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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Does your hometown get insane and awful in summer?

86 replies

CurdinHenry · 14/07/2026 19:33

Mine does and the horror is in full swing. Everyone out on the streets plus thousands of tourists and other visitors and for some reason everyone gets ruder and more stupid every year. You can't walk down the main street without being knocked about like a pinball. Step ASIDE OMG I am not capable of evaporating to let you walk directly through me.

I wish this had died for good with COVID times.

OP posts:
aboutthehousewithmouse · 14/07/2026 22:08

Nope. I live in London in zone 2 and in my area it gets pretty empty in the holidays - parks, cafes etc all a bit more relaxed! It’s a great time to live in the city.

ConverselyAttired · 14/07/2026 22:07

It's not my hometown but we moved to Bath when we moved to the SW and lasted 10 months of bloody awful packed summer and then Christmas shedfest before we scraped together a house deposit and left.

ChocolateBiscuitsandaCuppa · 14/07/2026 22:03

Doggymummar · 14/07/2026 21:36

Brighton, and yes

Same :-(

AnnaQuayRules · 14/07/2026 22:01

Octavia64 · 14/07/2026 19:33

Yes.

Cambridge. Full of language students

We used to live in Cambridge. It was a nightmare in summer. We moved near the coast 3 years ago and it's bliss.

Bumblebeeforever · 14/07/2026 21:58

Stratford upon Avon, it’s full of large groups of tourists bussed in for the Shakespeare shit but their money keeps the town nice and residents get free entry to the Shakespeare attractions and discounted theatre tickets, so I can’t complain!

IDasIX · 14/07/2026 21:40

UrbanSoul · 14/07/2026 21:35

You are still a tourist though.

Of course. But a tourist who is respectful of the people who live there and are just trying to go about their business, and doesn’t think I’ve got more right to be there because I’ve paid for a holiday.

Doggymummar · 14/07/2026 21:36

Brighton, and yes

Wiennetta · 14/07/2026 21:36

I’m in Edinburgh too! Unlike others I love it. I can walk into the centre in 15-20 mins but it’s obv very busy and so I tend to avoid. Most locals don’t really spend their weekends walking around the Royal Mile. However in my local area it’s busy in a nice way - lots of people in the Meadows, BBQs, golf on the Links but I can still find a table at my local wine bar or cafe without having to book. It’s the perfect balance. And when friends visit for the Fringe it’s super close to everything.

UrbanSoul · 14/07/2026 21:35

IDasIX · 14/07/2026 21:31

Living in such a heavily touristed city has made me really conscious of how I behave when I’m on holiday!

I don’t stop dead in the street to check maps on my phone. I don’t walk four abreast across the pavement. I don’t ask bus drivers 87 questions when people are trying to get to work. I could go on…

You are still a tourist though.

WorthySloth · 14/07/2026 21:31

Live in North Devon so yes. However I love the summers here 😊 meeting up with friends for a paddle a beer and some chips on sunny envious amazing. Feels like we are on holiday 💕

IDasIX · 14/07/2026 21:31

UrbanSoul · 14/07/2026 21:25

And then you go on holiday and the locals think the same about you.

Living in such a heavily touristed city has made me really conscious of how I behave when I’m on holiday!

I don’t stop dead in the street to check maps on my phone. I don’t walk four abreast across the pavement. I don’t ask bus drivers 87 questions when people are trying to get to work. I could go on…

UrbanSoul · 14/07/2026 21:25

And then you go on holiday and the locals think the same about you.

IDasIX · 14/07/2026 21:21

Yes, absolutely heaving with tourists. The vast majority of whom think they’ve come to a Disney simulacrum of a city and not somewhere people live and work.

zurigo · 14/07/2026 21:12

No, my town empties in the summer - everyone goes to the coast!

TheCurious0range · 14/07/2026 20:46

Yep seaside.

aliceyyyy2654 · 14/07/2026 20:45

Yes, Sussex beach town

EverMissWicklowSometimes · 14/07/2026 20:28

Another Edinburgher here. I've perfected the shortcuts and back routes for the rare occasions I have to venture into town.

During lockdown I lived in the city centre and regularly had the Royal Mile all to myself, it was amazing!

VivienneDelacroix · 14/07/2026 20:27

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 14/07/2026 19:50

Ours brings out the Topless Men ( the ones who really should wear clothes and the Tits On Scooters . (Adults on scooters or the eScooters )

I had a French friend who described his experience of living in Manchester in the summer as - "I don't understand, a little bit of sun and Sainsbury's is full of all these scally topless".

Shinyhappyapple · 14/07/2026 20:24

Definitely no visitors or tourists to my town. Sometimes it can be nice, pubs in the suburbs have beer gardens and I like to see people sitting out. Plus I am the weird person who enjoys it when they have entertainment that I can hear in my garden. My local town centre is pedestrianised so there is plenty of space for people to walk round, and it’s never busy anyway apart from in the supermarkets or B&M. My pet hates are kids with cars backfiring, noisy bikes and fireworks, but that’s year round.

Alwq · 14/07/2026 20:16

I live on a on the way to JoG and on the nc500 route so lots of dangerous cycling/hiking/unicycling and other similar things up the a99&9 and caravans doing incredibly stupid, dangerous or offensive (emptying toilets where they shouldn’t) every summer.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 14/07/2026 20:10

Purplecatshopaholic · 14/07/2026 19:55

Edinburgh, so it’s worse in summer but can be pretty bad all year round, lol.

DH,DD and I went to Edinburgh last year , end Nov , the Princes St Gardens had their Christmas Market and The Edinburgh Vaults , and DD and I went to the Edinburgh Playhouse .
It was busy and cold !

I lived in Edinburgh for a year in the mid 80s it was busy round the times of The Fringe and The Tattoo but I noticed how busy it was in November .

Obvious Tourist Wink

KazWasntEverCool · 14/07/2026 20:02

I’d like to live somewhere quieter, because people have gotten ruder where I am. Loads of new housing thrown up, loads of stroppy youngsters and whizzing bikes and I HATE it. Wish they’d go away. Also, the fast food shops stink in this heat, walking past them, is hellish. also, WTF with delivery people putting their motorcycles on the pavement of the high street and standing there chatting, impossible to go anywhere without loud mouthed verbal diarrhoea people now.

ShetlandishMum · 14/07/2026 19:56

Yes but money talking.

Purplecatshopaholic · 14/07/2026 19:55

Edinburgh, so it’s worse in summer but can be pretty bad all year round, lol.

SqueakyFromme · 14/07/2026 19:55

Yes