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Having just spent 2 really cool days in York, which truly is a beautiful place, got me thinking about my favourite places in the UK.

York has just overtaken Chester.

Yours ?

Edinburgh is lovely too as long as you stay out of the Niddrie Mains.

Chester was up there as one of mine too and I love St Ives in Cornwall as well.

Good call, lots of nice fishing villages in Devon/Cornwall. One of those would get my vote too.

York is nice,but rammed full of tourists most of the year. Can also be a bit of a bugger to park in town.

can it ?

 :wink:  :mrgreen:

have to agree on st ives. on a sunny day i've never seen such clear sea water in britain.beautiful

i love torquay and the small towns near there also.dawlish,teignmouth etc.

bath is a nice place too and just down the road.

Manchester - would love to live there for a while

It has everything without being as Ming as London

I also had a wonderful time in Lincoln we we stayed up there for the match the other season

My grandparents were from Dawlish and always used to take us to Teignmouth Pier.  Its ace to walk down the cliff onto the seafront

purely for the people and good time i have had it has to be SWINDON

we go down there almost every year.holiday'd down there as a kid and been taking my kids there for years.i want to retire to dawlish if it isn't under water by then.had a weekend break in dawlish over easter infact.

The walk along Dawlish Warren is nice too although only when the tides out!

yeah, do that through the summer lady.and go in the pubs on the warren after the stroll.the winds and the sea were mighty feirce over easter though so didn't bother.
lovely train journeys in the area toodown the exe estuary past starcross,then along the sea wall at dawlish onto teignmouth then up the teign estuary towards newton abbott.

Agreed! People are mental going across the low bit of that path by the sea when the waves lashing against it. The long way round is better than a drowning.

Ahhh memories.  Not to forget the black swan either!

all but disapeared in numbers recently lady.a new pair has just been introduced to the river.

Shit only just got that. Forgot about your year off.

Places I really for differing like include Polzeath, Taunton, Cardiff, Bishops Cannings where I grew up, Great Yarmouth and (dare I say it) Oxford.

Places that I loathe are Luton, Blackpool, Romsey, and most of all Bracknell and Basingstoke. Bleugh.

no worries mate !

Only 5 months left now !

Surely you mean Amisingstoke. It's a bit better now they have done up the centre, though a bit bland no more shabby than Swindon (but the people largely suck).  

Slough and Bracknell are worse. The concrete greyness of it all.

Cardiff is a great city. Always have a top time whenever I'm there.

I definately agree with St Ives. Padstow is not bad either.

Padstow, thats where Rick Stein has his restaurant isn't it.  Very small but nice cornish village all the same.

That's the one.

Rick Stien owns about half a dozen different business's there. Quite a queit place, but a few decent boozers. Only about 15 miles from Newquay if you fancy something more lively as well.

Ive been to Chester also and agree that it is dead nice. I have never really travelled much within the UK though.

I found Paris OK, but I found the parisians not to be nice people and I did not feel welcome.

Barcelona if found to be an amazing city, you could literally turn a corner and find yourself facing a huge colonial palace, very impressive but again the locals where not at all welcoming and where often quite aggressive towards me purely for being English or non-Spanish/Catalan.

I have also been to Seoul and it a similar story occurred, I went just before the World cup and the city was done up all nice, but the Korean men where a bunch of cunts, they would quite literally push me out of the way at times.

Three stereo-types that I have found to be to true (Generalising of course).

Nah-Trang in Vietnam is an incredible place, right on the beach with stunning scenery and the locals where awesome.

Phnom-Penh in Cambodia is a great place, it is completely lacking in granduer but the place has an buzz about it and the often anarchic atmosphere is more exciting than scary, and Cambodian people are amongst the friendliest (And intelligent) that I have met.

Singapore is one of my favourite places, it is a clean, attractive place and I think that I find it to be an Oasis of Organisation in a part of the world that is known for mayhem.

My #1 favourite place though:
It stinks, the climate is uncomfortable, the traffic is horrendous, getting simple things done is a challenge, the locals are lapsidasical and I often dismay at the way they do (Or not do) things. The locals however are very very friendly and incredibly welcoming, they love to have fun and have an awesome sense of humour, and there ALWAYS seems to be something happening.

These things for me make Bangkok the #1 place in the world to be. And the "Negatives" just seem to add to its charm.

1, Swindon - bit obvious that one.
2, Torquay - always loved torquay since i was a kid.
3, Bath - such a pretty city.
4, London - there's something magical capitol city.

Dawlish warren and dawlish are lush places!! I used to love waving to the train drivers on the walk to dawlish when i was littler

Oh, and those 2 as well.

Bath is dead pretty, and rather sophisticated.

And London is, well its London innit. Something that us English should be proud of.

 :shock:  :negsy:

:Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick:

Agree 100%

I’ve lived with Chester and often visit York.  Both are magnificent.  

The women in Chester are absolutely stunning and its postcard picturesque.  My old house was actually sat just by the city walls and I used to get to walk into work each day across them right into the city centre without a car in sight, which was magnificent.  The only downside is you get a lot of idiots congregating in Chester at the weekend from areas that are rough as old arse holes like Ellesmere Port and Blacon.

York though has the looks, the hot women and a wicked friendly crowd at the weekend and a good range of decent bars to choose from.

One to add to the list is Stratford Upon Avon where I’ve also lived and once you get passed the tourists it’s a beautiful place.  There’s nothing better than going down to the river on a hot sunny afternoon in Stratford with a few beers and just completely chilling until you hit the rest of the Town in the evening.

Have to agree about Stratford, an afternoon by the river is awesome!

Bath is among my favourites. It's an awesome place with great character, especially when its not full of Japanese tourists taking pictures of pigeons and pot plants. I think a lot of people take it for granted seeing as its just down the road from Swindon.

Having lived in London for the past 6 or 7 months I have to say it's a great place. Obviously it has its downsides, and I don't think I could stay here for a long time without needing some time away, but it really is just full of things to do and you can spend days just walking round.

Seeing as some people went off on a tangent talking about Cornwall and Devon, I'm going to add Snowdonia as a great place to visit. Possibly the most beautiful place I've visited in the UK so far.

I love the Norfolk coast, Hunstanton is a great seaside resort and Great Yarmouth rocks for a night out.

I must like Bath as, apart from the village where I grew up, I've never lived anywhere else for even half as long. And even now I'd only leave to go and live by the sea. Preferably in Brittany.

I've missed the boat in this life, but if I had my time again I'd love to spend my younger years living overseas: Moscow or Paris would be top of the list.

Ralphy - I'm off there next week. Never been before so I hope you're right.
Lincoln is a great city as are Chester, Bath and York. For some perverse reason thats hard to fathom I also like Penrith.
Personally I find London a complete and utter shit hole that I avoid whenever possible. Luton, Rotherham, Rochdale, Stoke and Liverpool are also crap holes that should be nuked  -with the residents still there.

Chipping Norton isn't a bad place to live.

I don't really have one. No place I have visited in this country has really made me feel as if I wanted to go back there again...yet.

As long as a place has mates there that I can meet up with then that's pretty good in my book. This can include going somewhere with your mates.

In the Uk, Cheltenham.

Abroad, Sitges is a lovely resort.

Here, Stratford is very nice and good fun. I also like Birmingham. Abroad it'd be Hong Kong and Melbourne plus any Canadian city that isn't French.

Stamford, Lincolnshire

1. Swindon
2. Toronto Ontario Canada
3. Dunedin Florida
4. Ibiza Town Spain
5. Bogota Colombia (lovely city if there was no kidnappings etc there)

It's race days as well, you get quite a lot of idiots in Chester then as well as at weekends. Coming from Shrewsbury and further afield than Ellesmere Port, which is the arse end of North West nearly. But Chester is very picturesque, especially down by the river and along the walls.

Manchester is great place to live, love living here, just a shame i'm graduating this year.

But going slightly off topic, one place i hate going is Hull, been there a few times recently (and going again soon) with Uni cricket and i truly hate it.

Good call, Toronto is ace

As a lorry driver i get about abit...the country i mean,with the weather picking up its a joy at times,was in Devon and Cornwall on monday...Wadebridge near Salcombe is stunning,the PEAK DISTRICT not to be confused with The Lake District is very underated...rivers and rolling hills just down the road from Nottingham!....but my favourite place is Loch lomond....and i will be there to watch the Scottish Golf Open hopefully with Swindons David Howell to follow round in July....and that is only 10 milesfrom Glasgow!

Swindon for me. No other place comes close to my home town. That said i quite enjoyed going to Southampton and Sheffield seemed a pretty cool place when i was up there.

You must have gone on a good day/night Ralphy!!  It is really a crap hole, lived near there for 14 years and wouldn't recommend it!!

ooo ooo loughboroughs ace too. And bude  8)

I've got to give Lancaster a shout here.
Suffers from seasonal affective disorder, but it's cracking in the summer.

Come up on the hottest day in June and there's about 6000 female students wearing virtually nothing everywhere  :beers:

Just don't come on a stag night - the local sport at the moment is "stab the stag"  :-))(

  I must try and get there one day....I  seen most of the British Isles, if not microscopically then passing through or a fleeting visit, but Lincolnshire is the ony blank.  Middlemarch was filmed there a  few years back and it looked ace.

Else I'll give Chester a shout, it's great, but a little overpriced - and again miserable in the winter.

I quite liked Hull when I worked there about 5 years ago.  :shock:

Inverness is underrated but really nice by the river and it's a great base to explore Loch Ness and the surrounds about 30 minutes drive south west ish. My missus loved it for the 'romantic' walks along the river, and the local campsite two minutes from the river was about £10 a night too.

Ralphy in taking the piss shocker  :shock:

Hunstanton is a cheap tatty dump, and Great Yarmouth is a cheap tatty dump full of 7 fingered freaks.

I love Cornwall and the Scottish Highlands. The further away from civilisation the better  :mrgreen:

GY is a toilet, granted, but as Ralphy says, a proper laugh in the summer and some decent golf to be had locally as well. Getting caned for 3 or 4 nights up there in the summer is a must

Great Yarmouth = Great if you love Lawn Bowls  :suicide:

 Its a good  area no doubt,  a walk through the sand dunes to the Exe estuary is a must.  Some of the best bird (avian) watching in England

Oh, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Small town at the base of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Expensive, but stunning.

 When I was up there I camped near a place called Dores by the side of Loch Ness...south west of Inverness.

  Funny what you think you can see after a bit of  :doobie:

There's nothing wrong with a bit of lawn bowls.

In fact, I challenge any willing TEFer to a game of lawn bowls, I've got my own woods and everything  8)

Too much too soon

 :nod:

 :Ride On Fatbury's Lovestick: Seriously?

Mind you I like Sheffield (never had a bad night out), and Glasgow (same reason).

Hartlepool I have to say is one of the worst!

Margate used to be the place to go....its a real dump now

Great Yarmouth - the poor man's Blackpool!!! :shock:

Its not that good!!!!

Not in the UK but I gurantee you'll enjoy vilnius fred!!

My dad went to Vilnius a few times. It sounds interesting in a 'I probably wouldn't want to go there' type way.

it is, every cunt knows your business, was why i had to get away, got sick of it

london is wicked, just get on with your business and noone gives a fuck

i quite like swanage  :oops:

Not a town or city as such but I love the Gower.  Three cliffs bay is one of the best beaches you will find.

I had a great night out in Hartlepool earlier in the season and its cheap as fook.

In the UK I do love Holmfirth, and a lot of the town in South Devon as a lot of people have already said, even Plymouth is pretty awesome in places, the Barbican is awesome.

Abroad, most small south Bavarian towns are pretty ace, as is 'Old Town' in Nürnberg. Loved Karlsruhe and Hamburg too when I lived there.

Anybody holidaying in Cuba must make Havana as THE place to visit.  Had a great time there.  Go to the Nacional Hotel and gaze at the pictures of celebrities and gangsters that have visited there.  Lunch at the One-eyed Cat close by and an afternoon drink in the bar that Hemingway used to frequent! :beers:

Chester is a great place, one of my best mates lives about 20 minutes from there so i've been there a few times now.

Keep your diary free for next may...

Siena Italy, better than Florence, and with less tourists
Coonabarabran, NSW, a proper out back town, where rain is an event to celebrate
Cesky Krumlov - I have never been more drunk than the day me, 2 canadians and 2 yanks ended up having an all day drinking session on the Vltava river.  The next day I was evicted from the youth hostel and later had a black out, thought I was going to die.    Lovely place though!

UK based - Edinburgh's quality, love Cardiff too, and you can't beat a bit of Cornwall, Port Isaac's lovely.

Me too  :oops:

Exeter's nice to visit, but I don't think I'd want to live their again. Never did get round to visiting the underground tunnel or whatever it's called. One day.

My fav place has to be Westport Co Mayo, Eire.

 I'm a fan of Swanage, and its surrounds.

  I took my Czech lady friend there in the summer  8)  

   Getting chips from the Eastern European run chippy could have been a problem.....the notion of queues, and doing one order at a time seemed to have disappeared,  but she instinctively seeemed able to deal with this chaos

  I suppose being able to undersatnd Polish helped..

   Never had this problem with the Hong Kong Chinese.

After having my hair cut my a beautiful Czech women, who recommends Prague, I think I will have to go there in the near future

Sydney and Barcelona are my favourite places. I quite like Paris as well.

I must admit I enjoy living in Newcastle. I like Northumberland, visiting places like Seahouses, Bamburgh, et al is good for relaxing. Walking along the Hadrian's Wall route is great too.

My most favourite place I've visited thus far is Massachusetts.

Yeah,
It is great up there. I went for the first time ever this year. Berwick is absolutely lovely too.

Edinburgh, London, Cardiff, Newcastle and Lilliesleaf.

Would be my top five in Britain.

Good reading folks....ive been away in the New Forest for a week,ts a very unspoilt place and great for walks,also not far to drive,as a driver i travl round Britain and to be honest ware ever you live your not far from a decent place,place that dont get alot of credit include the Peak District around Nottingham and Loch Lomond which is a district near Glasgow,Looe is stunning and i like Wadebridge too.

are the banks bonnie?

 There may be a comma missing, but I'd have the Peak District down as between Manchester and Sheffield.

nottingham and loch lomond is quite a large area to cover isnt it?

little rock.

[url width=900 height=675]http://www.heritagetrolley.org/IMAGES/LittleRock04.JPG[/url]

 Leefer is right though, there are many fascinating places in  England and Wales, many of them hidden away and sometimes little known about or visited, apart from by locals.

How much effort does the town make to keep the spirit of the Little Rock 9 going Sonic? I imagine it's well documented, especially as it's the 50th anniversary of the events.

When I tour the U.S. again it's on the list.

Berlin probably for me, has a really nice feel to it for a city and loads to see.

In the UK I really couldn't pick a favourite, Stangford in NI or Polzeath are both good though, generally I like smaller places.  My number one to avoid is Middlesbrough, where I've been maybe 10 times in the last couple of years.  One day I'll have to pop into Kirk Smeeton(which always makes me think of TEF and Reg for obvious reasons) on my way up there, purely out of curiousity.

You're right (although you didn't need reassurance!) Middlesbrough is a hole.

I went to the Riverside Stadium last season and the opposition were chanting "worst city in England" over-and-over again... only for one irritated Boro fan to stand up and scream "it's not a city it's a borough you fucking bastards" - it was heard and he was mocked a-plenty.

 Northumberland is indeed ace....can you still get a decent smoked kipper in Seahouses?

Yes, yes you can.

I have to say i like Enniskillen in NI. Some decent fishing and the place where i have had the best steak ever.

Not to mention the shady pub that opened up some steps and then turned into a nightclub after last orders....

 NI is indeed ace...you can talk to peeps, who've been here, there and everywhere, but never NI.

We drove from Dublin, after catching a ferry from Holyhead.

Checkpoint Charlie still there i think

I'd like to have a long weekend up in Belfast.  Got a few mates living there and everyone seems to be raving about the place of late.

My only concern is turning Fawly and doing my very own episode of "The Germans".

"Don't mention the bombs" would be on the tip of my tongue.

Piss taking aside it's supposed to be a very safe place to visit these days.

surprisingly little, actually. compared to most places i visited in the south little rock was by far the most multicultural though...

i must confess i didn't do much sightseeing. most time was spent in bars...

where in the US did you visit? i intend to travel for three months next year, i want to see san francisco, new york, chicago, memphis/nashville and see some of the mississippi delta as i only briefly passed through it.

Oh, oh, oh... Can i come please!  O0

I've been trying to talk friends into going on a little trip around America, namely New York, San Francisco and Chicago. They're all either gay or getting married though, which from my perspective (looking at my friends), is the same thing.

  Been a while since I was there, but Belfast seemed to have a lot of pubs which proudly retained historic features, lots of highly polished wooden bars, and wooden seating areas a bit like chapels..

 Sorts of things that get knocked down or ripped out in Engalnd in pursuit of profit...it may be that Belfast is a bit behind the times and this process will now kick in.

depends if you can put up with my american fandom :p

As I was doing a essay on sport culture in New England at the time, I had to stay in Boston and only ventured to it's surrounding towns (which wasn't a chore). When you do your trip I recommend you use Boston as your relax time - especially if you start in NYC. Many people I've come across do the same as it's ideal for recharging your batteries. Good bars too.

I don't know where I'll go next - it depends what I do my masters dissertation on.

You can love America until your heart's content. Just let me have first picks on the ladies.

Am I still adopting you and moving to the States sonic?

Apart from Swindon would be Toronto. Lived there for years, my mum and dad still live there, going back there in October to visit for a week.

erm. probably - do you have us citizenship?

REF the Peak District Reg...indeed it does take in Manchester and Sheffield but last week i was in Buxton which is stunning and is in Derbyshire hence the reference i was making was you ca be in gun ridden Nottingham and less than an hour later be in the beautifull Spa town off Buxton in the peak district,also REF Glasgow has some really bad areas yet 30 mins down the road is Loch Lomond.

my fav has to be rome, been to watch roma vs lazio a few times and loved it, closely followed by auckland new zealand spent 2 years living there great city!!

I lived in Fallingbostel as a kid and loved every second of it. I've always intended to go back.

Well Paris is awsome too,it blew me away with its culture and history.

The only part of France I've visited is the south west area around Bergerac - it was pretty good, definately a nice place to do a whole lot of nothing!

Well Rich i only saw Paris,one fact that astounded me was that if you looked at every piece of art in the Louvre for a minute you woul be there for three months!   as i was only there a week i shall be going back.

  Interesting that...I'd have Buxton down as in the Derbyshire Dales, maybe the tourist offices/ estate agents now put in the Peak District.
 
 I used to spend a lot of time in Nottingham albeit 30 years ago, and it was a fine wholesome place....populated by the offspring of skilled female lace makers, hey ho, things change.

Actually Reg you were right and it suprised me about the Peak District being more Manchester and Sheffield,as for Nottingham its still got that feel of tradition about it especially the centre and footy and cricket grounds.

 I was shocked when the lass was shot on the way home from the Goose Fair...got to be a Nottingham tradition going back centuries..been myself....things can only get better.

I thought Auckland was a bit cack, much preferred Wellington, but then I was a tourist rather than living there.

I've got to agree. It's pleasant but Sunday night in Auckland is painfully quiet. Way too church round there. But then if you were a resident, the 'burbs seemed much nicer than the centre.

If we're talking abroad

Siena, Cesky Krumlov, Byron Bay, Singapore, Stockholm, area around Playa Del Carmen.

I will add Lord Howe Island to this list next year, looks amazing, should be going there next December, touch wood.

Depends on your definition. The Peak District National Park stretches from Saddleworth Moor in the North right down to just outside Ashbourne, and from Just woutside Macclesfield in the West right across to past Bakewell around Beeley and Baslow. Oddly though the route of the A6 and the railway line to Buxton, and Buxton itself is cut out of the National Park boundaries. So Buxton if not in the Peak District NP but unless you're coming from Manchester, you have to pass therough the NP to get to it.

Personally though I'm with you. When I think of the peaks I think of the High Peaks area from the Hope and Edale valleys upwards. Stannage Edge just outside Sheffield is kind of where I think of it starting then either up past the Ladybower and Derwent reserviors or across West towards Kinder Scout.

Below that you're generally dropping about 100m in height above sea level and it just gets more and more gentle the further south you go. From sort of Ashford in the Water down you're definately seeing more of a Dales landscape

I went to the Goose Fair as a young un. Massive it were. I won a Liverpool scarf and found a pound note on the floor! Halcyon days.

 Right, I think we have a consensus...the Peak District National Park, is a planning area , which contains the Derbyshire Dales which are more a geographical area, and also bits of Staffordshire which are geologically similar.

 I used to like to troll up the Manifold Valley to Thor's Cave..in the misplaced hope that a bloodstream full of pharmaceuticals, might enable me to find bifrost..the rainbow bridge and the passage from midgard through to asgard.

Fair play Reg...i prefer to cross the Pennines!

Unfortunately not, just a 5 year plan. But its better than anything Bob Holt could come up with.........

Getting US citizenship is very much like buying a house...

What, overpriced, overrated and fucking difficult?

 :D