York voted Britons' most popular city - ahead of London

Morning golden light on the historic old town of York along Museum St. looking towards York Minster Cathedral.
York is Britons' most popular city, according to YouGov Ratings. (Getty) (StephenBridger via Getty Images)

York has been voted Britain's most popular city, according to latest YouGov figures.

The city topped the table of Most Popular Cities for the third quarter of 2021, according to YouGov Ratings, which measures popularity and fame of various things based on millions of responses from the British public.

The city, which is home to attractions including the Jorvik Viking Centre and York Minster, beat London and Edinburgh to the top spot, with 73% of Britons voting for it as the most popular city and just 2% saying they disliked it.

It also scored 97% on an assessment of fame on as part of YouGov Ratings.

YouGov Ratings most popular cities for Q3 2021. (YouGov)
YouGov Ratings most popular cities for Q3 2021. (YouGov)

Edinburgh came in second in the table, liked by 72% and disliked by 5%, while London was in third place, with 66% of Brits liking it and 13% disliking it.

According to the ratings, York is the most popular city for both men and women, and also for Generation X and Baby Boomers. But for Millennials London tops the table, pushing York into third place below Edinburgh.London sits in third place for people in Generation X and fourth for Baby Boomers, while for both men and women the capital came in at third place.

When it comes to overall positions, university cities Cambridge and Oxford came fourth and fifth respectively, liked by 62% and 66% of Britons.

Every city in the top five scored 97% in terms of fame - apart from London which sat at 98%.

Other cities in the top ten most popular cities included Brighton, Liverpool, Portsmouth, Exeter and Manchester.

YouGov describes its YouGov Ratings as the "biggest and boldest attempt ever made to quantify what Britain thinks".

Most popular cities in the UK, according to YouGov Ratings

1. York

2. Edinburgh

3. London

4. Cambridge

5. Oxford

6. Brighton

7. Liverpool

8. Portsmouth

9. Exeter

10. Manchester

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