To think if you have enough money to travel frequently, the UK is the best place in the world to live

Have you ever beemn to Switzerland, OP.

I love the uk train network

The health care is also a big lottery.

It used to be.

It’s just so dirty and crowded and expensive now.

I've lived in Finland for a bit and public services are head and shoulders above UK - everything that's been mentioned here, education, transport, health, safety are all superior.

However, I still think London is the best city on earth, loved living there. So I guess it depends what matters to you most, there's no perfect country for everyone.

There is of course no objective measure of the ‘best’ place to live. We are all so different and have different expectations and needs.

I think there are many great places to live and each one has pros and cons, nowhere is perfect. I lived in the UK for 15+ years and have been back in Poland for 5+.

My family’s quality of life has been much better here. Easier access to state and private healthcare, it’s cleaner, safer, better digital/ online services. We have the sea, a Lake District, mountains. You can sail or you can ski.

We still travel abroad.

a lot depends on your personal circumstances, your family and friends network, work and housing situation.

We would not return to the UK, but I believe you personally may find it great.

I have friends in different European countries, US and Canada, most are happy to live where they do, with some frustrations.

I think mainland Europe would make a better base for travel, assuming you have the right to live there.

How about the Netherlands? You can easily visit Belgium and Germany by train, and can get to other countries if you have time for more than a day trip. You’re also within reach of an international airport.

I have been lucky enough to travel to many places, but you could not pay me to live anywhere other than London. I love it here.

In Berlin right now. It's pretty good.

How do you know there’s nowhere better if you’ve never actually lived elsewhere? I’ve lived in 7 countries in my lifetime (and I have three citizenships, including British, and permanent residency in a fourth country) and no, the UK is not the best place to live. One of the pros is definitely the easy access to other countries within Europe and globally but in terms of the UK itself there are a multitude of problems (failing economy, high taxes, low growth, high cost of living and poor public services and healthcare to name a few, plus the endless grey weather for six months a year). That said there are many positives too, including the history, culture, there are some beautiful scenic places, and London is still a very vibrant city and a great place to raise kids.

‘Better’ is subjective, and what is a good place to live for someone with a higher income, won’t necessarily be a good place to live for someone with a lower one.

I’m not from the UK, but I did live there for years. I wouldn’t choose to live there again.

I have lived abroad in a city in Europe that is usually highly rated as one of the most desirable places to live.

Yes, there were many great things about it but just like anywhere it had its downsides.

The lack of diversity was very noticeable even to someone like me who is from a very white area.

I was also told by a local that people like us were more accepted as we were white and British and apparently all the Turks were criminals. Attitudes were very behind those in the UK.

Also, it wasn’t easy to integrate into the community, they are quite a closed society.

I have a family member who stays in a tourist hotspot and they tell me what it’s really like to live there - value education, well good luck on that one. Value conducting business without having to give backhanders to government officials, well you will quickly go bankrupt. Yet people continue to flock there only to land with a bump.

Well yeh we used to say we had this big posh house in oz (just a standard house there but fancy by uk standards) - but it was like a house made of cards. One stiff breeze and it’s knocked over! lol. I mean we saw it being built and it really is thin plaster board. Just big expansive white boxes. Zero character .

Yeh and I don’t underestimate how much shared culture and humour matter. Obviously in oz they speak English but the differences culturally and around humour especially are so huge - it really bothered me. Coming home I laugh all the time - like belly laugh - with friends and family constantly and I really had missed that. Ozzies just aren’t funny to me! And I could never be myself. I learnt early on (after a few ‘do you not like me or something?’ Comments) that sarcasm and pisstaking just isn’t recorded well,

what I do miss though is the laidback, don’t care whatever anyone else has, lack of class system there. Brits are obsessed with talking about ‘stuff’, mortgages, traffic. Ozzies just don’t give a shit about keeping up with the joneses and there’s no class system. Now that I loved and I miss it.

overall though - way way happier here.

Nobody has even mentioned so far as I have seen our political freedom, lack of corruption, you don’t need to give a bribe to access healthcare, we don’t live in fear of police or mafia.
We truly have no idea how blessed we are.

@Beefybaby you still haven't answered... have you ever lived in another country?

The whole bias of "I know these characteristics about my country so therefore it has to be the best" is a bit cringeworthy in itself

but using a country as a base for international travel is also a bit grim. Like, I know we love our "holibobs" in Mumsnet-land, but in that case Amsterdam Schiphol or Paris would be equally as good, and probably more culture etc