Favourite Town

[Rhyd6]

On Sat. we're going for a short break to a cottage in Little Stretton on the Long Mynd in Shropshire. We'll be spending a lot of time in Ludlow one of my favourite towns. When I was a child we'd often go for weekends to stay with my aunt and uncle who lived in Ludlow and I fell in love with the place then and still look forward to each visit. I believe AC hails from that part of the world. Does anyone have a favourite town that they enjoy visiting time and time again?

R6

[bungeejumper]

What a lovely topic, R6. Must admit that our favourite town is really not much more than a village, and it's in southern France, so it probably doesn't count. We've been to St Geniez d'Olt in Aveyron so many times that it's a sort of a home from home where we can instantly relax, unwind, sit down at a cafe and catch up on the mood, visit the cattle market, see the churches again, walk, listen to the odd baroque music concert, and just chill by the river with a bottle of wine and watch the trout rising.

In Britain, the town that gives us the biggest thrill is York, which is a city of course. It never seems to run out of surprises - I could spend days at the railway museum, never mind the Minster or the Vikings!

Mind you, Georgian Bath ain't exactly bad, and it's right on our doorstep. (Although it's another city, dammit. ) Any time I need a mood lift, I can get lost among thousands and thousands of people who are out there having a nice time. And after nearly 45 years, the thrill of the old place is still undiminished. That's quite something after all these years.

BJ

[PhaseThree]

In no particular order...
Portaferry, Northern Ireland (Laid back County Down)
Colmar, Alsace, France (Venice in France, lived nearby for a few years)
Aleppo, Syria (may want to check this one, not been for 15 years)
Antigua, Guatemala (Old capital, very cool)
Derry, Northern Ireland (Great walled city)
Belfast, Northern Ireland (Recovering it's mojo)
Tavistock, England (Lot's of great memories and a great centre for visiting Dartmoor and the South Devon coast)
York, England (Historic masterpiece)

[Leothebear]

Begur - a hilltop town very near the sea in Catalonia - not very big but full of charm with it's boutiques and restaurants. Not too expensive either.
Belapais - another high place in N. Cyprus tiny but fabulous views, a lovely old abbey and again charm in spades. Once home to Lawrence Durrell.
Kyrenia - again N. Cyprus - a harbour with loads of restaurants and no traffic and none of the ponciness of San Tropez and a nicer place to be.

My favourite places tend to be where you can spend an evening there al fresco and still be warm. Generally that aint the UK.
Naming UK towns for me is harder In fact I'll bet we can all name 20 rubbish towns to every decent one. Anyway here goes:

Lincoln - nice place and what a cathedral!
Arundel - very near me and rather special. A small town dominated by it's castle, but also boasting cathedral, many antique shops, decent restaurants, a superb nature park and a delightful cricket ground.
Chichester - Again near me - excellent theatre, impressive cathedral, good shops, retaurants etc, lack of riff-raff
Lyme Regis - Went there many moons ago and liked it very much. Probably too touristy now but I hope it hasn't been spoilt.

[Bminusrob]

There are quite a few places I love, and love going back to. I love the Lake District, and happily go back to Coniston, Keswick, as well as places just outside the national park, like Ulverston and Walney Island (Does that count as a town? If not, it would have to be Vickerstown.)

Near my current home, Okehampton is a great place, and much more accessible, now they have re-opened the railway line.

The one other place I would want to give a mention to is Ljubljana in Slovenia. Fantastic place for all sorts of reasons, and great to visit any time of the year.

Looking forward to other people's places - perhaps to plan a bucket list or world tour.

[Dod101]

Worldwide, how could anyone possibly name a favourite? In the UK? Well Lindisfarne cannot be ruled out but being Scottish, I would chose almost anywhere on the coast between say Oban and Cape Wrath, excepting the Clyde estuary.

Dod

[UncleEbenezer]

There are quite a few places I love, and love going back to. I love the Lake District, and happily go back to Coniston, Keswick, as well as places just outside the national park, like Ulverston and Walney Island (Does that count as a town? If not, it would have to be Vickerstown.)

Near my current home, Okehampton is a great place, and much more accessible, now they have re-opened the railway line.

Be better still once they've finished tarting up the station, so we have things like loos there. Or - altogether better - reopened the rest of the line on to Tavistock and Plymouth.

Still, good that some enterprising local person has opened up a mobile coffee shop in front of the station. Last time I came that way, my train into Exeter was late, so I didn't have time for a coffee there and was really grateful for one at Okehampton while waiting for the bus.

Hmmm, towns. Nope, can't make a list. Tavistock and Okehampton already having been mentioned, perhaps one more here in Devon would be Totnes, though there's a hint of marmite to it.

[Beerpig]

York, Chester and Whitby.

[DrFfybes]

Jerez, closely followed by Louth.

Jerez is large enough to spend a week or so there, but small enough to get to know, very friendly out of season, and I prefer it to the neighbouring cities like Seville. Their proximity to small loops of tarmac might also be a factor

[redsturgeon]

When I lived in York I used to visit Whitby a lot and those two would definitely be on my list of favourites. I would add Oxford to the list and Brighton.

John

Edit to add, I suppose some of those are actually cities, does that count?

[swill453]

Crail, Pittenweem, St Monans and Elie in the East Neuk of Fife are special to me, with many memories of childhood holidays.

Scott.

[scotview]

Crail, Pittenweem, St Monans and Elie in the East Neuk of Fife are special to me, with many memories of childhood holidays.

Scott.

Agreed, we've done the Fife path a couple of times. Those stones in the Crail harbour wall are perfect and have seen a few living gales.

Abroad I like Murren in Switzerland, it's across the deep valley from the Eiger and Jungfrau. One of those places you look at and think am I really here.

[UncleEbenezer]

When I lived in York I used to visit Whitby a lot and those two would definitely be on my list of favourites. I would add Oxford to the list and Brighton.

John

Edit to add, I suppose some of those are actually cities, does that count?

I think Whitby isn't a city. So one out of four there.

[Sobraon]

Great thread R6. In the context of towns(not cities or villages) here are my top 4, they are all places I would really miss if I couldn’t visit again.

Horncastle (Lincs). Really relaxing self-contained and great community, lovely people and as comfortable as a favourite pair of slippers!
Alcalá de Henares, this town could be overshadowed by its closeness to Madrid but it’s a compact and very friendly university town and the birth place of Cervantes (the Cervantes birthplace museum is a fascinating free couple of hours visit). Restrained, nice and polite with lovely bars and restaurants to explore. The Parador there is great - as is its restaurant.
Xàbia (or Javea). No over development by hotels and a truly international place, ok it's busy but a lovely place for a short (or long!) break.
Wells-next-the-Sea. A childhood haunt, sailed there many times in my youth and used to take the kids crabbing from the quay wall and to the beach. Always fancied living on the Buttlands but out of my price range now with the inflow of money.