Somewhere like the UK, which has a reputation for being overwhelmingly dull and grey, a little bit of colour goes a long way. There’s something about rainbow pastel-painted houses, neon street murals, dazzling azure waters and rich green grass that just helps to add a little spring to your step. Despite the aforementioned reputation, there are countless places across the country that put on a colourful show. And there’s a new study to prove it.
Berlew, a creative studio based in Nottingham, has analysed hundreds of cityscape photographs to figure out the UK’s most ‘colour-rich’ destinations. How exactly does it do that? First, it put pictures of each place through ‘computer vision technology’ to identify its five most dominant colours and created a colour palette for each one. Then each palette was judged on its chromatic diversity (the variety and range of hues) and the vibrancy intensity. The wider the spectrum of bold and vivid colours, the higher the score.
After all that, Bristol claimed the title of Britain’s most colourful city. Berlew said that it took the top spot thanks to ‘its vibrant murals, rainbow-hued harbourside houses, and street art everywhere you look’. It found hues of lime green, oranges, hot pinks, royal blues and more dotted across its skyline.
The most famous and Instagrammable of Bristol’s colourful neighbourhoods is Cliftonwood. That’s where you’ll find the row of rainbow terraced houses overlooking the harbour. Nobody really knows for sure when or why each house is painted a different colour but ex-mayor George Ferguson claims he was the one to start the trend in the 1970s.
A top tip from us: see if you can find the secret viewpoint in between two houses on Cliftonwood Crescent – it’s the best spot for photos of the city and Bristol Harbour below.
Then, of course, there’s all of Bristol’s graffiti. This was where Banksy first honed his craft, and you’ll still find a lot of his work dotted across Bristol’s structures. There’s ‘Angel Bust’, an angel statue with a pot of pink paint over her head, at Bristol Museum; ‘Girl with the Pierced Eardrum’ at Albion Docks; ‘Well Hung Lover’ on College Green and ‘Marsh Lane Valentine’ in Barton Hill. Dozens of other graffiti artists also roam the city’s streets, decorating it with bold, vibrant murals.
The second most colourful place in the country, according to Berlew, is the small folly village of Portmeirion in Wales, which has been built in the style of pastel toned Italian resorts. Brighton earned third place thanks to its ‘candy-striped beach huts, painted piers and tropical-toned lanes’.
The 10 most colourful towns and cities in the UK
1. Bristol
2. Portmeirion
3. Brighton
4. Southend-on-Sea
5. Whitby
6. Notting Hill (London)
7. Portree (Isle of Skye)
8. Dartmouth
9. Penzance
10. Bath
Find out which Italian island was named the most colourful destination in the world.
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