7 reasons to leave London

Burn your oyster card, brush up on your regional dialects and prepare to be astounded by just how cheap everything is – it’s time to leave the capital behind.

Centuries ago, it was discovered that the world doesn’t revolve around the sun. Most Londoners today seem to think it revolves around their city instead. While talking to a girl at a party on a recent visit, I said I lived in Manchester. Her instant response was, ‘Woah, that commute must be a bitch!’

Now, I love London. It’s an amazing, huge city, and I always think whenever you walk around you can tell that world history happened there, but London isn’t very British. It’s a beautiful, multi-cultural, cosmopolitan metropolis, but it’s just not very representative of the UK as a whole, and it always makes me sad when excited foreigners rave about how much they love the UK and then look puzzled when asked where outside the capital they’ve visited. So here are just a few reasons to head outside of London.

1.       Northern nightlife

The North is amazing – ask anyone. All cities in the North have sizeable student populations, making any one of them a good (and cheap) destination for a night out but a few examples come to mind: Manchester for its huge gay-scene, artistic hipsterish Northern Quarter and the largest student population in Europe; Newcastle for trebles cheaper than doubles, and Liverpool – just because nowhere else seems to take a night out so seriously – one word: curlers.

2.       Edinburgh

View of Edinburgh Castle

Though firmly on the backpacker’s route of Europe, Edinburgh is still second fiddle to London in terms of visitors – and I’m not sure it should be. Edinburgh is a beautiful city with architecture unlike any other place I’ve visited, all situated around a castle. There are more than enough sights to keep you occupied – Edinburgh castle, Arthur’s seat, ghost tours, pubs, J.K. Rowling’s favourite cafe just to name a few – but it’s nowhere near as overwhelming as London. Definitely try haggis, the national dish, and be prepared to hear bagpipes everywhere you go.

3.       Manchester’s industrial heritage

Castlefield, Manchester

At the risk of making this post ‘7 reasons to visit Manchester’, the capital of the North has definitely earned its place in history. Manchester was the first industrialised city in the world – something that is clear to see. I’ve always loved the city’s railways arches, but there are other monuments to Manchester’s heritage. Stroll around Castlefield or walk along the Bridgewater canal and the Manchester shipping canal to Salford Quays to see some reminders of the city’s history. There’s also the Museum of Science and Industry, which always gets rave reviews.

4.       Chatsworth House

Chatsworth House (courtesy of Peak District Information)

Chatsworth House in the Peak District, is one of my favourite places in the UK. Widely acknowledged as the most beautiful manor house in England, the grounds are regularly used for filming British and American blockbusters. The grounds are amazing and seem to go on forever, and the surrounding countryside is largely untouched, so you feel you can imagine how it looked way back when. The tour of the house is also really interesting.

5.       The Lake District

The Lake District

I’m ashamed to say it took me 22 years to make it to the Lake District. Having finally gone in February this year, I found that everything they say about the place is true – it really is incredible. Offering a landscape you can’t find anywhere else in England, the Lake District is full of mountains to climb, pubs to laze in and cottages to rent. I can’t wait to go back!

6.       Seaside towns on the East Coast

Though it’s hardly the Mediterranean, the East Coast does offer some fantastic, traditional and wonderfully tacky seaside towns. Cleethorpes is a personal favourite, with a challenging mini-golf course, and rowing lake, but Whitby, Scarborough, Bridlington and Skegness deserve a mention, too.

7.       North Wales & Snowdonia

Beddgelert (Courtesy of Beddgelert Tourism)

Having spent every summer holiday as a child here, I have a lot of love for North Wales. Probably one of the only places in the country where you’re likely to be addressed in Welsh before English, North Wales feels like a world away from the rest of the UK. In between tiny villages and miles of rural countryside, the region boasts some great beaches, a lot of beautiful castles, and more heritage steam railways than you can shake a stick at. Porthmadog, Criccieth and Pwllhelli are great places to stay in easy reach of the region’s best sights, but the village of Beddgelert is one of my favourite places in the world and is an absolute must.

There are obviously plenty of other places in the UK worth a mention. If I missed your favourite, comment below!