WHITBY and Robin Hood's Bay have been named among the UK's top ten prettiest towns and villages following a comprehensive ranking system conducted by cottage letting firm FBM Holidays.

Each town and village was scored on several ranking factors, including the number of awards it has received, the number of Instagram hashtags for the location and the number of times it featured in articles featuring ‘UK's prettiest places’ and ‘UK's prettiest towns and villages’.

The holiday firm also took into account how many National Trust sites are nearby and how many Google images it has. 

Once the data was collected, FBM Holidays compiled two lists; the prettiest UK town, and the prettiest UK village, culminating in an overall winner's list of the top 10 prettiest towns and villages in the UK overall.

Whitby was ranked sixth in the prettiest town list, Robin Hood’s Bay was rated the fourth prettiest village in the UK and held onto its fourth place in the combined top ten list.

Castle Combe in the Cotswolds, Wiltshire, was ranked the number one overall prettiest village.

Bamburgh in Northumberland made it to fifth place in the prettiest town list, with Keswick in Cumbria ranked at number one.

Shannon Keary, PR and communications manager at FBM Holidays, said: “We're so proud to have such stunning towns and villages right here in the UK.

"Whilst cities are so often highlighted for their Instagrammability, it's been a pleasure to shine a light on some of the smaller locations which are just breathtakingly beautiful.

"This research has certainly given us plenty of inspiration for our 2021/2022 travel plans and we hope that many others will be equally as eager to get out and see these spots in real life."

Here are the full lists according to the FBM Holidays research.

The top 10 prettiest towns in the UK are:

  1. Keswick, Lake District, Cumbria
  2. Tenby, Pembrokeshire
  3. Salcombe, Devon
  4. Cirencester, Cotswolds, Gloucestershire
  5. Bamburgh, Northumberland
  6. Whitby, North Yorkshire
  7. Rye, East Sussex
  8. Bakewell, Peak District, Derbyshire
  9. Aberaeron, Ceredigion

Burford, Cotswolds, Oxfordshire​

The top 10 prettiest villages in the UK are:

  1. Castle Combe, Cotswolds, Wiltshire
  2. Portmeirion, Gwynedd
  3. Beaulieu, Hampshire
  4. Robin Hood’s Bay, North Yorkshire
  5. Bibury, Cotswolds, Gloucestershire
  6. Polperro, Cornwall
  7. St Michael’s Mount, Cornwall
  8. Llanberis, Gwynedd
  9. Beddgelert, Snowdonia

Hathersage, Peak District, Derbyshire

Top 10 prettiest towns and villages in the UK overall:

  1. Castle Combe, Cotswolds, Wiltshire
  2. Portmeirion, Gwynedd
  3. Beaulieu, Hampshire
  4. Robin Hood’s Bay, North Yorkshire
  5. Keswick, Lake District, Cumbria
  6. Bibury, Cotswolds, Gloucestershire
  7. Polperro, Cornwall
  8. St Michael’s Mount, Cornwall
  9. Tenby, Pembrokeshire
  10. Llanberis, Gwynedd