The Best Places to Go in the UK in 2025 (2024)

As we come to the end of 2024, at Condé Nast Traveller we've already started plotting our travels for 2025. Each year, our editors get together to discuss which destinations will be the best places to go in the year ahead. We recommend, discuss and debate the places which we're most excited about, ending up with an edit of spots to watch in the next 12 months for every continent.

But here in the London office, we cast our gaze closer to home, too. Which places in the UK will be at the top of our must-visit lists next year? Which corners of the country will have the hottest new openings, the most exciting events and the most interesting ways to experience our home's natural beauty? This list is an edit of the UK's regions, cities and neighbourhoods that are deserving of your time and attention next year.

All destinations are places we’re keeping a keen eye on right now: from new hotel openings in Northern Ireland to Manchester's music scene. Happy travels.

In the past year, Aberdeen's streets have gained a new sparkle beyond their famed granite shine. Once Europe's energy powerhouse, the Silver City has moved beyond pipelines and platforms to emerge as a surprising culinary hotspot, driven by the post-Covid revival in oil prices. The main thoroughfare of Union Street, previously slipping into obscurity, now connects an eclectic array of newly blossomed global dining spots – from flavour-packed vegan Venezuelan arepas at La Tiendita del Sabor – cooked up by five members of the same family – to Second Home Studio + Café around the corner, where visitors can pick up a paintbrush or take part in weekly blanket-knitting workshops over homemade bakes. Just below –in the once-forgotten purgatory of Union Terrace Gardens, now resurrected into a lush green park by a multi-million-pound facelift –home-grown wine bar SugarBird has opened its second outpost, while Michelin has recently awarded the Bib Gourmand to two restaurants in the city.

Venture towards the West End and you’ll find no-nonsense wine tasting at Faffless and authentically crusty arancini at Rosa’s Sicilian Food and Pastries, plus a scattering of excellent coffee shops clustered around the city’s de facto café quarter on Thistle Street. Even Aberdeen's more stoic stalwarts have been swept up in the tides of change. The Exchange Pub, once a shrine to battered cod and stodge, has reinvented itself in a spicy haze of Sri Lankan string hoppers and fiery sambals, perched improbably on the edge of the city harbour. The cobbled streets of Old Aberdeen are chock full of history, while the wind off the sometimes-dreich Beach Esplanade whips you awake just in time to explore a line of seaside food trucks selling everything from artery-clogging full Scottish breakfasts to indecently gooey slices of cheesecake. When the city’s bustle wears thin, hop on a bus to escape to postcard-perfect towns like Stonehaven, famous (or, indeed, infamous) for a culinary icon of its own: the deep-fried Mars Bar. Scott Campbell

All eyes are on Bradford in 2025. Sure, the West Yorkshire city with its industrial heritage has always been a northern powerhouse. So, why should you visit next year? Think illuminated old mills, rolling Brontë Country and Hockey’s art, for starters. In 2025, Bradford will be the 2025 UK City of Culture, bringing 12 months of creativity, culture and art. Highlights include new writers reinterpreting the Brontës' work, Steven Frayne’s (Bradford’s David Blaine) Rise, a city magic performance, and bassline musicians Jamie Duggan, TS7 and DJ Q collaborating with the Orchestra of Opera North at the one night-only-event Bassline Symphony. Then there’s the exhibition and programme BD: Walls celebrating street art culture and mentoring emerging artists, where creators will display their art on handpicked walls in the district, using the streets as a living art gallery. It is the first time a UK City of Culture will cover an entire district. Next up, there’s the future opening of the Brit School North (date TBC) – successful graduates of the music and theatre school are Adele, Amy Winehouse, and Tom Holland. Throw into the mix Bradford’s amazing National Science and Media Museum (reopening in 2025), Alhambra Theatre, and Cartwright Hall, which – David Hockney artworks aside – has a prolific curation of Black British and South Asian art – it will be the home of The Turner Prize in 2025. Saltaire and the Salts Mill are incredible at any time of year; the latter now serves as a formidable art gallery, shop and cafe showcasing Hockey, including his first-time UK exhibit, “A Year in Normandie”. The cherry on the top is that the best vegetarian Indian food at Prashad (proud owner of a Michelin Bib Gourmand) is in neighbouring Drighlington. Bradford glow-up lecture over, just go. Rachel Everett

There's plenty more to explore in 2025. In Derby, the Grade II-listed Market Hall will emerge from a sparkling £35m restoration in spring. Completed in 1866 by the same engineer who worked on the Royal Albert Hall's dome, Derby Market Hall will feature a food court, artisan stalls and entertainment. In the spa town of Matlock Bath, known as the “seaside town without the sea”, join the first-ever Singing Weekend, a harmonious festival at the town's Grand Pavilion, in June. Visitors could also explore the extraordinary medieval rooms of Haddon Hall near Bakewell, with 2024’s Firebrand, starring Alicia Vikander and Jude Law, shot entirely at this 900-year-old Peak District estate.

At the annual Chatsworth Country Fair in August, watch a flurry of hot air balloons rise above the river Derwent and graze on sublime Peak District produce. The Chatsworth Estate has added new shepherd's hut accommodation, and The Cavendish Hotel in Baslow has just received a jaunty makeover led by designer Nicola Harding, who worked on London's Beaverbrook Townhouse. For a pastoral reprieve, the enchanting Wildhive Callow Hall near Ashbourne will host a series of well-being retreats throughout the year. Kerry Spencer

While 2024 was the year of Taylor, 2025 looks like being the year of Liam and Noel – not least for those fortunate enough to have bagged tickets for one of their reunion concerts. Oasis land in their hometown in July, playing four nights at Heaton Park and, along with a sea of bucket hats and Berghaus tops we can expect – as with the Eras tour –a wave of menu specials in restaurants and bars around town (Roll With It bacon baps, perhaps, Champagne Supernova cocktails?). But what’s the story for the rest of the year for Manchester? After a few delays, the long-awaited Treehouse Manchester hotel will definitely, maybe, no, definitely open with a zero-waste restaurant from Bury-born chef Mary-Ellen McTeague and South-East Asian menus from Sam Grainger –as will Mollie’s Motel & Diner from the Soho House team, which brings mid-century looks and a cocktail bar to the former Granada TV Studios where Oasis recorded their debut TV appearance in 1993. A new food hall, House of Social, is set to open in summer near Oxford Road, while pasta specialists Lina Stores opens an outpost opposite the Opera House. Speaking of which, English National Opera begins its partnership with the city, starting with Pitch Perfect, a community-based project bringing together opera with the art of football chants – something that lifelong City fans the Gallagher brothers may applaud. Also expect ramped-up programmes from The Lowry, celebrating its 25th anniversary, HOME and the Manchester International Festival (both 10 years old) and the wonder walls of the Whitworth Art Gallery, which from February will be bringing together JMW Turner’s Liber Studiorum series of landscape engravings for the first time in over a century. Meanwhile, anyone wanting to fly supersonic (well, subsonic) out of Manchester to avoid the Oasis deluge can now do so via the UK’s only private airport terminal, the sleek Aether, which opened in November, offering guests a tasting menu by Adam Reid of the city’s The French restaurant. Be here now – or not. Other bands are also available. Rick Jordan

Penrith was the most popular destination for Avanti train users last summer, with sales up 106 percent, and it’s not difficult to see the appeal. Perhaps they were inspired by David Nichols’ best-selling book, You Are Here, which sees its protagonists taking on the famous east-to-west walking route across the north of England. Cumbria’s ancient capital is set to lure even more visitors in 2025, among them Bridget Jones fanatics, who will no doubt be flocking to nearby Derwentwater (30 minutes down the road from Penrith) to see where their heroine falls for teacher Mr Walker (played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) on a school trip. Then there’s the 20th anniversary of Kendal Calling at Lowther Deer Park, which promises to be the best yet, with the top secret headliner already secured. The Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery are also running a major exhibition until the end of March, showcasing the work of renowned Cumbrian landscape artist, Sheila Fell, one of a handful of female members of the Royal Academy and acolyte of LS Lowry. Looking for a place to stay? Farlam Hall (part of the Relais & Chateaux group) was recently awarded its first Michelin star, and is the perfect base for any trip to the region. Rebecca Cope

Belfast has become a must-visit destination in the last decade, a fact celebrated by the new Belfast Grand Central station opening in 2025: the island of Ireland’s biggest transport hub, it forms part of the new city neighbourhood Weavers Cross, providing a gateway for all rail, bus and coach connections. One such beneficiary will be Portrush, “the Brighton of the North,” a resort since the 19th century, which is gearing up for a pretty big 2025 with the return of the 153rd Open Championship (14-20 July). It’s not the first time the historic Royal Portrush golf course, ranked among the world’s Top 10, has hosted the tournament (previous outings were 1951 and 2019), but this time round, visitors can enjoy a flurry of new openings including luxury arrivalDunluce Lodge (Jan 2025) on the edge of the fourth fairway, providing exquisite views of course, town and headlands, with an onsite putting green designed by golf architect Martin Ebert.Other key openings and refurbs are the Adelphi Portrush (April 2025), Hilton Tapestry(summer 2025) and Portrush Atlantic Hotel, while essential places to eat include newish arrival Arbor Bakery and steak-focused Shanty. Sports fans will also undoubtedly flock to the coastal town for the annual North West 200 bike race (5-10 May),Ireland’s largest outdoor sporting event since it was founded in 1929. Stephen Emms

Just east of oversubscribed Hackney, it was inevitable that East London’s neighbouring swathe, stretching north from Stratford up to Leyton and Walthamstow, would be the next hotspot. 2025 sees an artsand culture explosion in an area that’s still lesser known to visitors, led by the new five-storey waterside V&A East Storehouse & Museum on Stratford’s £1.1 billion East Bank, already home to London College of Fashion and UAL. Also opening in early 2025 on the same stretch isBBC Music StudiosandSadler’s Wells East, whose auditorium promises to mutate into a skatepark, club dance floor and even an immersive rave experience. With the leafy Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park opposite, nearby boutique hotels worth a comfortable sleepover are The Stratford and The Gantry. Not to be outdone, a couple of miles north, the huge new 1000-seater Soho Theatre opens in January 2025 in a former derelict cinema on Walthamstow’s Hoe Street, while connecting the two areas is Leyton, where a raft of indie breweries, foodie pop-ups, and bars is to be found.Recommended are literary oasis (and wine bar) Phlox Books, tucked-away Loop Dining, vinyl haven plus craft beer bar Dreamhouse Records, brunch dons Deeney’s (don’t miss the vast Camille Walala mural above) and the cluster of venues in Leyton Midland’s railway arches, including the Libertalia and Gravity Well taprooms, BBQ specialists Burnt Smokehouse and tropical speakeasy Leyton Calling. Stephen Emms

The dramatic coastline and beachy beauty of South Devon is hardly a secret. But in a wilder, undiscovered corner of the South Hams, a new sustainable scene is emerging. It all centres around Mothecombe Beach on the Flete Estate, where you can stay in a coastguard cottage overlooking the sea or in a stylish, secluded new Rusty Shed. Either will be a welcome sight after a bracing sea swim, as will the mobile wood-fired Somewhere Sauna that’s also popped up in the area. But to truly immerse yourself in the burgeoning South Hams scene, you’ll need to bag a ticket to a Rootle supper club, which takes place throughout the year in converted stables at Mothecombe House or, in the warmer months, in a beachside meadow. Taking farm-to-fork to new heights, the suppers are seasonal, ethical and hyper-local – think koftas of hogget reared in the field where you eat or smoked seaweed butter scallops hand-dived from the untamed sea below. Tickets sell out within minutes, compelling city-weary Londoners to make the scenic train pilgrimage to Totnes along the ‘English Riviera’ and secure a yellow seat at Rootle’s photogenic trestle tables. Other local foodie gems to book if you make the journey include The Bull Inn in Totnes and Emilia in Ashburton, a tiny Italian osteria transported to the edge of Dartmoor by the pair behind Soho’s Duck Soup. Jessica Burrell

Like a certain ’90s rock band, East and West Sussex have been battling it out ever since splitting up more than five centuries ago. Well, not actually tussling in a War of the Roses way; more an amiable tug-of-war on the village green before bonding over a few local ales. East Sussex has the salty attitude, of course, with Brighton its seaside star, where the Regency-style No. 124 Brighton opened in autumn 2024—the latest from the family-owned GuestHouse group—while in nearby Rottingdean, the clifftop White Horses saddled up over the summer. But it also has a reclusive side, with quiet South Downs villages such as the one that gives The Alfriston its name; the fourth in the Signet Collection (The Mitre, Retreat at Elcot Park) lands in March, complete with a bistro and spa. West Sussex, on the other hand, is a little more artful, with brilliant shows guaranteed at Petworth’s Newlands House Gallery. You can explore its coastline on the recently opened King Charles III England Coast Path from Shoreham-by-Sea to Eastbourne, but it’s inland where the action is. This autumn, the Swann Inn reopens in Fittleworth after being lovingly restored by Angus Davies, formerly of The Hollist Arms in Petworth. With 12 bedrooms and a dining room (girolles on toast, Sutton Hoo chicken, local fizz from the Ambriel estate), along with gardens by House & Garden rising star Elizabeth Tyler, it’s set to be as fashionable in 2025 as it was in its 19th-century heyday when Turner and Constable were regulars. “The area is a hotbed of creatives, with designer Martin Brudnizki, florist Millie Proust, and Mumford & Sons’ Ted Dwane all living nearby,” says an insider. Could West Sussex take the 2025 title of the new Cotswolds? “You never know—we’ve certainly got plenty more vineyards.” Rick Jordan