Which? members have named York their favourite large UK city to visit this year in an annual survey of the best domestic city break destinations. Belfast in Northern Ireland took second place, followed by Edinburgh, Scotland.

"York scored highly for cultural sights and food and drink while Belfast is the only large city to score five stars for its lack of crowds. Meanwhile, the Scottish capital scored top marks for cultural sights, accommodation and food and drink," Which? said in a statement.

The university town of Cambridge was rated by Which? members as the best medium-sized UK city for a short break, with Canterbury and Winchester both coming in second place.

The cathedral city of Wells in Somerset was again voted the best small UK city, socring the maximum five stars for lack of crowds and four stars for value for money. St Davids came in a close second, trailed by Bath in third place.

Best large UK cities for a short break & ratings

1. York, 86%
2. Belfast, 85%
3. Edinburgh, 83%
4. Liverpool, 83%
5. Newcastle, 80%
6. Glasgow, 78%
7. London, 78%
8. Bristol, 77%
9. Cardiff, 75%
10. Portsmouth, 74%
11. Brighton & Hove, 72%
12. Sheffield, 70%
13. Manchester, 69%
14. Birmingham, 67%
15. Swansea, 67%
16. Leeds, 65%
17. Nottingham, 65%
18. Hull, 64%
19. Plymouth, 63%
20. Southampton, 61%
21. Aberdeen, 59%

Source: Which?

The worst UK cities

Not all cities rated so highly. The least favoured big city according to Which? members was Aberdeen in northeast Scotland. It scored 59% compared to 86% for top-scorer York.

Ipswich was last in the ranking of medium-sized cities and towns, while Hastings scored the lowest of the small cities and towns.

The online survey of Which? members was conducted in April 2022. More than 3,600 people were asked to rate the food, accommodation, sights and attractions, level of crowds and value for money in UK towns and cities they had visited for at least one night for leisure purposes in the past year.