Away from the exciting buzz and eclectic architecture of our cities, the UK has a bundle of gorgeous villages offering fairytale charm, dramatic scenery and a warm community feel. Few people can boast that they’ve seen them all, but if anyone’s going to get close, it’s travel photographers.
Big 7 Travel asked the nation’s leading travel photographers to vote for their most picturesque corner of the country. And coming out on top was Time Out favourite, Ullapool in the Scottish Highlands. Ullapool made our lists of the best places to visit in the UK and most underrated destinations in Europe for 2024.
Writers at Big 7 referred to Ullapool’s fishing port (home to just 1,500 locals) as one of the country’s ‘most unspoilt areas’, with vibrant greenery, shimmering blue water and pristine beaches.
At number two was another teeny Scottish spot – Tobermory on the Isle of Mull. With its collection of colourful seafront cottages, it’s where the iconic kids TV show ‘Balamory’ was filmed. Photographers’ third favourite UK village was the Cornish village of Port Isaac, where you’ll find narrow fourteenth century streets, fishing boats docked at the harbour and scenery that might look familiar from another TV show, ‘Doc Martin’.
The full list of Big 7 Travel’s most beautiful British villages
- Ullapool, Scotland
- Tobermory, Scotland
- Port Isaac, England
- Culross, Scotland
- Cushendun, Northern Ireland
- Dent, England
- St Abbs, Scotland
- Cartmel, England
- Solva, Wales
- Laugharne, Wales
- Crail, Scotland
- Portloe, England
- Beddgelert, Wales
- Betws-y-Coed, Wales
- Alnmouth, England
- Alfrinston, England
- Lower Slaughter, England
- Sonning, England
- South Pool, England
- Turvilla, England
Time Out’s take
In our list of the best places to visit for 2024, Time Out’s resident Scot Chiara Wilkinson wrote that besides being ‘well situated for walkers and cyclists to get their dose of the great outdoors’, Ullapool is ‘going under something of a cultural renaissance, with Scotland’s most remote club night bringing of-the-moment electronic DJs to the area and The Seafood Shack and new 3AA Rosette restaurant The Dipping Lugger attracting foodies from far and near’.
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