Revealed: the friendliest and most attractive cities in the UK
- Posted by
- Anna Pollitt
- Published

Do you say a cheery hello to your local shopkeeper? Thank your bus driver? Help lost strangers?
If the answer's yes, you may well be a resident of one of the UK's friendliest cities. And there's a 53% chance it isn't London.
Happily, there are two joint winners in a poll to decide who comes out on top in Britain's most approachable destinations - Cardiff and Liverpool.
The Welsh capital and the North West city have both been voted as "very friendly" by 91% of its inhabitants, in a YouGov poll of more than 1,500 people in 15 cities. They were closely followed by northern hotspots Newcastle-upon-Tyne, York and Manchester, while only 45% of Londoners voting the Smoke as welcoming.
When it comes to the attractiveness of residents, Cardiff again thought highly of itself, with 72% believing the city is full of lookers. Though it's not quite as hot as Brighton, where 75% of locals rate the residents as gorgeous.
Down in Southampton, only three in 10 residents agree that those living in the city are attractive. And what Geordies offer in good-naturedness, they lack in physical attractiveness - according to themselves.
The top five UK cities for friendliness and attractiveness:
Friendliest:
1. Cardiff and Liverpool
2. Newcastle-upon-Tyne
3. York
4. Manchester
Most attractive:
1. Brighton
2. Cardiff
3. Liverpool
4. Edinburgh
5. Leeds and Oxford