The most colourful places in the UK and Ireland

This idyllic tourist village created by architect Clough Williams-Ellis was built between 1925-75, as a means to show that it was possible to develop a naturally beautiful location without spoiling it. The result is an Italian-style, fairytale village in north Wales, peppered with confectionery-coloured buildings topped with domes and spires rising up from its cobbled streets. You’ll find two hotels, a handful of historic cottages, a spa, a sprinkling of shops, and subtropical gardens perfectly curated behind its gates.

Minimalists, look away now. This Essex abode has adopted a fuchsia hue both inside and out and basically looks like Barbie’s pad has been scaled up to human size, and then some. The walls of the mansion range from baby pink through to rose and salmon, with lashings of glitter, neon signs and streams of fairy lights. A tiny part of the house has escaped the brush of blush – including a blue games room and green lounge – but you didn’t come for those, did you? You came for the slumber party room, hot tub and the unicorns nestling in the flowerbeds to make all your tween dreams come true.

Whitewashed walls don’t cut it in Brighton. This is a city bursting with brightly painted houses, beach huts, shops and shutters. Wiggly waves of colour are even spilling out onto the promenade thanks to local artist Lois O’Hara, whose vibrant Brighton Rainbow Crosswalk weaves its way from the boutiques nestled beneath the West Pier Arches down towards the beach. Continue your hunt for hues at The Prince Albert pub, whose façade has been glossed in a rainbow palette, or chow down on Mexican street food and pink lemonade slushies at La Choza. If you fancy jazzing up your own abode head for Blackout Shop, where you’ll find every surface packed with zingy textiles, kitsch gifts and kitchenalia.

This charming Irish port town is studded with colourful houses and steeped in history. The spire of its Victorian cathedral can be seen piercing through beautiful sunsets behind the rows of pink, green and orange dwellings, while the waterfront stretches out beyond. The harbour was the last port of call for the Titanic in 1912 and visitors can learn more about the fatal voyage and the town’s maritime history at the Cobh Museum housed within Scots Church.

The Victorian frontages found in the Cliftonwood area of Bristol range from sky blue to peppermint and from peach to sunshine yellow. Who or what prompted the craze for the bonbon tones is anyone’s guess, but why ask questions when it looks that cute. Keep an eye out for sweet mosaics dotted around the neighbourhood, depicting hot air balloons (Bristol’s well known for its annual balloon festival) and the houses themselves, then make for the harbour to gaze up at the terraces in all their chromatic glory.

If you’d prefer the hot-pink hues of Eaton House to be dialled down a notch, The Farmhouse at Wilderness Reserve could serve as the perfect alternative. Nestled within a 5,000 acre private estate in Suffolk, the beautiful crushed-pink exterior walls hint at the plush styling within. Up to 12 pals can call the house home, with six bedrooms, glistening rolltop baths, an enormous kitchen, and an equally giant aquamarine dining room to feast in.

If you’re chasing rainbows closer to home, the capital’s got your back. The sherbet houses lining Chalcot Crescent in Primrose Hill are a good place to start, and film buffs will recognise the sweep as the setting for the Brown family’s home in Paddington 2. West London is replete with neat lines of soft-hued houses, too. Look up along Portobello Market to see them gleaming back at you, or head to nearby Lancaster Road or Denbigh Terrace where the pigments pack a real punch.