10 Of The Most Scenic Urban Walks In The UK

Posted on 11/09/2021 by Boris Clair

You are reading Anywhere But Here, our summer-long series on travel at home and abroad, serving up the information and inspiration you need

If there’s one thing that lockdown has made us value more, it’s going for a walk. Part of the joy in walking is discovering new and scenic areas – and you don’t have to live in the countryside to enjoy a beautiful stroll.

New research from Premier Inn has revealed the most picturesque urban walks in the UK, by analysing the walks in big towns and cites with the most Instagram photos per kilometre.

London was revealed as having some of the most picturesque urban walks, with four of the top five Instagrammed walks being located in the city.

London’s Parkland Walk was found to be the most Instagrammed overall. It stretches from Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace and measures just under five kilometres in length. It has 2,131 hashtags per kilometre of the route and follows the course of an old railway line, with several points where you can take a good picture for the gram, including sculptures and graffiti artwork.

In second place with over 850 hashtags per kilometre is the Queen’s Walk in Southbank, London, and Regent’s Canal Walk also in London ranks in fourth place, with 447 hashtags per kilometre of its 14.5km route.

Other routes outside of London include The Forth and Clyde Canal Towpath in Scotland, which ranks in 8 place with 193 hashtags per kilometre, whilst routes in Durham and Leeds rank in 9 and 10 places.

Want to find other scenic routes in the UK? Here’s the top 10 in full:

1. Parkland Walk, London, 2131 hashtags per KM

2. The Queen’s Walk, Southbank, London, 856 hashtags per Km

3. Bath City Walk, Somerset, 820 hashtags per KM

4. Regent’s Canal Walk, London, 820 hashtags per KM

5. Thames Path, London, 349 hashtags per KM

6. Derry City Walls Walk, Londonderry, 343 hashtags per KM

7. Cambridge Colleges Walk, Cambridgeshire, 234 hashtags per KM

8. Forth & Clyde Canal Towpath, 193 hashtags per KM

9. Durham (River Banks & Maiden Castle), 182 hashtags per KM

10. Leeds, (Civic Centre & Canal), 129 hashtags per KM

Travel is the story of our summer. The rules (and traffic lights) are always changing, but one thing’s clear, we dream of being Anywhere But Here. This seasonal series offers you clear-headed travel advice, ideas-packed staycation guides, clever swaps and hacks, and a healthy dose of wanderlust.

20 Most Picturesque Places To Move To In The UK

Posted on 05/09/2021 by Boris Clair

Lockdown has made us reassess the way we see our homes. Having spent more than 18 months being cooped up inside, many of us are considering a change of scenery.

More than a quarter of UK homeowners (29%) say they want to move house this year to get more outside space, according to the newest Home Improvement Trends Report from the tradesperson site Rated People. A quarter (25%) also want a bigger home.

And what better place to move than somewhere that is Instagram-worthy?

As part of the report, researchers analysed Instagram hashtag data for over 500 towns and cities in the UK and compared this with each place’s population size, to reveal the locations that people want to photograph the most.

Durham is seen as the most Intstagram-worthy place to live as it’s surrounded by the River Wear and boasts a beautiful romanesque cathedral. Over 2.5 million photos of Durham have been shared on Instagram, even though the population is just over 50,000 people. That means for every person there are 50 photos shared online, making it the UK’s most photographed city.

Cornish surfing town Newquay makes the list as the second most scenic place in the UK, with 42 photos shared per capita, and Stamford in Lincolnshire is third, with 32 photos.

If you’re thinking about moving or visiting somewhere new, here are 20 of the most picturesque places.

1. Durham, 2,601,061 Instagram photos

2. Newquay, 909,883 Instagram photos

3. Stamford, 653,624 Instagram photos

4. Scarborough, 1,901,394 Instagram photos

5. Manchester, 16,468,992 Instagram photos

6. Brighton, 7,075,737 Instagram photos

7. Cambridge, 4,319,044 Instagram photos

8. Falmouth, 684,587 Instagram photos

9. York, 4,554,540 Instagram photos

10. Warwick, 851,832 Instagram photos

11. Merseyside, Liverpool 14,833,871 Instagram photos

12. Oxford, 146,065 Instagram photos

13. Tyne and Wear, Newcastle upon Tyne, 5,646,656 Instagram photos

14. Edinburgh, 9,581,542 Instagram photos

15. London, 150,696,691 Instagram photos

16. Ely, Cambridgeshire, 335,558 Instagram photos

17. Canterbury, Kent, 1,028,006 Instagram photos

18. Devon, 822,303, Instagram photos

19. Margate, Kent, 870,828 Instagram photos

20. Inverness, Highland, 621,240 Instagram photos

6 Stunning Flower Fields To Visit On Your Summer Staycation

Posted on 14/08/2021 by Boris Clair

You are reading Anywhere But Here, our summer-long series on travel at home and abroad, serving up the information and inspiration you need.

When we see a beautiful field of flowers, it makes us want to do one of two things: pick them or post a pic of them.

Well, we’re in luck, as it’s the Flower Farmers’ Big Weekend from August 13-15 – an invitation for flower lovers to meet growers from across the UK, explore their fields, pick an arm (or posy) full, where allowed – and generally learn what goes on behind the scenes to produce these incredible blooms.

In fact, the PYO (pick-your-own) flower scene is only growing in popularity in this country, so much so that the team at holidaycottages.co.uk have rounded up some of the prettiest flower fields to visit over the summer months.

Try not snapping this lot to the gram – we know you won’t be able to resist.

1. Dahlia Beach, Millets Farm, Oxfordshire

Millets Farm claims to be the UK’s largest pick-your-own spot for dahlias – very much the flower of the moment. As well as PYO, the farm runs workshops, such as a guide to growing borders, which takes place on the pink double decker Dahlia Beach bus.

2. Strawberry Fields, Lifton, Devon

Lifton Farm marks the changing of the seasons with an evolving range of pick-your-own experiences from strawberries to maize to sunflowers to pumpkins. August is very much sunflower time – and the farm shop is also worth a visit.

Strawberry Fields, Lifton, Devon, PL16 0DE

3. Flower Fields at Wyke Manor Estate, Worcestershire

As well as more sunflowers, the main attraction at Wyke Manor Estate is the Confetti Field, which is harvested to create petal confetti every summer. Check out the virtual field online first to plot your day.

Wick, Pershore, Worcestershire WR10 3NZ

4. Vine House Farm, Lincolnshire

Vine House Farm’s main business is bird food, but their sunflower fields are also spectacular and best seen in August. Don’t miss the shop and cafe too.

Main Road, Deeping St Nicholas, Spalding PE11 3DG

5. Blooming Green, Kent

Blooming Green’s pick-your-own haven is open every Saturday between June and October, and is particularly popular with those doing a DIY wedding. Flowers don’t get much fresher and the tea and cake is also rated very highly.

Loddington Farm, Linton, Maidstone ME17 4AG

6. Cairnie Fruit Farm, Fife

Cairnie Fruit Farm spans 120 acres of Scottish countryside and is open between June and September to visitors. It’s hard to pick what to pick: succulent berries and cherries or sunflowers and other blooms from the beautiful fields of Fife.

Cairnie, Cupar KY15 4QD