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By Grand Central Rail
34 minute read
30 May 2022
These are the UK’s most picture-perfect destinations for a day out
There are so many fantastic and breathtakingly beautiful options to choose from if you’re making plans for a day out in the coming months, so many in fact that it can be tricky to pick!
When planning a trip with friends and family, we’ll naturally want to go somewhere that will make a great backdrop in photos – whether you’re taking these for a family album or are eager to share them on Instagram.
In fact, we recently quizzed Brits on what has the biggest influence on us when planning excursions and found that social media plays a big role, with three in ten (30%) saying they are inspired to visit places after seeing photos on Instagram and other social platforms.
With this in mind, we’ve looked into the most picture-perfect and Insta-worthy places to visit on home soil.
To pull our list together we used a combination of social media check-in and ‘tagged’ data, and also ran a survey with 2,000 UK adults to see which spots people recommended, have visited before or plan to visit in the coming year.
So, where took the top spot in our research?
The Top 20 Most Insta-Worthy UK Locations / Attractions for a Day Trip (Summer 2022)
Rank | Place/Attraction Name | Location | No. of Facebook 'Check Ins' | No of times it has been tagged on Instagram |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Tower Bridge* | London | 3238950 | 2500000 |
2 | Natural History Museum* | London | 1919263 | 713000 |
3 | The Shard* | London | 1307569 | 828000 |
4 | Stonehenge | Wiltshire | 1272141 | 828000 |
5 | Brighton Palace Pier | Brighton | 1249179 | 343000 |
6 | Chatsworth House & Gardens, Bakewell | Derbyshire | 957613 | 125000 |
7 | Bournemouth Beach | Hampshire | 702849 | 181000 |
8 | London Kings Cross Station* | London | 23488 | 821000 |
9 | York Minster* | York | 365164 | 187000 |
10 | View from the summit — Brecon Beacons | Wales | 132729 | 400000 |
11 | Giants Causeway | Northern Ireland | 193431 | 317000 |
12 | The Roman Baths | Bath, Somerset | 504645 | 2400 |
13 | Edinburgh from Arthur's Seat | Scotland | 156838 | 287000 |
14 | Minack Theatre, Porthcurno | Cornwall | 336517 | 36900 |
15 | Cheddar Gorge | Somerset | 265115 | 85300 |
16 | Clifton Suspension Bridge | Bristol | 253347 | 87500 |
17 | Whitby Abbey Ruins | North Yorkshire | 236092 | 94900 |
18 | Calton Hill | Edinburgh | 123315 | 166000 |
19 | St George's Cove, Padstow | Cornwall | 437 | 287000 |
20 | Dreamland, Margate | Kent | 261554 | 17400 |
* These locations or attractions are on or close to Grand Central routes
London’s Tower Bridge Came in at No.1
Tower Bridge, which was built over 125 years ago to help with the growing volume of motor traffic, while still allowing river access to the London docks, has been a visitor attraction since 1982.
Tickets to visit the towers, walkways, the glass floor and the engine rooms start from as little as £1 (for local residents) up to £19.38 for a family ticket. You can also enjoy a guided tour during the weekends.Considered to be London’s most famous bridge, it is estimated to attract 500,000 visitors each year. It has also been tagged in more than 2.5 million Instagram posts, and 3.2 million people have checked in there on Facebook too.
For anyone wishing to visit here via train, the nearest London station that Grand Central routes travel to is Kings Cross, which is 2.9 miles away – or around a 30-minute tube ride. Kings Cross station actually made the list too – taking position eight in our list – so you can tick off this top location at the same time!
We’d recommend getting there early (or late) for a sunrise or sunset photo for your Instagram feed – trust us, it’ll be worth it! It’s also likely you’ll find it a little quieter at these times of day too.
Other Breathtakingly Beautiful Attractions
Other London attractions - the National History Museum and The Shard – took second and third place in our list, with both accruing more than a million Facebook check-ins!
In fourth place was the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge, which is located on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire and attracts as many as 9,000 per day visitors during the peak summer months!
Brighton Palace Pier, which features lots of Instagram-friendly rides and attractions, took fifth place. Entrance to the pier itself is free, but to gain access to the rides and attractions themselves you will need a wristband, and prices vary but typically start at £30 for adults or £18 for children.
While they didn’t make it into the top twenty list, places such as the historic Waterstones building in Bradford, Steely Pier in Hartlepool, Castle Eden Dene in Durham, and the Cow and Calf rocks in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, are all Insta-worthy places to add to your bucket list too.
The Waterstones Building (Wool Exchange) in Bradford – Free to visit – Nearest station is Bradford Interchange
Steely Pier in Hartlepool – Free to visit – Nearest station is Hartlepool
Castle Eden Dene in Durham – Free to visit – Nearest stations are Horden, Hartlepool and Durham
The Cow & Calf Rocks in Ilkley – Free to visit – Nearest station is Ilkley
Where Have Brits Been & Plan to Visit?
Popular locations already ticked off by many UK adults (according to our survey) included London Kings Cross Station (56%), the nearby Natural History Museum (48%), the historic York Minster (39%), Brighton Pier (38%), Stonehenge, and Lake Ullswater in the incredible Lake District (both 30%).
Despite being named one of the UK’s Seven Natural Wonders in 2021, just five per cent of those we polled have visited the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland. That said, a quarter shared they would love to visit this beautiful UNESCO world heritage site at some point soon.
Other places on the list that fewer people have taken a trip to so far included the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire (9%), the Falkirk Kelpies (10%), Wakefield’s Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and the Minack Theatre in Porthcurno (both 11%).
Place / Attraction | Have visited already | Plan to visit this year | Would like to visit at some point | Have not visited/Have no plans to visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Tower Bridge*, London | 58% | 7% | 16% | 19% |
London Kings Cross Station* | 56% | 7% | 11% | 27% |
Natural History Museum* | 48% | 7% | 20% | 25% |
York Minster* | 39% | 7% | 20% | 35% |
Brighton Pier | 38% | 7% | 22% | 33% |
Stonehenge, Salisbury | 30% | 7% | 29% | 34% |
Lake Ullswater, the Lake District | 30% | 7% | 26% | 38% |
Cheddar Gorge, Somerset | 29% | 6% | 27% | 38% |
Bournemouth Beach | 28% | 7% | 21% | 46% |
The Roman Baths, Bath | 27% | 7% | 30% | 37% |
Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol | 26% | 5% | 19% | 51% |
View from the summit, Brecon Beacons | 26% | 6% | 28% | 40% |
The Norfolk Broads | 25% | 5% | 25% | 45% |
The Shard*, London | 24% | 9% | 30% | 38% |
Northern Quarter, Manchester | 21% | 6% | 17% | 56% |
Chatsworth House & Gardens, Bakewell | 21% | 7% | 23% | 50% |
Whitby Abbey Ruins, North Yorkshire | 21% | 6% | 25% | 49% |
The view of Edinburgh from Arthur's Seat | 19% | 5% | 28% | 48% |
Calton Hill, Edinburgh | 17% | 5% | 23% | 55% |
Cairngorms National Park | 15% | 5% | 29% | 51% |
St George's Cove, Padstow | 14% | 7% | 31% | 48% |
Malham Cove, North Yorkshire | 14% | 6% | 26% | 55% |
Castle Combe, The Cotswolds | 14% | 6% | 29% | 52% |
Giants Causeway, Northern Ireland | 12% | 5% | 36% | 46% |
Dreamland, Margate | 12% | 5% | 19% | 64% |
Minack Theatre, Porthcurno | 11% | 5% | 26% | 58% |
Yorkshire Sculpture Park*, Wakefield | 11% | 5% | 26% | 58% |
The Kelpies, Falkirk | 10% | 6% | 27% | 58% |
* These locations or attractions are on or close to Grand Central routes
What Influences Where We Go on a Day Out Most?
We recently surveyed 2,000 Brits as to the biggest influences behind their choices of days out.
Whilst social media was high on the list, ultimately a big defining factor for Brits was price, with more than half (53%) saying this would significantly influence their decision on where to go.
On average, UK adults are happy to spend £31.71 per person on entrance fees to UK sights and attractions, however, the majority of (54%) would prefer to pay £25 or less per head for an entry to UK attractions. More than a quarter (27%) said that places that are free to visit are a big draw – no surprises there!
Other influential factors when looking for attractions to visit on home soil, included whether it can easily be reached by car or public transport (43%), the number of positive reviews it has online (41%), recommendations from family or friends (35%), and whether free parking is available for those opting to drive (34%).
For one in ten (10%), attractions that are lesser known are an attractive choice for a day trip.
Saving Money on Day Trips
Understandably, with the cost of living rising significantly in recent months, many British consumers will be eager to cut costs where they can, especially when it comes to days out. Luckily, we do have a few ways in which to save cash when travelling by rail:
- For parents, grandparents, carers, or family members and friends traveling along a Grand Central route, kids under five years old can travel with them free. Read about our child-friendly fares.
- Additionally, a Friends and Family Rail Card, which is £30 for the year, you can save a 1/3 off rail fares for up to four adults, as well as a generous 60% off kids on most rail fares. Plus, enjoy flexibility with two adults named on one card.
- Finally, we’ve got lots of inspiration for days out and attractions along some of our main routes for those looking to find somewhere new to explore – many of which are free to visit too. To keep an eye on exciting savings and for other travel news, sign up to our newsletter below
Sources & Methodology:
- To get a list of picturesque and insta-worthy places we ran a survey with 2,000 UK adults, asking for their recommendations. We also asked where they’ve visited and where they plan to visit.
- We then looked at Facebook for the number of ‘check ins’ at each location/attraction. These figures were collected manually in May 2022.
- Next, we looked at Instagram to see how many times each location/attraction had been tagged in a photo using the main hashtag. Again, these figures were collected manually in May 2022
- We combined this data and then ranked each location based on their overall score.
