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Original poster

Overrated places in the UK

999 replies

Fixitup2 · 12/05/2021 17:12

What are your over rated places in the U.K. that everyone else seems to love?

Mine is the Peak District which imo has mediocre scenery spoilt by too many roads and too many people. I hate it and only ever agree to go if there’s nowhere else and we need to stop somewhere that way.

OP posts:
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11
WhoNeedsaManOfTheWorld · 12/05/2021 19:03

Hebden Bridge. Full of middle class people with money who smoke a bit of dope and think they are alternative

darkpink · 12/05/2021 19:03

Edinburgh is lovely - did you explore the New Town, or just stick to the touristy centre?

Eggbread · 12/05/2021 19:04

@SunnySpills

Skegness.
But is Skegness actually even rated?!
FatherBuzzCagney · 12/05/2021 19:04

And Brighton, obviously, as everyone else is saying. The Daily Mash got it right www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/brighton-to-becomes-the-uks-first-twats-only-town-20150720100280
Unfortunately, I've got relatives there so can't completely escape it.

Inadays · 12/05/2021 19:04

@ArcheryAnnie completely agree with you re Banbury! I lived there for over 11 years - tried to like it, but just couldn't. It's not only dull, I found it unfriendly too, and I couldn't wait to get out. Now live in a lovely little market town in south Oxfordshire which is the total opposite. Friendly, but not dull at all and thankfully without the stench of the coffee factory that overwhelmed Banbury at all times with its smell and ugliness.

And I LOVE Stratford-upon-Avon, but then I'm biased as I grew up there Smile

Eggbread · 12/05/2021 19:04

@FangsForTheMemory

People who are saying London's crap or shopping on Oxford Street is rubbish, I bet you go to there once a year, by coach, to do your Christmas shopping. You get off the bus, having sat there for five hours, stagger up and down Oxford Street half a dozen times, have lunch in Nando's and wonder why it's the same as back home.

That's because you're doing it all wrong.

Exactly
m0therofdragons · 12/05/2021 19:05

And yet there are threads full of baffled mnetters wondering why people are desperate to go abroad. Many places in the UK are beautiful when the sun is shining but so many holidays end up making the best of it in the rain.

weebarra · 12/05/2021 19:05

Loch Ness - tourist tat. And it's always further from Inverness than I think. DH's granny lives there.
Bits of York are lovely, but it's seriously crowded and too Harry Potter-ish.

MyOctopusFeature · 12/05/2021 19:05

The truth is places become rated because people go there. You get lots of people there and it becomes 'over-rated'. And that's the nub of it.

Porthcurno tomorrow morning at 5 AM will be amazing. In second week of August, driving down the narrow lane to find the car park on the left chocked up and a queue to leave the road makes a flight to Portugal more tempting.

Point over. In the spirit of the thread my number 1 vote is.....

Sandbanks, Poole, Dorset. Find a peninsula by the sea, pour concrete on it, build some flats out of more concrete, stick loads of tall and wide plastic windows in, paint everything white, pretend its Monaco or Cannes, invite journos from The Telegraph to write about it from a donated beach hut. That's Sandbanks.

Sad Banks.

YouKnowItsTrue · 12/05/2021 19:05

Agree Blackpool.

Admittedly I was there with work, out of season but blimey it was ropy.

BigHuff · 12/05/2021 19:05

@Tagaagajavdv

Yorkshire, I’m from there. People who aren’t from there tell me how ‘nice’ it is. It isn’t
Yes, the entire county is awful. Don't come here.
SusannahSophia · 12/05/2021 19:06

St Ives. All hills and dog shit? Grin At least that’s what my friends in Hayle say.

mam0918 · 12/05/2021 19:07

All the big cities are the worst.

Im not a big city person, London is worst but Birmingham and Manchester are close behind - too big, to crowded, depressing, claustraphobic with all the big buildings, the roads are nightmares to navigate and theres such a disconnect between people.

I find the lake district dull too... I dont get what there is to do there and its always wet and grey (Im a northern girl and live nearish the lakes, our weather sucks too but at least theres stuff to do here)

I like the peak district (only been in summer though) but I love caves and the history around them and theres loads in the peak district.

Best place is devon (and cornwall) though, beautiful and often wonder how its a part of the UK.

ArnottsUnderpass · 12/05/2021 19:08

Cornwall is mostly gorgeous but I don't understand the St Ives "thing".

It's rammed, the shops are overpriced and/or sell tat and the seagulls are basically British harpy eagles waiting to kill you.

Give me the Roseland peninsula any day, thanks!

YouKnowItsTrue · 12/05/2021 19:08

People who are saying London's crap or shopping on Oxford Street is rubbish, I bet you go to there once a year, by coach, to do your Christmas shopping. You get off the bus, having sat there for five hours, stagger up and down Oxford Street half a dozen times, have lunch in Nando's and wonder why it's the same as back home. That's because you're doing it all wrong.

...Genuine question, what’s the best way to do Oxford Street?

SarahBellam · 12/05/2021 19:08

Any National Trust properties. Paying money to gawp like slack jawed plebs at rich people’s former homes.

DanielODonkey · 12/05/2021 19:08

Manchester. It's a grim and grey rain filled joy desert. The only thing to do there was to drink or shop and I hate shopping. Absolutely no idea why people go on about the vibe or how great the people are.

Hebden Bridge - it always rains when I'm there which doesn't help, but it is a really small place and apart from cafes full of humus and chick peas and hand crafted wooden toys, there s not a huge amount to do there. Maybe I should go for the booze festival. But it's still not somewhere to rave about.

wewereliars · 12/05/2021 19:08

I worked just off the Tottenham Court road for years and live 10 miles outside Lond that's why I know that Oxford St is dire. There is no roght way to do it.

m0therofdragons · 12/05/2021 19:09

I mean, Dungeness is basically a power station and weird people living in random railway carriages along a stony beach and they don’t like people... oh and there’s a light house. I don’t think anyone ever called it a holiday location.

MyOctopusFeature · 12/05/2021 19:10

[quote Inadays]@ArcheryAnnie completely agree with you re Banbury! I lived there for over 11 years - tried to like it, but just couldn't. It's not only dull, I found it unfriendly too, and I couldn't wait to get out. Now live in a lovely little market town in south Oxfordshire which is the total opposite. Friendly, but not dull at all and thankfully without the stench of the coffee factory that overwhelmed Banbury at all times with its smell and ugliness.

And I LOVE Stratford-upon-Avon, but then I'm biased as I grew up there Smile[/quote]
I used to live in a little village outside Banbury. Its not too bad actually, but its whole industry is based on food. Coffee, bakery, spices. And once upon a time meat, but long gone now.

Not sure it should be 'over-rated' because it isn't really rated by anyone.

The secret gem about Banbury is it sits somewhere between the Midlands, South-East and West Country. Perfect location if you want to get to different places because of its road links in particular.

Eggbread · 12/05/2021 19:10

@YouKnowItsTrue

People who are saying London's crap or shopping on Oxford Street is rubbish, I bet you go to there once a year, by coach, to do your Christmas shopping. You get off the bus, having sat there for five hours, stagger up and down Oxford Street half a dozen times, have lunch in Nando's and wonder why it's the same as back home. That's because you're doing it all wrong.

...Genuine question, what’s the best way to do Oxford Street?

There’s no “good way”

It’s a long street full of chain shops.

Useful if you want to pick up a load of different items from different chain shops on one expedition.

Otherwise - don’t bother.

And there’s no “tip” to Oxford street.

It’s a long street full of shops.

AgeLikeWine · 12/05/2021 19:10

The ‘Home Counties’, including the outer London suburbs, eg Croydon. All the downsides of living in London, eg ridiculous house prices, overcrowding, congestion, cost of living, without any of the benefits of living in actual London.

Original poster
Fixitup2 · 12/05/2021 19:10

@DanielODonkey

Manchester. It's a grim and grey rain filled joy desert. The only thing to do there was to drink or shop and I hate shopping. Absolutely no idea why people go on about the vibe or how great the people are.

Hebden Bridge - it always rains when I'm there which doesn't help, but it is a really small place and apart from cafes full of humus and chick peas and hand crafted wooden toys, there s not a huge amount to do there. Maybe I should go for the booze festival. But it's still not somewhere to rave about.

Watch it there. This is about how places not people. The people of Manchester are absolutely the best in the world
OP posts:
1Morewineplease · 12/05/2021 19:11

Cornwall is beautiful but trekking to it's various bays, towns etc... can be a nightmare drive. Many of its coastal towns/villages are identikit tourist traps. It's obvious why though.
The place that depressed me the most, in Cornwall was Land's End. Had no idea that it was such a magnet nor that you had to pay for an official photo at the sign.

Devon is lovely but I feel that once you've seen it, you're done.

Brighton, on the other hand, is just wrong, on so many levels.

ArcheryAnnie · 12/05/2021 19:12

Inadays my congratulations on your escape!