UK Staycation Index 2026: Best-Rated, Cheapest and Most Dog-Friendly Places for a British Break

The UK Staycation Index is a yearly snapshot of British holidays drawn from the 193,421 places listed on Staycation.co.uk: 20,241 hotels and B&Bs, 40,289 holiday cottages, 9,373 campsites, 8,340 attractions and 115,178 places to eat. The figures were taken on 9 November 2026.

Ratings and review counts are Google's. Food hygiene scores are the Food Standards Agency's. Cottage prices and facilities are the letting agencies' own, and are starting prices that change with the dates. A county or town is only ranked where enough places stand behind the figure, and the threshold is given with each list.

Best-rated counties and areas for hotels and B&Bs

Average Google rating of hotels, B&Bs and guest houses with at least 20 reviews, for counties and areas with 40 or more of them.

1. County Down: 4.63 out of 5 across 73 places
2. County Antrim: 4.59 out of 5 across 113 places
3. Isle of Skye: 4.59 out of 5 across 107 places
4. Conwy: 4.57 out of 5 across 209 places
5. Powys: 4.57 out of 5 across 155 places
6. Cumbria: 4.56 out of 5 across 658 places
7. Cornwall: 4.56 out of 5 across 575 places
8. Moray: 4.56 out of 5 across 78 places
9. Gwynedd: 4.55 out of 5 across 166 places
10. Devon: 4.54 out of 5 across 708 places

Best-rated towns and districts for eating out

Average Google rating of restaurants, cafes and pubs with at least 30 reviews, for towns and city districts with 40 or more of them.

1. Pudsey, West Yorkshire: 4.61 out of 5 across 49 places
2. Cheadle, Staffordshire: 4.61 out of 5 across 42 places
3. Victoria, Greater London: 4.57 out of 5 across 43 places
4. Dalston, Greater London: 4.56 out of 5 across 52 places
5. Lymington, Hampshire: 4.56 out of 5 across 44 places
6. Ambleside, Cumbria: 4.55 out of 5 across 64 places
7. Fulham, Greater London: 4.55 out of 5 across 52 places
8. York, North Yorkshire: 4.54 out of 5 across 453 places
9. Brixton: 4.54 out of 5 across 44 places
10. Shoreditch: 4.53 out of 5 across 124 places

Cleanest kitchens: towns with the most top hygiene scores

Across the 92,588 places to eat with an official score, 73.8% hold the top Food Standards Agency rating of 5. These towns, each with 60 or more scored places, do best.

1. Southport: 95.9% rated 5, from 98 places
2. Rotherham: 94.4% rated 5, from 232 places
3. Darlington: 93.7% rated 5, from 127 places
4. Crawley: 93.7% rated 5, from 63 places
5. Stockton-on-Tees: 92.9% rated 5, from 85 places
6. Lincoln: 92.3% rated 5, from 78 places
7. Chelmsford: 91.8% rated 5, from 183 places
8. Redcar: 91.8% rated 5, from 61 places
9. Peterborough: 91.1% rated 5, from 237 places
10. Boston: 91.0% rated 5, from 67 places

Cheapest and dearest areas for a week in a cottage

Median starting price for seven nights, for council areas with 100 or more priced cottages. Across all of them the median is £541.

Cheapest

1. Bradford: from £407 a week (157 cottages)
2. Flintshire: from £442 a week (100 cottages)
3. Swansea: from £443 a week (101 cottages)
4. West Devon: from £445 a week (198 cottages)
5. Carmarthenshire: from £453 a week (350 cottages)
6. East Riding of Yorkshire: from £457 a week (692 cottages)
7. Forest of Dean: from £457 a week (133 cottages)
8. Redcar and Cleveland: from £457 a week (172 cottages)

Dearest

1. York: from £970 a week (154 cottages)
2. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole: from £930 a week (196 cottages)
3. West Oxfordshire: from £907 a week (166 cottages)
4. Argyll and Bute: from £787 a week (363 cottages)
5. Cotswold: from £757 a week (282 cottages)
6. North Ayrshire: from £747 a week (152 cottages)
7. Perth and Kinross: from £697 a week (297 cottages)
8. Stirling: from £657 a week (105 cottages)

Most dog-friendly areas for cottages

Share of cottages that accept pets, for council areas with 150 or more cottages where the agency states it either way. Across the country the figure is 60.9%.

1. Carmarthenshire: 79.2% of 154 cottages take pets
2. East Lindsey: 79.2% of 168 cottages take pets
3. East Suffolk: 77.5% of 289 cottages take pets
4. Ceredigion: 76.3% of 186 cottages take pets
5. Torridge: 74.3% of 152 cottages take pets
6. County Durham: 72.8% of 195 cottages take pets
7. Pembrokeshire: 69.9% of 552 cottages take pets
8. Northumberland: 69.6% of 764 cottages take pets

At the other end, Highland (48.7%), South Hams (49.2%), Shropshire (52.5%) have the smallest share.

Where the hot tubs are

13.3% of the cottages in the index list a hot tub. These areas, each with 150 or more cottages, have the highest share.

1. Powys: 53.7% of 328 cottages
2. Ceredigion: 35.5% of 186 cottages
3. Denbighshire: 34.3% of 172 cottages
4. Carmarthenshire: 28.6% of 154 cottages
5. County Durham: 23.1% of 195 cottages
6. East Riding of Yorkshire: 20.8% of 342 cottages
7. Shropshire: 20.6% of 383 cottages
8. Torridge: 17.8% of 152 cottages

Camping: the counties with the most sites

1. North Yorkshire: 623 campsites, 34% with glamping
2. Cornwall: 449 campsites, 43% with glamping
3. Devon: 449 campsites, 49% with glamping
4. Cumbria: 412 campsites, 41% with glamping
5. Gwynedd: 343 campsites, 37% with glamping
6. Pembrokeshire: 332 campsites, 38% with glamping
7. Powys: 293 campsites, 49% with glamping
8. Lincolnshire: 291 campsites, 29% with glamping
9. Somerset: 249 campsites, 36% with glamping
10. Dorset: 233 campsites, 43% with glamping

How to use these figures

The index describes the places we list, not every business in Britain, so treat it as a guide to where the choice and the quality are, not a census. Anyone is welcome to quote the figures with a link to this page. For the listings behind them, start with holiday cottages, hotels and B&Bs, camping, places to eat and things to do.