Overrated places in the UK

[Fixitup2]

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.

I agree that a lot of places in “central” London are shit - Oxford Street, Leicester Square etc. But as has been said, Londoners almost never go to those places!

Elmbridge, including Esher and Cobham, where I have lived is full of new money, especially wanker bankers and people tend to be very very unfriendly and so up themselves. Have lived here for 15 years and can't wait to leave.

I love the highlands. One of my favourite parts of the world.

Also really liked Oxford and York.

Didn't like Bath at all.

Have visited lots of Yorkshire and loved the rural parts but far too many people hence why I love the Highlands so much

I love people who slag London off, and you then find that they caught a taxi from the train station "because the underground is too scary", go to an expensive touristy restaurant in Covent Garden, and then somewhere like Madame Tussauds, and then spend the rest of the train journey home saying how crowded and expensive London is.

Westminster Abbey. Fascinating place, I’d wanted to visit for years, utterly ruined by the hundreds and hundreds of tourists (of which I accept I was one). No time to actually stop and look at anything - would be far, far better if they limited numbers.

@Gemma2019 Stonehenge is one of my favourite henges.

@Sunny68 I shouldn't say it's full of wankers because I do love it. Everyone is just very "right on" - which I both love but occasionally find amusing... But others often seem too earnest to laugh at themselves. Don't be put off though, it's great.

Salcombe is the most soulless place I’ve ever been. We stayed in a fantastic house but it was just so fake and lacking any kind of atmosphere or spirit. A place that’s had any semblance of identity ripped out by second homers. A massive disappointment and I’ll never go back.

Crickhowell. Used to be great but now it's like a bloody mini London in the school holidays, when they all flock to their second homes.

Tenby but only because it’s too busy for me now.

Oh absolutely YES to Surrey (Cobham and approx 20 mile radius) being the most dull and uninspiring place ever. It makes me want to vomit. The people are like clones and in the daytime there are only bugaboos and mummies with coffees, skinny jeans and straight hair, desperately trying to look richer and younger than each other.

I hear you MasterBeth re West Bridgford. A colleague lived there and she dreaded long journeys getting home when Nottingham Forest had a midweek match in the good old days. I couldn't say if it's as bad today, Forest having dropped off a bit since then.

I always found Totnes a bit up itself. There's one long street of quaint old shops but not much else and a nightmare to park.

Bath also, once you've admired the pretty buildings what else? You even have to pay to sit down in the park.

One of my favourite places is Tate Modern. But when taking my 8 yr old son there years ago to broaden horizons, the whole visit was brought to an abrupt end when he announced ‘I don’t like it here..are we in IKEA ?’ 🙄

@wewereliars

Elmbridge, including Esher and Cobham, where I have lived is full of new money, especially wanker bankers and people tend to be very very unfriendly and so up themselves. Have lived here for 15 years and can't wait to leave.

I hear ya sister! Weybridge and Walton - think they are special because they are next to the Thames. Overcrowded, house prices eye wateringly expensive for some reason, litter everywhere, parks full of dog poo!

@RosaLuxemburgwasright

I went to the Peak District for the first time recently and loved it. We were in a small but really lovely village, the scenery was gorgeous and we weren't far from Buxton which is a lovely town.

See, I think Buxton is a bit shit.

Lovely park, nice architecture....but nothing to do and the high street is always full of locals shuffling up and down between charity shops and cheapo hardware stores like extras from The Walking Dead.

(I'm from not that far away)

Shinyandnew5708 YES!! In fact I might start a whole thread on how much I hate that area of Surrey.

Tourists to any capital city will tend to stick to the touristy areas becase that's what their guide books tell them about. I used to be amazed in Covent Garden etc when I saw droves of them go to places like the Angus steakhouse or somewhere equally souless and grim when there are fantastic restauarants minutes away. But in Paris or Rome I wouldn't know where to go either.

@Kris02

Pretty much everywhere. The UK is so overcrowded that the nice places have been ruined. It's hardly surprising. If you have too many people crammed on a small, grey island, they are going to want to live in the nice bits. Everywhere is now circled by housing estates jammed full of tiny, overpriced rabbit hutches. My cousin lives in a small Surrey village. Even when he moved there it was overcrowded, with too many houses and too many cars. Now they've got the green light to build another 5,000 homes! I also have a friend who lives in Cornwall. She dreads the summer because her little town grinds to a halt.

Yep. this is the crux of it.

Most of mine have already been named.

Agree 100% Stonehenge. Sooner they bulldoze it and widen the A303 the better. As a bonus, we'll save millions on that ridiculous tunnel they're planning. Also, it's exploitative to bus a load of Chinese and American tourists down from London to pay £££ to view some old rocks and wander round aimlessly until it's time to leave. Doesn't really give the best impression of our country...definitely "Rip-off Britain" stuff.

Brighton. Admittedly I last visited a few years ago but I remember it being really run down and shabby and having a slightly seedy feeling. However, given its recent increase in popularity, maybe things have improved since I was there.

Cornwall. It would have to be bloody good to be worth the trip. It's ok if you have a partiality for torrential rain in July having paid thousands to rent an overpriced cottage. Dire roads too and too much traffic on them.

Thorpe Park. Admittedly I haven't been for years but it is just awful. From start to finish. You pay an extortionate entry fee only to find you have to queue for over an hour for each ride. There are even queues for the (awful) food when you give up in despair.

The country. Lots of our friends have either moved out or have plans to move out to country villages post-Covid. I grew up in such a village. OK during the summer months but bloody depressing from October to March.

Holken Beach - ‘The Best Beach in the UK’

Nowhere to park, mud, horse shit, and a mile trek to the sea.

Bath. Born and bred and glad we’ve finally left!!!

Yes it was lovely, many years ago, nowadays it’s changed massively and unfortunately not for the better!

Bakewell in the Peaks is ruined by every Bakewell Pudding (not Tart) shop claiming to be the original.

Bath also, once you've admired the pretty buildings what else? You even have to pay to sit down in the park.

Yes. It's fine if you are the sort of person who can linger in a café for 2 hours and read a book/people-watch.

Living there is terrible. It's constant masses of people from March to September and then again for ShedFest aka the Christmas Market. Which is all stalls set up by the owners of the shops and restaurants you can go to any time.

I must have very different tastes to everyone else on this thread as I've been to most of the places that have been mentioned and really liked all of them. I absolutely love Edinburgh, I can't see what's not to like about it! I think it makes a difference when you go somewhere, most places are awful in school holidays. The weather makes a big difference too!

The only one I agree with is Surrey. Surrey's pretty overrated.

Cambridge. The disparity between town and gown is huge. It's pretty unpleasant, I was bought up there, it's full of people who think they are hard and love trying to start fights. Eurgh.