Where to next?
Discover inspiring destinations, recommended by our in-house travel experts. Know the best places to go, who to book with and how to pay less.
Join Which? Travelfree member article
The best city breaks in the UK 2026
York, Liverpool and Edinburgh impress – but a small southern city did even better in our latest survey
Trevor Baker has almost 20 years experience as a travel writer, having lived in Spain before becoming an award-winning investigative journalist.
In this article
- The highest-rated large city
- Best large UK cities for a short break
- Why Bath and Lincoln top our table of medium-sized cities
- Best medium-sized UK cities for a short break
- Why Wells is the best small city
- Best small UK cities for a short break
- The best city breaks in Scotland
- The best city breaks in Wales
One of the UK's best cities for a weekend or a few days away is also one of its smallest.
When we asked over 3,000 people about the UK city breaks they'd taken in the past two years, the highest-rated was tiny Wells in Somerset. You could walk across it in half an hour, but along the way you'd see a magnificent cathedral, a splendid palace and a cobbled street that's barely changed since the 14th century.
It joins York (our best-rated large city) among the very best British city breaks – while Lincoln and Bath were the joint best-rated medium-sized cities.
Across the UK, Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff also impressed.
Before you book your next trip, see how your chosen city was rated for attractiveness, food and drink, value for money and more.
The highest-rated large city
York is also a delightful city to walk around, especially atop its 700-year-old perimeter walls.
Visitors loved the range of attractions, from the world-famous York Minster to lesser-known spots such as the (completely free) Railway Museum.
York got five stars for attractiveness, ease of getting around, cultural sites and accommodation.
If you can, try to visit out of season or on a weekday rather than the weekend. One visitor told us: 'York is a wonderful place to visit, but the downside is that does make it very popular and many of the streets are narrow and crowded.'
Best large UK cities for a short break
York (240) | 84% | £104 | |||||||||
Liverpool (173) | 83% | £93 | |||||||||
Edinburgh (247) | 82% | £139 | |||||||||
Belfast (80) | 81% | £119 | n/a | ||||||||
Newcastle-upon-Tyne (111) | 78% | £77 | |||||||||
Glasgow (139) | 76% | £96 | |||||||||
London (522) | 75% | £132 | |||||||||
Cardiff (117) | 73% | £95 | |||||||||
Portsmouth (70) | 72% | £77 | |||||||||
Bristol (147) | 71% | £85 | |||||||||
Manchester (155) | 71% | £89 | |||||||||
Leeds (103) | 69% | £85 | |||||||||
Brighton & Hove (115) | 67% | £99 | |||||||||
Plymouth (64) | 66% | £73 | |||||||||
Nottingham (79) | 65% | £78 | |||||||||
Sheffield (71) | 65% | £70 | |||||||||
Hull (45) | 63% | £55 | n/a | n/a | |||||||
Southampton (63) | 61% | £92 | |||||||||
Aberdeen (65) | 60% | £63 | n/a | ||||||||
Swansea (49) | 60% | £79 | n/a | ||||||||
Birmingham (126) | 57% | £67 | |||||||||
Milton Keynes (36) | 57% | £67 | n/a | n/a | n/a | ||||||
Derby (35) | 56% | £62 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | |||||
Bournemouth (92) | 55% | £87 |
Using the tables: Star ratings range from one to five. n/a indicates we didn’t receive enough responses to provide a rating. Average hotel rate from Kayak.co.uk, provided in October 2026. Cultural sights Includes range, quality and price of historic buildings, galleries, museums, parks and city tours. Ease of getting around includes range of public transport options, ease of understanding transport-related maps/information/transport ticket pricing systems, ease of walking/travelling between sights. City score Based on a combination of overall satisfaction and how likely people are to recommend the city as a holiday destination to a friend. Sample sizes in brackets
Why Bath and Lincoln top our table of medium-sized cities
Bath and Lincoln were the top-rated medium-sized cities, with 82%.
Bath is arguably more celebrated, with its beautifully preserved Roman baths, the Georgian houses of the Royal Crescent and its connection with Jane Austen. It got five stars for cultural sites and attractiveness.
But Lincoln surprised many visitors with its sheer range of attractions. It's one of a handful of places in the UK where you can see an original copy of the Magna Carta, and the streets around the cathedral where it's housed are full of independent shops, bars and restaurants. Despite this, it's much more peaceful than Bath, with four stars for lack of crowds.
'One of our favourite cities!' enthused one visitor. 'The cathedral and castle, in particular, are must-see attractions.'
Best medium-sized UK cities for a short break
Bath (174) | 82% | £124 | |||||||||
Lincoln (97) | 82% | £79 | |||||||||
Norwich (97) | 81% | £81 | |||||||||
Shrewsbury (64) | 80% | £79 | |||||||||
Canterbury (61) | 79% | £88 | |||||||||
Chester (117) | 79% | £92 | |||||||||
Harrogate (121) | 79% | £88 | |||||||||
Oxford (106) | 77% | £89 | |||||||||
Cambridge (122) | 76% | £79 | |||||||||
Worcester (33) | 75% | £81 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | |||||
Dundee (45) | 73% | £77 | n/a | n/a | |||||||
Exeter (73) | 71% | £83 | |||||||||
Cheltenham (60) | 70% | £98 | |||||||||
Eastbourne (76) | 68% | £66 | |||||||||
Colchester (33) | 64% | £73 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | |||
Gloucester (42) | 62% | £74 | n/a | n/a | |||||||
Hastings (33) | 62% | £78 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Using the tables: Star ratings range from one to five. n/a indicates we didn’t receive enough responses to provide a rating. Average hotel rate from Kayak.co.uk, provided in October 2026. Cultural sights Includes range, quality and price of historic buildings, galleries, museums, parks and city tours. Ease of getting around Includes range of public transport options, ease of understanding transport-related maps/information/transport ticket pricing systems, ease of walking/travelling between sights. City score Based on a combination of overall satisfaction and how likely people are to recommend the city as a holiday destination to a friend. Sample sizes in brackets
Why Wells is the best small city
Wells, just below Bath in Somerset, got the highest customer score in our survey, at 87%.
Although its population is only around 12,000, it’s officially a city thanks to its 850-year-old cathedral – the seat of the Bishops of Bath and Wells. The Bishop’s Palace and Gardens opposite are also open to visitors.
Next door, you’ll find Vicar’s Close, which is described as the only complete medieval street in England.
Despite its charm, Wells received four stars for its lack of crowds, cultural sites, tourist attractions and accommodation.
Best small UK cities for a short break
Wells (47) | 87% | £96 | |||||||||
Durham (90) | 85% | £96 | |||||||||
Bury St Edmunds (32) | 81% | £92 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | |||||
Salisbury (66) | 81% | £81 | |||||||||
St Andrews (38) | 80% | £137 | n/a | n/a | n/a | ||||||
Stratford Upon Avon (115) | 80% | £110 | |||||||||
St David's (44) | 78% | n/a | |||||||||
St Ives (37) | 78% | £136 | n/a | ||||||||
Winchester (68) | 77% | £99 | |||||||||
Chichester (77) | 76% | £99 | |||||||||
Stirling (30) | 76% | £98 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Oban (65) | 75% | £130 | |||||||||
Warwick (37) | 71% | £81 | n/a | n/a | |||||||
Hereford (47) | 69% | £74 | n/a | ||||||||
Inverness (72) | 69% | £113 | |||||||||
Lancaster (30) | 69% | £80 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | |||
Torquay (78) | 59% | £74 | |||||||||
Fort William (47) | 56% | £132 | n/a |
Using the tables: Star ratings range from one to five. n/a indicates we didn’t receive enough responses to provide a rating. Average hotel rate from Kayak.co.uk, provided in October 2026. Cultural sights Includes range, quality and price of historic buildings, galleries, museums, parks and city tours. Ease of getting around Includes range of public transport options, ease of understanding transport-related maps/information/transport ticket pricing systems, ease of walking/travelling between sights. City score Based on a combination of overall satisfaction and how likely people are to recommend the city as a holiday destination to a friend. Sample sizes in brackets
The best city breaks in Scotland
Scotland did well in our survey, with Edinburgh near the top of the big cities table at 82% and Glasgow not far behind at 76%.
St Andrews got 80% and a five-star rating for food and drink, while Stirling got 76% and Oban on the west coast got 75%.
The best city breaks in Wales
Tiny St Davids in Pembrokeshire was the highest-scoring Welsh city, with 78% in our small cities table. Cardiff got a respectable 73% in the big cities table, while Swansea got 60%.
The best city break in Northern Ireland
Belfast was the only Northern Irish city to feature, but it was one of the UK's highest-rated breaks, scoring 81%.
'Belfast gets a bad press due to its troubles in the past,' said one visitor. 'But we loved it, from the friendliness of the people, to the attractions, the food and drink, the architecture, and the Titanic Quarter especially. We stayed a week but would happily have stayed longer.'
The best seaside towns in the UK – and the best towns and villages
Each year, we also survey the best and worst seaside towns in the UK, with some big names near the bottom and lesser-known villages at the top.
If you’re looking for suggestions of less touristy, inland hideaways with great food and attractions, try our survey of the best small towns and villages.
Why you should leave your car behind when visiting the UK’s best cities
None of the cities got more than three stars for parking, while most got two stars or fewer. London, Brighton and Oxford got just one star.
Despite the lack of parking, London was one of many big cities to get five stars for getting around, which is thanks to its excellent public transport.
How we carried out our survey
The results are based on an online survey conducted in August 2026 of 3,142 Which? Connect panel members who told us about 6,436 UK city break experiences where they visited for leisure purposes and stayed for at least one night in the last two years.
We divided the cities in our survey into large (over 200,000 people), medium (70,000 to 200,000) and small (under 70,000).
The final data has not been weighted and may not be representative of all visitors to UK cities. The city score is based on a statistical analysis of customers’ satisfaction with the city and their likelihood to recommend it.