The UK’s best big city break destination has been crowned for 2024

Cities are in our blood here at Time Out. Of course, we like to get away from it all now and again with a spa day, hiking holiday or epic road trip, but eventually we always find ourselves back where restaurants are bustling, clubs are pumping and culture is overflowing. 

We know that Britain’s urban hubs make for fantastic getaways. And now Which? has asked the British public for its opinion. The consumer champion asked 4,000 people about their experience visiting the UK’s large cities in the last two years to discover which reigns supreme.

And congratulations to all the Scousers out there – Liverpool took the top spot! The city scored 84 percent overall, based on criteria such as accommodation, food and drink, cultural sights and tourist attractions, ease of getting around, lack of crowds, and value for money. 

Liverpool scored five out of five for cultural sights and four stars for food and drink and accommodation. According to Which?, visitors are particular fans of the museums at Albert Dock, its two cathedrals and the Beatles Museum. One participant said: ‘I had completely underestimated how much there was to see and do in Liverpool.’

The top ten big cities for a short break in the UK, according to Which? 

1. Liverpool 
2. Edinburgh
3. York
4. Belfast
5. Glasgow
6. London
7. Newcastle
8. Portsmouth
9. Bristol
10. Cardiff

Time Out in Liverpool 

Plan your dream trip to L’pool with Time Out’s roundup of its best restaurants, best nightlife spots, best things to do, best museums, best hotels and best Airbnbs. As it happens, Liverpool is also home to Time Out’s coolest UK neighbourhood for 2024: the Baltic Triangle. Make sure to check it out. 

Did you see that Manchester-Liverpool train journey times could soon be cut in half?

Plus: UK cities are getting loads of free Olympic fan zones this summer.

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