The UK’s national parks get their official status for good reason. Each and every single one of them is downright stunning. And the reason they all exist and are thriving in 2024 is thanks to the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act, which was passed 75 years ago and opened up nature to all.
From the rocky waterfalls of Bannau Brycheniog (Brecon Beacons), to the romantic hills of the Peak District and bonny waters of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, deciding which parks are more beautiful than the rest is a tough ask. Here at Time Out, we've chosen our favourites, and to mark the act’s 75th birthday, the BBC has now picked its top five.
At number one of the BBC’s list of most beautiful national parks is probably one of the most famous – the Lake District. William Wordsworth, Beatrix Potter and even Taylor Swift have all been inspired by Lakes’ dramatic mountains and gorgeous lakes.
BBC Travel wrote: ‘The park can get busy and congested, especially in summer, but at 2,362sq km and with plenty of peaks that coach tours can't reach, it's possible to find seclusion and perhaps inspiration for your own poem or story.’
Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park, home to Celtic rainforests and Wales’ tallest mountain was ranked second on the list, while Cairngorms National Park in Scotland, where you can find wildcats and golden eagles and ‘really feel the affinity of the landscape with Scandinavia, North America and Siberia’ came third.
Coming in at number four was the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, chosen for its birdlife, impressive sea cliffs, massive megalithic stone monuments and ‘beautiful stretches of beach where eggshell sands drift down to turquoise water, like something from Greece or the Caribbean’.
The Broads National Park fell into fifth place. BBC Travel wrote: ‘the Broads doesn’t have towering peaks but there’s a special kind of beauty to this vast network of lakes, rivers, fens and marshes and semi-submerged woodland.’
You can read more about the BBC’s full list here.
Time Out and the UK’s national parks
We at Time Out are more than familiar with the country’s many spectacular national parks. Here are our picks for the top 10. And did you see that Scotland might be getting a new national park? Here are the five shortlisted areas.
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