The city is the perfect place to look up at the sky at night.
If this city isn’t amazing enough as it is, it’s also a great place for astronomers and stargazers out there. A study by Parkdean Resorts discovered the best UK cities to see the stars from, proving that you don’t need to travel far and wide to explore the night sky as local lockdowns limit our movements.
The study found Bristol had the lowest light pollution levels in the country therefore making it the perfect place to see the stars at night. Plus, with its own active astronomy club, The Bristol Astronomy Society, the city gained the top spot for studying the stars.
Despite having one of the lowest elevation levels (12m above sea level) in the study, Bristol beat high-up cities such as Sheffield and and Coventry for stargazing, proving you don’t necessarily have to be hundreds of metres above sea level to see the stars brightly.
Some of the UK’s largest cities such as London, Birmingham and Leeds recorded the highest levels of light pollution, making them the worst for stargazing. These cities also had the highest population out of all the other cities in the study, which could be why they scored so highly for light pollution levels. London scored almost three times worse in light pollution levels than those recorded in Bristol.
Here’s how UK cities with populations over 300,000 scored:
- Bristol
- Sheffield
- Glasgow
- Cardiff
- Bradford
- Belfast
- Leicester
- Coventry
- Edinburgh
- Nottingham
- Newcastle
- Manchester
- Liverpool
- Birmingham
- Leeds
- London
Bristol may not be high above sea level but it offers plenty of spots to be high up for stargazing including Clifton Suspension Bridge and Observatory, plus Cabot Tower in Brandon Hill Park.
You can find the full study here.