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This Scottish seaside town is the UK’s best place to live, according to the Times

Locals apparently enjoy a buzzing high street, gorgeous beaches and thriving sense of community

Amy Houghton
Written by
Amy Houghton
Contributing writer
North Berwick, Scotland
Photograph: Shutterstock
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What do you look for when seeking somewhere to settle down? Perhaps you’re after something close to family, or maybe a place as far away as you can get, or perhaps you choose where to live due to stuff like affordability, amenities and, crucially, vibes. 

Wouldn’t it be great if someone did all that tedious research for you? Well, they have. The Sunday Times has revealed its pick of the 72 best places to live in the UK for 2024, based on stuff like schools, transport, culture, green spaces and even that all-important factor: broadband speed. And to make double sure that the each place deserved their spot, judges visited each town, city and village themselves. 

And this year the seaside town of North Berwick was crowned number one, becoming the ranking’s first ever Scottish winner. Judges were into North Berwick’s easy connections to Edinburgh (just 30 mins by train), its thriving high street of independent shops and its community spirit.

Judges also loved NB’s beaches and how easy it is for locals to get some vitamin sea. One resident told the paper: ‘Whatever you do in North Berwick you get glimpses of the sea. If it is sunny you go to the beach, if it is windy you go for a walk, if there are waves you go surfing.’ 

But if you fancy settling down in North Berwick, it will cost you a pretty penny — the average house price there is £516,000, which is just slightly less than the average price you’ll pay for a house in London

There are many other options though. As well as an overall winner, the Times editors also chose regional winners. They included the town of Abergavenny as the Welsh winner, West End in Dundee as the Scottish winner (after North Berwick, obviously) and Portstewart as the Northern Irish winner. 

Here’s the full breakdown of the Sunday Times regional winners for 2024. 

East of England: Wivenhoe, Essex

London: Clerkenwell

Midlands: Stirchley, Birmingham

North and North East: Leeds

Northern Ireland: Portstewart, County Londonderry

North West: Stockport, Greater Manchester

Scotland: West End, Dundee 

South East: Folkestone, Kent

South West: Sherborne, Dorset

Wales: Abergavenny, Monmouthshire

You can see the full list of the 72 best places to live in the UK over on the Sunday Times website or read it in its Sunday magazine supplement this weekend. 

Time Out’s favourite places 

We make it our mission here at Time Out to share all the places across the world that are best for anything from a brief weekend visit to building a life in. If you’re after a cool neighbourhood, we’ll sort you out. If you’re looking for an exciting staycation, we’ve got that covered too. And each place has been carefully chosen by the people that know them best. 

Did you see that one of the UK’s most legendary rollercoasters has had a massive makeover?

Plus: This remote Scottish island is being taken over by feral cats

Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out UK newsletter for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.  

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