With stunning lakes, rolling hills, towering peaks and much more, the UK has no shortage of striking landscapes. And plenty of those sit within our national parks – of which there are 15 spread around the nation.
Each national park has something unique on offer. Here at Time Out, we know about those parks as well as anyone – and even have a comprehensive list of the country’s most beautiful ones.
But what if you want to explore Britain’s national parks from the comfort of a car? Fortunately, car dealership Cinch has just revealed its ranking of the UK’s best national parks for road trips. Cinch assessed each national park based on a number of factors, including the number of nearby cafes, parking spaces, average temperature, and social media popularity.
Cinch crowned the Peak District as the UK’s best national park for a road trip. It came out top partly due to its immense popularity on social media (the park has received over 300 million views on TikTok).
The Lake District was runner-up, favoured highly because of the astounding 355 cafes that can be found providing sweet treats and caffeine fuel to all who visit it. The New Forest – the mildest of all national parks (with an average temperature of 15 degrees celsius), and home to 120 car parks – took third place.
Of course, Cinch’s methods are somewhat flawed. Our scenic parks have much more going for them than some social media hits and a couple of car parks. But, if we were going to try and settle for all which park is prettiest, we’d be here all day. Discover Cinch’s complete ranking below.
The best UK national parks for road trips
- Peak District
- Lake District
- New Forest
- Northumberland
- Dartmoor
- Norfolk and Suffolk Broads
- Pembrokeshire Coast
- Loch Lomond & The Trossachs
- South Downs
- Eryi (Snowdonia)
- Exmoor
- Yorkshire Dales
- Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons)
- Cairngorms
- North York Moors
Did you see that Glasgow is getting thousands more roads with 20mph speed limits?
Plus: this English village has been named the UK’s best place to retire
Where to stay on your journey? Here are the best Airbnbs in the Peak District
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