5 Best Places To Live Outside Of London

Nothing marks a city as a cultural vanguard more than the national broadcaster migrating from the capital to it, such was the case in 2011 when the BBC decentralised to the regenerated MediaCityUK at the Salford Quays. Eight of the Beeb's departments - including Sport and Breakfast - leaped at the chance to make the spangly-new television hub their home, where they neighbour ITV (bet that was an embarrassing housewarming). It's no coincidence that two of the UK's biggest broadcasters find themselves in the North West: Manchester is happening.

If it's good enough for the BBC, it's good enough for you. Close proximity to the Match of the Day studio, and ergo Alan Shearer, isn't the only reason to move to Manc though. Just a few months ago, the city was yet ahead crowned the UK's top place to live by The Economist, in a survey taking into consideration education, health care, and culture. Take that, London.

On that last point, few other cities can hold a candle. Aside from being home to two of the country's leading football clubs, Manchester United and Manchester City, the area also boasts the esteemed Hallé Orchestra, who call the strikingly contemporary Bridgewater Hall home. That's before mentioning the city's many museums and galleries, and its famously buzzing nightlife, the clubs and pubs of which have produced the nation's soundtrack for the past three decades. See if any of these names are familiar: Oasis, Take That, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, The Chemical Brothers...

All these factors combine to firmly define Manchester as the UK's 'second city' - but it could easily be considered its first.