. In the city centre, they sticker the closed shops with city of culture stickers. I could take some photos to show you what I mean.

I've always found Hull Old Town to be a fascinating and enjoyable visit (on account of plenty of pubs).

 

[bramling]

I don't know, Leagrave is sort-of part of Luton and that's quite nice.

I wouldn't describe it as nice. Maybe at a push compared to other parts of Luton. The nearby Marsh Farm estate is pretty awful, and remains fairly notorious locally.