The town nicknamed the ‘new Berlin’ that is officially one of Time Out’s best places to visit in Britain in 2026

Fifteen years ago, Stockport in Greater Manchester had the highest number of empty shops of any large town in the UK. However, after a recent few years of major investment the former market town is thriving. Stockport is doing so well that it was nicknamed the ‘new Berlin’ and was nominated as one of Time Out’s best places to visit in Britain in 2026. 

Although Stockport might be giving less industrial techno and more Industrial Revolution, the buzzy town has ‘real energy and creativity, as well as a fertile independent culture’ according to Time Out’s Phil de Semlyen. 

Must-visit areas in the SK postcode are Market Place and the Underbank, which offers a network of bars, records shops and indie cafés that has been compared to Edinburgh’s Cowgate, without quite as much booziness.

For eating, loft-style restaurant Where The Light Gets In dishes up Michelin-class nosh and has become a hotspot for foodies. There’s also Fell Stockport, a community focused bar with an industrial aesthetic (is this the Berlin people are talking about?) opened by Fell Brewery Cumbria. 

Stockport is also home to Hat Works, the UK's only museum dedicated to the hatting industry – inside a restored Victorian mill, it’s more interesting that it might sound. 

For more essential places to visit in the UK in 2026, here’s what we’ve said about Stirling, Hastings and St Leonards and Cirencester.

The full list of Time Out’s 14 best places to visit in the UK in 2026. 

Read about the campaign to make Glasgow’s city centre river swimmable.