historical towns

[sandiebeth]

where is your favoutite histirical uk town and why

[vehelpfulguy]

Well I have a few historical towns (cities?) I like: Shrewsbury, Oxford, Stratford Upon Avon, Ludlow, Winchester, Caernarvon, Llandudno (victorian) - although there are many I have not visited.

But I think my favorite is York. Because of the Minster, the town walls, and the medieval buildings and streets.

The one I would most like to visit (but have not yet) is Chester, as I believe it has the best preserved city walls in Britain, and some fine buildings.

[redhead23]

bath, its beautiful , i also love stratford upon avon x

[reinganum]

Yes, Chester is nice (if only for its unique? terraced shops) but I've only been there once. It does have a nice cathedral (inside and out).
Stamford is super if you prefer smaller towns. If you are going along the A1 it is well worth a detour. Another favourite of mine is Berwick upon Tweed.

The problem is that some towns can be a bit 'touristy' and you get the feeling that the place has been specially preserved in a pickling jar. Some, like Oxford or Cambridge, are great, if visited outside the main tourist season. I went to a conference in Cambridge last December and there were still plenty of tourists around, though.

Lewes (Sussex) is a good example of a fine historical town which is a working town rather than just a tourist attraction, like Arundel.

If, however, Regency is your bag then you can't beat Brighton or Tunbridge Wells.

Hove and Eastbourne could fight over which has the best seafront (from an architectural viewpoint).

[vehelpfulguy]

Llandudno must be up there with best sea fronts.

This town was created by one family in victorian times, and
there were limits on the heights of buildings (no building could be higher than the width of the road for example)

All the buildings (hotels and shops) were leased so the lease owners still have the right to control any external painting, extensions, signage and so on.

So, for example, every sea front hotel has to ask permission to repaint the front of their hotel, and it can only be from a designated list of "soft" colours. After it has been repainted they come round and check it has been done with the right colour.

This has preserved the town and it still has some lovely Victorian buidings and has never had the awful seafront shops and arcades many others towns have got.

Here are a few of pictures of the sea front:

http://img2.travelblog.org/Photos/3574/8944/f/ 35221-The-Welsh-seaside-resort-of-Llandudno-0. jpg

http://www.audley-house.co.uk/Images/Llandudno .jpg

http://www.les-stclair.co.uk/llandudno_28.jpg

http://www.les-stclair.co.uk/llandudno_27.jpg

[vehelpfulguy]

Here is a site showing some of the fine building in Llandudno:

http://www.greatorme.org.uk/

Every year they have a Victorian weekend (usually May so just missed it), more here:

http://www.greatorme.btinternet.co.uk/Extravag anza.htm

[Stu in USA]

My favourite was also in Wales, and not far from Llandudno. namely CONWY, which has a great castle, city walls, sea views and I seem to remember the world's smallest house!! Have to say that Oxford is my favourite city and even during the "tourist season" is easy to avoid crowds by staying away from Christ Church, the tour buses and HighSt/Cornmarket area. There are at least a dozen other colleges/university buildings worth seeing and free first class cricket in the parks during most of tourist season and punting is a lot more fun when its warm and sunny.

[Bellringer]

Durham City.
The smallest City in England and the most beautiful.

[sandiebeth]

thanks to all contributers.
i'm pleased to see berwick upon tweed got a mention as it's my home town.
what about northern ireland? i live in bangor now and find it a lovely town with a great history but my heart will always be in the north east coast of england.

[taliesin238]

There are too many towns to mention!! I am a history and archaeology student and simply could not chose one town alone!! In my top list must be Prestatyn, my sister has just moved there and the history of this place when i went searching is brilliant. It had a mott and bailey castle and many mines! the remains to the mines are beautiful!! Bath (although i have never visited this place) York because of the Viking remains artefacts they found where now stands the Vorvik centre, Bethgelert, all of anglesey is wonderful and many more!! I would love to look into the history of a lovely village called thornton Hough!! It is also lovely to see LLandudno in peoples favourites as it is my hometown and has some amazing history!! Many thanks!!

[Stu in USA]

Note to Bellringer: Durham is not the smallest city in England, there are 7 smaller if you include the City of London and Wells is a third smaller by population.