You may be quite surprised to hear what city has been named the ‘UK’s sunniest staycation’. Luckily, writer Samantha Bartlett can give more insight as she lives there herself
With the cost of living still gripping the UK, some people are finding that they’ve had to ditch their overseas holidays and are heading on staycations instead.
And if you haven’t done many UK holidays in the past, you may be struggling to think about where is good to go.
Well, luckily for you, analysis by walking shoe experts, FitFlop has found the top UK staycation spots this summer. And I just happen to live in the top spot.
Where is this I hear you ask? Well it’s none other than Portsmouth.
You may be quite surprised by the answer, and to be honest, even living her myself I was quite shocked it’s number one too. However, who can argue with data, right?
The research reviewed five data metrics – from sunshine hours and temperature to average accommodation across June, July and August – for over 50 of the UK’s top summer holiday destinations.
The methodology involved scoring each UK staycation destination a rating between 1 – 100 across the five points, with an average score determining the final ranking.
According to the poll, Portsmouth scored 79.27 out of 100, followed by Rye in East Sussex (78.25), Deal in Kent (74.50), Bognor Regis in West Sussex (73.32) and Bournemouth in Dorset (73.26).
Making up the rest of the top ten was Southend-on-Sea (72.49), Eastbourne (71), Hastings (70.88), Weymouth (70.57) and Canterbury (70.20).
Researchers say Portsmouth has an average summer temperature of 20.33C with around 7.5 sunshine hours every day during the summer months.
There is also a lower chance of rain during the summer in Portsmouth than anywhere else, with less than 45 mm of rainfall noted in the seaside town and less than 10 rainy summer days overall.
Hotel prices during the high season in Portsmouth are also some of the lowest across the UK, with a hotel room for two adults costing around £81 between June and August.
Living near the beach in Portsmouth, located in Southsea, I have to admit that I’m down there pretty much everyday in summer. With the lake, sea, flower gardens, parks, a castle, bars and restaurants there is tons going on down there and it really does feel like you’re on holiday sometimes.
There are also events galore, such as the Southsea Food Festival which took place this last weekend and Victorious Festival, which is coming up in August.
I do feel like there is a big difference between Portsmouth and Southsea itself though. If you’re planning a beach break, you definitely want to be located in Southsea so you can stroll down there rather than be in the busy town centre, where there isn’t much going on to be honest.
If you want a bit of retail therapy as well as a beach break, then I’d recommend heading to the Gunwharf Quays retail outlet which has much better shops than the bleak high street. Here you can get designer items for cheaper prices, with big name brands such as Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Ted Baker, Nike, Adidas and Cadbury.
There is also tons of restaurants and bars at Gunwharf, as well as a cinema, bowling and the Spinakker Tower you can head up (there’s a bar up there too if you fancy a sky-high bevvy).
If you fancy a bit of historical charm, you can also make your way to Old Portsmouth, which isn’t far from Gunwharf or Southsea. Here, there are a few quieter pubs and restaurants you can head to in the original medieval town of Portsmouth.
So do I think Pompey could be renamed to Costa del Portsmouth anytime soon? Basically no. But Costa del Southsea does have quite the ring to it.
