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One of Britain’s most ‘boring’ towns is in London

The town’s number one tourist attraction is its train station, according to the Telegraph’s new list of the UK’s dullest places

Annie McNamee
Written by
Annie McNamee
Contributor, Time Out London and UK
Surbiton, London
Photograph: Shutterstock
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A while back, Rightmove declared that London commuter town Slough was the nation’s most miserable place to live. Now, we return to the capital and its environs to discover the most boring places to live in Britain.

Of all the complaints we tend to have about living in the capital, a lack of stuff to do doesn’t come up very often. Unless, perhaps, you live in the aggressively-suburban Surbiton, which was recently named the second most boring place to live in the country by the Telegraph

The newspaper lists Surbiton’s ‘top tourist attraction’ as its train station, which is never a great sign. In the suburb’s defence, however, the art-deco inspired terminal is very impressive – and it even appeared in our own list of the city’s top railway stations. In other words, having a train station as a top attraction is not quite as depressing as it may first appear.

Beyond its pretty train station, Surbiton is mostly known for what it’s not. It isn’t on a tube line, and it isn’t as posh as its neighbours. It’s not got the glam or grit of the city, or the comfort of Wimbledon. As described by the Telegraph: ‘Surbiton will be forever boring for those who don’t know it at all.’

But we reckon that’s a bit harsh. There’s a lovely garden park right in the centre of Surbiton, and a farmer’s market once a month. It’s not Zone 1 living, but it’s not quite the drudge some may make it out to be.

Surbiton train station
Photograph: Shutterstock

The only place more dull than Surbiton in the Telegraph’s list was Stevenage. The newspaper argued that despite having quite an interesting history, going as far back as the Celtic-Saxon era, Stevenage relies on its proximity to London to generate interest, resulting in it being known as a place ‘where everyone is a commuter’.

But hey, there’s no shame in working in London and living elsewhere. Not everyone fancies paying £1,400 per month for a 6-person flat-share. Still, we must admit: there’s not much going on in Stevenage.

If you want to see the rest of the nation’s most beige towns, you can have a look at the Telegraph’s full article here, or our quick summary here.

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