8 UK Small Towns With Unmatched Friendliness
The United Kingdom is famous for its world-conquering history and royal fanfare, but it is also a welcoming host. Across Britain, travellers will encounter all sorts of summer festivals, like the WOMAD Festival near Malmesbury or the Keswick Beer Festival in the Lake District. Covering England, Scotland, and Wales, the eight small towns below combine open-armed locals with cozy restaurants, historic pubs, and quirky local traditions you will not find anywhere else.
Lerwick, Scotland
As the largest settlement on the Shetland Islands north of the Scottish mainland, Lerwick may feel remote, but it has built a tight-knit community in the middle of the chilly North Sea. Each autumn, Shetland Wool Week showcases the handiwork of local artisans and the enduring strength of Shetland sheep farms, making it a great time to pick up wool souvenirs to take home. Year-round, the award-winning Shetland Museum and Archives is worth a stop for a deeper sense of island life. The Knab Golf Course, a free nine-hole course, is a short walk from the historic town centre, and just a little farther west, Clickimin Broch preserves the remains of an Iron Age fortified settlement.
Heading back to the town centre, guests will find Alder Lodge Guest House, a family-run establishment with quaint rooms inside an 1830s stone house.
Portsoy, Scotland
About 50 miles northwest of Aberdeen lies Portsoy, a coastal village built around a proud 17th-century harbour. Each June, that harbour becomes the centre of the action for the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival. The community celebration features a flotilla of British heritage boats, music and dance, traditional Scottish food and drink, and a market full of handmade artisan goods. Earlier in June, Folk at the Salmon Bothy hosts the Haal festival, with a packed lineup of Scottish singer-songwriters. Beyond the festivals, Findlater Castle has stood on the cliffs of the Moray Firth since the 15th century, and the coastal walking around Coastguard Point east of town is some of the best in the region.
Visitors can rest assured of a welcoming environment at the Station Hotel, a family-run establishment that has been hosting guests since 1859.
Largs, Scotland
Perched on the Firth of Clyde on Scotland's west coast, around 32 miles west of Glasgow, is the town of Largs. In 1263, Scottish forces repelled a Norwegian Viking force at the Battle of Largs, and each early September, the Largs Viking Festival commemorates the moment with a re-enactment village, a longship burning, and a fascinating glimpse into 13th-century Viking life. For more local history, the Largs Museum is open through the summer season with antique artefacts and works by local artists. South of town, Kelburn Estate is one of the more unusual castles in Britain: originally built in the 13th century, expanded into a French chateau style in the 18th century, then partially repainted in vivid colours by four Brazilian graffiti artists at the invitation of the Earl of Glasgow in 2007. To the east, Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park is Scotland's largest regional park, with hiking, biking, boating, and archery on offer.
Returning to town, The Haylie Hotel offers family-style hospitality, farm-to-table cuisine, and well-appointed guest rooms.
Conwy, Wales
For anyone who has ever dreamed of the pirate life, the Welsh village of Conwy, about 56 miles west of Liverpool, is the place to be each June. The Conwy Pirate Festival features re-enactments of historic pirate battles, interactive games suitable for kids, and a themed smugglers' market. Year-round, Conwy Castle is one of the most intact 13th-century castles in Britain and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For natural splendour, Conwy Morfa Beach is a good spot for birdwatching, surf fishing, and walking along the coast where the River Conwy meets the Irish Sea. Right by the beach, Conwy Golf Club offers an 18-hole championship links course.
Back within the medieval town walls, travellers can stay at The Castle Hotel, mere steps from the castle itself. Rooms come with plush bedding, Wi-Fi, H2K of Harrogate bath products, and an in-room selection of coffee, tea, and biscuits. The on-site restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Keswick, England
Deep in the Lake District in the north of England, about 120 miles north of Manchester, sits the market town of Keswick. Each June, travellers can sample local music, food, and beer at the Keswick Beer Festival. Year-round, Keswick Brewing Co. runs the Fox Tap bar and a brewery shop for to-go bottles. For time outdoors, Keswick is centrally placed for several of Lake District National Park's best attractions, including the Walla Crag walking route and the Bassenthwaite Lake National Nature Reserve, which provides critical habitat for ospreys, grasshopper warblers, curlews, and geese.
Whether visitors come to Keswick for the beer or the open fells, Allerdale House Guest House keeps them close to the action with generously sized rooms and a hearty locally sourced breakfast each morning.
Malmesbury, England
Malmesbury is a Cotswolds town in north Wiltshire, roughly between Bath and Oxford. Each summer, the WOMAD Festival at nearby Charlton Park brings a global lineup of musicians to the North Wiltshire countryside. In town, visitors can poke around what locals proudly call one of England's oldest boroughs, with Ancient Roman coins on display at the Athelstan Museum and the tomb of Æthelstan, widely regarded as the first King of England, at Malmesbury Abbey. To the north, Lower Moor Farm Nature Reserve covers three lakes and two brooks across a quiet patchwork of woodland and meadow.
For another dose of British history, visitors can check into The Old Bell Hotel, an establishment that traces its origins to 1220 and is often cited as one of England's oldest hotels. Rooms come with Hypnos mattresses, Wi-Fi, flat-screen TVs, and Bramley bath products. Guests can also book a proper English afternoon tea on-site.
Lewes, England
About 50 miles south of London in the East Sussex countryside, the market town of Lewes is the centre of all sorts of fun and games. During the summer season, music lovers can take their pick of world-class opera and classical music at the Glyndebourne Festival, which runs from late May into August, and the lineup of R&B, hip-hop, jazz, and soul artists at the Love Supreme Festival in early July. Year-round, the volunteer-run Lewes Con Club hosts more music and comedy. For a sense of what the area was like before the festivals, Lewes Castle and Museum preserves a Norman-era fort built after the Battle of Hastings in 1066 and displays prehistoric and medieval finds from across Sussex.
Just outside town, travellers will find country tranquility at Blue Door Barns, a bed-and-breakfast with comfortable rooms, room-service breakfast, an all-day cafe, a vintage homeware shop, and a treatment room offering spa services.
Penzance, England
Near the far western tip of Cornwall, in the south-western corner of England, sits Penzance, a longtime artists' town with a strong creative streak. Each June, the ten-day Golowan Festival is Cornwall's biggest community party, with live music, DJ sets, a torchlit Mazey Day procession, a church parade, and a quay fair day. For more of Penzance's artistic side, the Penlee House Gallery and Museum displays works by local artists in a Victorian house built in 1865, while Cornwall Contemporary features paintings, ceramics, jewellery, and art books by present-day local artists. For something completely different, the Jubilee Pool is the United Kingdom's largest seawater lido, naturally filled with cold Atlantic Ocean water at high tide, with a separate geothermally heated pool and a sauna.
After a day at Golowan or the Jubilee Pool, guests can settle in at Artist Residence Cornwall, a Michelin Key boutique hotel that took a Georgian-era house and turned it into a property with custom artist-designed rooms and the Cornish Barn, an all-day neighbourhood bistro and bar.
Friendly Faces Across Britain
Across the United Kingdom, travellers can find genuine British hospitality in towns that punch well above their size. Lerwick offers the warmest of welcomes in the Shetlands, while Portsoy celebrates its maritime heritage on the Aberdeenshire coast. Largs leans into its Viking past on the Firth of Clyde, and Conwy has a UNESCO-recognised medieval castle and a pirate festival that kids of all ages will enjoy. Keswick anchors a beer-loving corner of the Lake District, Malmesbury blends Saxon and Roman history with the WOMAD Festival, Lewes hosts a strong summer festival circuit south of London, and Penzance shines as a coastal arts town at the edge of Cornwall.
