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 think the problem is two things:

1. The UK is already too crowded, and in the last year we haven't been able to go anywhere else, so all the usual places people visit have been ruined by crowds, and 2) a lot of people are quite lazy when they visit somewhere. They go to the places they have heard are "nice" , visit the parts of said places that everyone goes to, and don't really explore. Brighton is not somewhere you go for a seaside holiday-Its a city! There is something to love about most places, and what I love about Brighton is the light, and all the tall white houses. Similarly, you don't go to Hebden and expect to be bowled over...it's just a fairly atmospheric Pennine town with more than it's fair share of lesbians. A lot of this is about expectations. Like, I love many things about Oxford-the riverside walks, the colour of the stone, the little pubs, the college buildings, but many people would say "the shopping bit is shit, the traffic is awful and it has a horrible council estate", but that's true of most places! Some of the places I have enjoyed the most are the ones where I had no expectation at all , like Glasgow, which is an astonishingly fabulous city (sorry Demented Ma )

@HesSpartacus,why did you bail out of Angelsey?

@Tittybittybangbang when you say loads, how many do you mean? I’m looking to move to Stroud and am worried about property prices rising and that I’ve already missed the boat.

Norfolk. Too flat which I find quite depressing for some reason, beaches aren’t great compared with Wales or Cornwall and it feels like London on Sea. I really don’t get the hype!

You don't go to Oxford for the shopping! It's always been deemed poor.
I live near.

@DrManhattan

Centre parcs

100% agree with this! Why is it so bloody expensive? And for a little place in the woods with mediocre food and annoying people surrounding you? Would much rather go to Europe (pre-covid!) and explore new cultures, sights and food.

UK campgrounds - they're mostly just fields! Also camping in general even though that's not 'a place'

Brighton. It's dingy and too busy. I can tolerate it for small amounts of time in the summer, but would never want to live there. Awful when it rains!

@felineflutter St Ives is indeed lovely but ruined somewhat by the crowds IMO.

@IfNot I agree I can derive pleasure from the colour of stone some areas have built their main housing stock from or a curve on an avenue. I am easy pleased tbh and can find something of interest in most places.

I did say Brighton but I did actually find the architecture of interest when I last spent a few hours there waiting on DD

Personally I adore Brighton - it’s only busy in the centre and even then, only on summer bank holidays and hot weekends. The nightlife is fabulous!

Whitstable. I grew up there and it was run down. Now it's full of DFL's and locals coining in as much as they can and going on about 'The Bubble' and how very speshul it is. It's fine, but it's not as amazing as it thinks it is.
Canterbury. Also grew up here. Was a lovely small city. Now the center is full of chain shops and daytrippers (used to be full of interesting local places and tourists mostly religious / interested in culture, not shopping).
Edinburgh. Not 'warm' in any sense. Coach parties, hen parties, tartan tat shops. Too English for many, unless you live here and are English then it's not friendly at all unless you remain firmly an ex-pat. It's always had a 'fur coat and nae knickers' vibe though. Jenni Murray recently wrote an amazing book: 'The Luckenbooth'. Worth a read.
Currently live in Northumberland. Don't visit... (it's amazing ;)

York.

This thread is funny … how can you possibly write off whole counties, surely you can't have seen all of it .

Reminds me of my friend's DH when we were discussing holidays - they go to the US every year - he piped up that 'he hates Europe" …. what a fecking sweeping statement. We all pissed ourselves on the way home.

@mrstt89

Blackpool is a shithole but I thought this was common knowledge

How much time have you spent there?

The teacakes..... they are huge, and expensive, but so, so worth it.

My favourite is the mango and lime one.

I go past Tebay services several times a month but rarely stop as its so close to home. However I'm going to Shap on Monday so will now stop on my way back! I haven't been in since last September. Mango and lime sounds 👌

Edinburgh. I don't get the fuss. Dark, damp and cold (and not just the weather) and WAY TOO MANY tourists.

Clapham - have a few friends who live there. I think they have to say they love it as they spent so much money on their houses

So agree with you re. Centre Parcs WineGetsMeThroughIt- when we go away I like to be remote or on the edge of a village, why be surrounded by 1000s really annoying other people?? Why stay in identikit houses all paying extra to do the same thing? When a friend says they are going they do fall in my estimation as I really thought they had more creativity and taste than forking out such rip off prices for this weirdness.
Give me a detached holiday cottage with garden and views, usually with boxes of toys/games, a trampoline/play area in garden and some local activities/walks/pubs to explore ourselves without 1000 people constantly around us any day!!

I actually really like Margate but people expecting a thriving seaside town will probably be disappointed.

[quote sadperson16]@HesSpartacus,why did you bail out of Angelsey?[/quote]
We were staying near Beaumaris, which was pretty run down - the car parks were full of teenagers blasting rap out of their Ford Fiestas.

We were there at the end of the season, so it all looked a bit depressing - maybe it's better midsummer? I still threaten the teens that if they don't work hard for their exams then they'll have to go to Bangor Uni...

@Gertie75

Scottish Highlands, we went for our honeymoon and it doesn't help that we had a week in the Lake District first. I kept comparing them and the Highlands are just so vast and bleak, mile after mile of nothing, hardly any quaint villages and a nightmare to find somewhere to exercise the dogs because even if you managed to find somewhere to park it was all so boggy.

The exception to the bleakness though was Arisaig beach, which was stunning.

The Highlands have miles of open space . It’s inconceivable that you couldn’t find anywhere to walk the dog. Villages might not be quaint but the scenery is stunning. The Lake District is very pretty - the Highlands are beautiful, albeit sometimes in a bleak way. It’s all about preconceptions. There is usually something good to find everywhere but you have to use your imagination. I love London , it’s an amazing city. But I can only tolerate it for a couple of nights . I wouldn’t expect the same excitement or amenities in any othe U.K. city but they would have other other things on offer. In Edinburgh it’s all about wandering about old closes and nooks and crannies . In York you can see past the tat and hen parties to all the amazing historical buildings steeped in history. There’s not much at Hadrian’s wall but it’s amazing to thing of all the Romans achieved. I wouldn’t return to Cornwall because it was so busy but there were some beautiful parts and I’m glad I’ve been there. Sadly I can’t find anything good to say about Blackpool.

Chester ....

I still threaten the teens that if they don't work hard for their exams then they'll have to go to Bangor Uni...

Don't knock the University. And for those who are into climbing it's at the gates of Paradise, or well nearly, considering the Alps aren't in the UK.

Alderley Edge ... plastic surgery/fakery freak show - all sexual identities & all ages.

@Gemma2019

Stonehenge. It's a bit shit.

Poor Stonehenge. I really enjoyed it but did visit on a grey winter day without many other tourists there. I found the weather really added to the atmosphere.

I love these threads so much. I especially enjoy the endless duplication of the idea that Brighton's overated. It's not at all - it's universily derided on Mumsnet and always has been. Which is fabulous and I would like to re-iterate its awefulness for any other readers who might have missed this info. It is indeed dirty, pretentious and grubby and whatever you do please do not -come here-. Go there. Please do stay in Surbiton, or wherever you live, where it's nice and clean and there is plenty of parking.

FWIW I loathed the Eden Project and couldn't get my head around the landfill it generates. Weird.

Adored York, Edinburgh, Birmingham (the Curry Mile is amazing - a cab driver sent us to a place that blew our minds. Size of an airport and a buffet that could feed thousands. We were the only white family there and felt like we'd been on holiday. It was all hallal, the people were super friendly and the food was lush). Glasgow is fabulous (or was, pre-covid), Cambridge is fun. Cornwall and Devon are so achingly beautiful, how could you not enjoy a trip there? Which bits did you visit?!