UK city with friendly locals named Britain’s ‘most popular city’

A new You.Gov poll saw Britons vote for their favourite city in the UK, with a northern gem beating the likes of London and Edinburgh. The city of York, in North Yorkshire, was named the “most popular city” in the nation, with votes cast by over 55,000 people. The survey included 57 cities, and more than nine in ten Britons, roughly 92 percent, shared positive opinions of the city.

It comes after the city was also dubbed the “friendliest place to live in the UK” by experts at restless.co.uk.

In their ranking, the expert team noted that “surveys say locals go out of their way to be friendly and greet strangers with warmth and smiles, whether in shops or on the street.”

Furthermore, in a survey conducted by Booking.com in 2023, York was named one of the “most welcoming cities” in the entire world.

However, it’s not just the friendly locals that see visitors flocking here from around the world. York is a city steeped in history, with Roman, Viking and Saxon roots.

There are flashes of the thousands of years of life lived here at every turn, from iconic York Minster and architecture from medieval times to the city’s magnificent Georgian townhouses and its Victorian railway station.

Visitors can learn all about Viking rule in the city at Jorvik Viking Centre or discover hundreds of years of York’s history in one place at York Castle Museum.

Film buffs also flock to the city to visit the famous Shambles, which is thought to have inspired Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter films.

The city is an extremely sociable one and has more than 350 pubs, as well as an array of restaurants, bars and cafés. And if you have a sweet tooth, you might be interested to learn about the city’s chocolate-making history.

York is the birthplace of The Rowntree and Terry’s factory and is now home to countless confectionary shops. 

York’s Chocolate Story is just one of these sweet attractions, offering a fully guided, interactive tour unwrapping the 4,000 years of chocolate history and revealing how it came to the city

Juliana Delaney, CEO of Continuum Attractions which runs York’s Chocolate Story, commented: “Most tourists have been there and done that when it comes to London. It’s wonderful to see the latest findings that visitors are now turning their backs and getting out of the capital to explore the diverse list of great British cities.

“Our dedicated attraction teams hear from local, national and international guests every day, many of whom share the exact same feedback – that our cities and the attractions at their heart make for exemplary destinations in their own right.

“They have long been playing second fiddle to London but these great cities are now upstaging it. York’s number one spot is no surprise to me and exactly why our central office has been based there since 1984!”