![\"Skipton](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/96ec2051-c6a8-4797-aa89-34110370c930.jpg\")
Skipton Castle in North Yorkshire (Alamy\/PA)<\/p>\nThe historic city tops a list of 72 locations in the Best Places To Live guide, which is released online on Friday.<\/p>\n
An abridged version will be published as a magazine supplement on Sunday March 22.<\/p>\n
The Norfolk city of Norwich was chosen for its blend of historic character, urban buzz and \u201cliveability\u201d.<\/p>\n
It is the only location to have featured in all 14 editions of the guide.<\/p>\n
The judges described Norwich as a creative, cosmopolitan city with a small-town feel \u2013 and \u201ca green conscience and a warm heart\u201d.<\/p>\n
They said people can enjoy the best of urban conveniences and rural living there.<\/p>\n
With a market at its heart, Norwich boasts an array of cultural riches including theatres, music venues, a castle, independent shops, cafes and bars.<\/p>\n
When compiling the guide, the\u00a0judges assessed factors from schools to transport, broadband speeds and mobile signal to amenities, as well as access to high-quality green spaces and the health of the high street.<\/p>\n
Helen Davies, editorial projects director and Best Places To Live editor, said: \u201cThis guide is a great opportunity to highlight the best places in Britain.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is full of places that show that our village, town and city centres can still be full of life, as well as places bursting with natural beauty, culture, connectivity and most importantly a sense of community.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur expert team of judges have travelled the length and breadth of the UK, from the Scottish Highlands to the Cornish coast, selecting the top towns and villages, suburbs and cities for the 2026 guide.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing all our chosen locations have in common is that the people who live in them are proud to call them home.\u201d<\/p>\n
The guide was sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group.<\/p>\n
Kate Townson, Lloyds relationship and customer development director said navigating the housing market \u201ccan feel overwhelming\u201d for many people, adding that the bank\u2019s partnership with the guide \u201caims to give trusted insight into communities across the UK, helping\u00a0 home buyers to make confident, informed decisions about their future home\u201d.<\/p>\n
Skipton Castle in North Yorkshire (Alamy\/PA)<\/p>\n
The Sunday Times Best Places To Live guide 2026 named one overall national winner, with 10 winners from the UK\u2019s nations or regions.<\/p>\n
Among them is the Yorkshire market town of Skipton, which in December was named by Rightmove as the happiest place to live in 2025.<\/p>\n
Here is the list, with The Sunday Times\u2019s descriptions of the winners:<\/p>\n
\u2013 1 (National winner) Norwich, Norfolk (East of England)<\/p>\n
\u2013 2 Malmesbury, Wiltshire (South-west England)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ever-improving high street is the star of the show in a historic town that\u2019s a safe place for families to put down roots. There\u2019s plenty going on: sports clubs, a theatre group and hardworking community groups.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe state schools are excellent, there are jobs at the Dyson Creative Campus and although there\u2019s no station, Bristol, Bath and London are easily reached.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 3 Skipton, North Yorkshire (North and north-east England)\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSkipton is properly grounded and strongly connected to the spectacular surrounding landscape. It\u2019s a place where traditional businesses thrive and a haven for families drawn by the excellent schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe volunteering culture is strong such as Share Skipton, which operates a Library of Things that allows members to borrow anything from a disco ball to a leaf blower and also holds monthly repair cafes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 4 Lindfield, West Sussex (South-east England)\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLindfield has enough reliable schools, smart shops, amenities and connections to satisfy the most hard-headed househunter. But it\u2019s just as perfect for more romantic souls, ready to be bewitched by the duck pond, the enviable period homes, the warm and welcoming community and the Sussex countryside.\u201d<\/p>\n
5 The Malverns, Worcestershire (Midlands)\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Malverns offer a majestic setting, elegant towns and villages, and a rousing cultural scene that goes far beyond the inevitable Elgar connections.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s something here for everyone: jobs, appealing shops, cafes and restaurants and useful rail links. There are spectacular walks on the bracken-clad hills, mighty views across to Wales.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 6 Usk, Monmouthshire (Wales)\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cVolunteers are involved in everything in the \u2018town of flowers\u2019 from planting the 2,500 plants to secure its latest Britain in Bloom gold award to running the annual Usk Show. It\u2019s a place where nesting boxes are provided for swifts, where wild swimmers campaigned for a \u00a310 million wastewater upgrade to combat river pollution.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 7 Linlithgow, West Lothian (Scotland)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe historic town was picked as a family-friendly hotspot between Edinburgh and Glasgow.<\/p>\n
\u201cResidents of this central belter can enjoy the medieval high street, outstanding schools and the great outdoors. It\u2019s the kind of town where the lollipop people know everyone\u2019s names and have treats for the dogs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 8 Ballycastle, Co Antrim (Northern Ireland)\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBallycastle is a town with a beautiful setting and a big, beating heart, always on display in the meet-ups at the library, the Solas charity that provides mental health support, the thriving independent high street and the lively pub scene.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe long sandy beach is the meeting point for dog walkers, birdwatchers and swimmers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 9 Richmond, (London)\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lucky folk of TW11 are spoilt for ways to enjoy a break in this leafy serene corner of the capital.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo wonder Richmond is regularly voted the happiest borough in London. The choices include strolling beside the river or the magnificent 2,500-acre Royal Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichmond, with its picturesque green, feels like a small town in a big city. The high street is on the up after a spell in the doldrums and the restaurant scene has a new spring in its step.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 10 Altrincham, Greater Manchester (North-west England)<\/p>\n
\u201cClassy, cool and effortlessly comfortable, Alty is a top-notch town brimming with independent businesses and big brands. Now it\u2019s flying even higher.<\/p>\n
\u201cCo-working has arrived on the high street in the old Rackhams department store. The leisure centre reopened in August 2025 after a \u00a320 million revamp, the market food hall draws diners from all over the region, and the schools are among the most successful in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Previous winners of The Sunday Times Best Places to Live in Britain title are: Stamford, Lincolnshire (2013); Skipton, North Yorkshire (2014); Newnham, Cambridge (2015); Winchester, Hampshire (2016); Bristol (2017), York (2018), Salisbury, Wiltshire (2019), Altrincham, Cheshire (2020) Stroud, Gloucestershire (2021), Ilkley, West Yorkshire (2022) Wadhurst, East Sussex (2023), North Berwick, East Lothian (2024) and Saffron Walden, Essex (2025).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The historic city tops a list of 72 locations in the Best Places To Live guide, which is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":143583,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[128,130,129],"class_list":["post-143582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=143582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=143582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=143582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=143582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}