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Discover the UK’s most photo-worthy places to visit on a day trip

If you’re heading on a day trip with friends and family, take a look at Grand Central’s list of some of the most beautiful and Instagram-ready places to visit across the UK.

London Kings Cross Couple Trip

These are the UK’s most picture-perfect destinations for a day out

There are so many fantastic and breathtakingly beautiful options to choose from if you’re making plans for a day out in the coming months, so many in fact that it can be tricky to pick!

When planning a trip with friends and family, we’ll naturally want to go somewhere that will make a great backdrop in photos – whether you’re taking these for a family album or are eager to share them on Instagram.

In fact, we recently quizzed Brits on what has the biggest influence on us when planning excursions and found that social media plays a big role, with three in ten (30%) saying they are inspired to visit places after seeing photos on Instagram and other social platforms.

With this in mind, we’ve looked into the most picture-perfect and Insta-worthy places to visit on home soil.

To pull our list together we used a combination of social media check-in and ‘tagged’ data, and also ran a survey with 2,000 UK adults to see which spots people recommended, have visited before or plan to visit in the coming year.

So, where took the top spot in our research?

The Top 20 Most Insta-Worthy UK Locations / Attractions for a Day Trip (Summer 2022)

Rank

Place/Attraction Name

Location

No. of Facebook 'Check Ins'

No of times it has been tagged on Instagram

1

Tower Bridge*

London

3238950

2500000

2

Natural History Museum*

London

1919263

713000

3

The Shard*

London

1307569

828000

4

Stonehenge

Wiltshire

1272141

828000

5

Brighton Palace Pier

Brighton

1249179

343000

6

Chatsworth House & Gardens, Bakewell

Derbyshire

957613

125000

7

Bournemouth Beach

Hampshire

702849

181000

8

London Kings Cross Station*

London

23488

821000

9

York Minster*

York

365164

187000

10

View from the summit — Brecon Beacons

Wales

132729

400000

11

Giants Causeway

Northern Ireland

193431

317000

12

The Roman Baths

Bath, Somerset

504645

2400

13

Edinburgh from Arthur's Seat

Scotland

156838

287000

14

Minack Theatre, Porthcurno

Cornwall

336517

36900

15

Cheddar Gorge

Somerset

265115

85300

16

Clifton Suspension Bridge

Bristol

253347

87500

17

Whitby Abbey Ruins

North Yorkshire

236092

94900

18

Calton Hill

Edinburgh

123315

166000

19

St George's Cove, Padstow

Cornwall

437

287000

20

Dreamland, Margate

Kent

261554

17400


* These locations or attractions are on or close to Grand Central routes

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London’s Tower Bridge Came in at No.1

Tower Bridge, which was built over 125 years ago to help with the growing volume of motor traffic, while still allowing river access to the London docks, has been a visitor attraction since 1982.

Tickets to visit the towers, walkways, the glass floor and the engine rooms start from as little as £1 (for local residents) up to £19.38 for a family ticket. You can also enjoy a guided tour during the weekends.Considered to be London’s most famous bridge, it is estimated to attract 500,000 visitors each year. It has also been tagged in more than 2.5 million Instagram posts, and 3.2 million people have checked in there on Facebook too.

For anyone wishing to visit here via train, the nearest London station that Grand Central routes travel to is Kings Cross, which is 2.9 miles away – or around a 30-minute tube ride. Kings Cross station actually made the list too – taking position eight in our list – so you can tick off this top location at the same time!

We’d recommend getting there early (or late) for a sunrise or sunset photo for your Instagram feed – trust us, it’ll be worth it! It’s also likely you’ll find it a little quieter at these times of day too.

Other Breathtakingly Beautiful Attractions

Other London attractions - the National History Museum and The Shard – took second and third place in our list, with both accruing more than a million Facebook check-ins!

In fourth place was the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge, which is located on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire and attracts as many as 9,000 per day visitors during the peak summer months!

Brighton Palace Pier, which features lots of Instagram-friendly rides and attractions, took fifth place. Entrance to the pier itself is free, but to gain access to the rides and attractions themselves you will need a wristband, and prices vary but typically start at £30 for adults or £18 for children.

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While they didn’t make it into the top twenty list, places such as the historic Waterstones building in Bradford, Steely Pier in Hartlepool, Castle Eden Dene in Durham, and the Cow and Calf rocks in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, are all Insta-worthy places to add to your bucket list too.

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Where Have Brits Been & Plan to Visit?

Popular locations already ticked off by many UK adults (according to our survey) included London Kings Cross Station (56%), the nearby Natural History Museum (48%), the historic York Minster (39%), Brighton Pier (38%), Stonehenge, and Lake Ullswater in the incredible Lake District (both 30%).  

Despite being named one of the UK’s Seven Natural Wonders in 2021, just five per cent of those we polled have visited the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland. That said, a quarter shared they would love to visit this beautiful UNESCO world heritage site at some point soon.  

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Other places on the list that fewer people have taken a trip to so far included the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire (9%), the Falkirk Kelpies (10%), Wakefield’s Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and the Minack Theatre in Porthcurno (both 11%). 

Place / Attraction

Have visited already

Plan to visit this year

Would like to visit at some point

Have not visited/Have no plans to visit

Tower Bridge*, London

58%

7%

16%

19%

London Kings Cross Station*

56%

7%

11%

27%

Natural History Museum*

48%

7%

20%

25%

York Minster*

39%

7%

20%

35%

Brighton Pier

38%

7%

22%

33%

Stonehenge, Salisbury

30%

7%

29%

34%

Lake Ullswater, the Lake District

30%

7%

26%

38%

Cheddar Gorge, Somerset

29%

6%

27%

38%

Bournemouth Beach

28%

7%

21%

46%

The Roman Baths, Bath

27%

7%

30%

37%

Clifton Suspension Bridge, Bristol

26%

5%

19%

51%

View from the summit, Brecon Beacons

26%

6%

28%

40%

The Norfolk Broads

25%

5%

25%

45%

The Shard*, London

24%

9%

30%

38%

Northern Quarter, Manchester

21%

6%

17%

56%

Chatsworth House & Gardens, Bakewell

21%

7%

23%

50%

Whitby Abbey Ruins, North Yorkshire

21%

6%

25%

49%

The view of Edinburgh from Arthur's Seat

19%

5%

28%

48%

Calton Hill, Edinburgh

17%

5%

23%

55%

Cairngorms National Park

15%

5%

29%

51%

St George's Cove, Padstow

14%

7%

31%

48%

Malham Cove, North Yorkshire

14%

6%

26%

55%

Castle Combe, The Cotswolds

14%

6%

29%

52%

Giants Causeway, Northern Ireland

12%

5%

36%

46%

Dreamland, Margate

12%

5%

19%

64%

Minack Theatre, Porthcurno

11%

5%

26%

58%

Yorkshire Sculpture Park*, Wakefield

11%

5%

26%

58%

The Kelpies, Falkirk

10%

6%

27%

58%

* These locations or attractions are on or close to Grand Central routes

What Influences Where We Go on a Day Out Most?

We recently surveyed 2,000 Brits as to the biggest influences behind their choices of days out.

Whilst social media was high on the list, ultimately a big defining factor for Brits was price, with more than half (53%) saying this would significantly influence their decision on where to go. 

On average, UK adults are happy to spend £31.71 per person on entrance fees to UK sights and attractions, however, the majority of (54%) would prefer to pay £25 or less per head for an entry to UK attractions. More than a quarter (27%) said that places that are free to visit are a big draw – no surprises there!

Other influential factors when looking for attractions to visit on home soil, included whether it can easily be reached by car or public transport (43%), the number of positive reviews it has online (41%), recommendations from family or friends (35%), and whether free parking is available for those opting to drive (34%).  

For one in ten (10%), attractions that are lesser known are an attractive choice for a day trip.  
 

Saving Money on Day Trips

Understandably, with the cost of living rising significantly in recent months, many British consumers will be eager to cut costs where they can, especially when it comes to days out. Luckily, we do have a few ways in which to save cash when travelling by rail:
 

  1. For parents, grandparents, carers, or family members and friends traveling along a Grand Central route, kids under five years old can travel with them free. Read about our child-friendly fares.
  2. Additionally, a Friends and Family Rail Card, which is £30 for the year, you can save a 1/3 off rail fares for up to four adults, as well as a generous 60% off kids on most rail fares. Plus, enjoy flexibility with two adults named on one card.   
  3. Finally, we’ve got lots of inspiration for days out and attractions along some of our main routes for those looking to find somewhere new to explore – many of which are free to visit too. To keep an eye on exciting savings and for other travel news, sign up to our newsletter below


Sources & Methodology:    

  • To get a list of picturesque and insta-worthy places we ran a survey with 2,000 UK adults, asking for their recommendations. We also asked where they’ve visited and where they plan to visit.
  • We then looked at Facebook for the number of ‘check ins’ at each location/attraction. These figures were collected manually in May 2022.
  • Next, we looked at Instagram to see how many times each location/attraction had been tagged in a photo using the main hashtag. Again, these figures were collected manually in May 2022
  • We combined this data and then ranked each location based on their overall score.