5 Best Places To Live Outside Of London

Sure, WhatCulture might be based in 'the Toon' (OK, it's technically Gateshead), but that has no bearing whatsoever on its inclusion on this list! If anything, familiarity usually breeds contempt, yet all of us here are still of the opinion that Newcastle is one of the coolest places to live in the UK. And that's not just because of the chill wind of the North Sea (though us northerners don't feel it anyway).

What's so great about Newcastle then? Isn't it just another northern city like Manchester and Liverpool whose reputation has aggrandised by embittered locals eager to besmirch London at every opportunity? Well, there's an element of that, for sure, but the arguments carry weight behind them.

Look at that quayside, for starters. Isn't it one of the most beautiful skylines in the country? Shared with neighbouring Gateshead, the banks of the Tyne feel alive with culture and activity. On the one side, there's the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, adjacent to the stunning silver shell of The Sage - probably the country's most distinctive and impressive concert hall. You can have a whole evening of refinement without walking more than twenty yards.

Cross any one of the city's magnificent bridges - the famous, wrought-iron Tyne Bridge, or the spectacular tilting Millennium footbridge - into Newcastle itself, and the bounteous offerings don't dry up. St. James' Park - a dominant reminder of Newcastle United's ingrained presence - looms over a city that contains attractions as varied as the Centre for Life and the Great North Museum, as well as thrilling nightlife from The Gate to The Bigg Market.

Like the Tees Valley, the surrounding area offers further pleasures if one grows tired of city life. Anthony Gormley's impressive homage to the industrial revolution, the Angel of the North, is just a short trip away, as is Northumbria National Park and the ancient remnants of Hadrian's Wall. Whatever it is you're looking for in life, 'the Toon' has it all.