TripAdvisor reviews suggest calm is harder to find in Portsmouth

With spring finally on the horizon and brighter evenings returning, many Brits are eager to spend more time outdoors. After months of grey skies and chilly mornings, parks, riverside paths and leafy city trails begin to fill with walkers looking to stretch their legs and enjoy the first signs of warmer weather. For many people, a simple walk remains one of the easiest ways to unwind, with no equipment required, just fresh air and a good route.

While Britain’s cities are known for their lively high streets, historic landmarks and busy cultural scenes, many of them also offer surprisingly peaceful green spaces where visitors can escape the noise for a while. To find out which cities offer the most relaxing urban walks, PR Superstar analysed more than 200,000 TripAdvisor reviews of parks and green spaces across 50 major UK cities. 

Reviews were examined for words linked to relaxation, including terms such as calm, peaceful, relaxing, and tranquil. The proportion of reviews mentioning these words was then used to create a Relaxing Walks Index, ranking cities where visitors most often describe their walks as restful and serene.

Portsmouth ranks 47th on the Relaxing Walks Index, near the bottom of the national ranking. While the city has some coastal and riverside paths, TripAdvisor reviews suggest that its urban parks and green spaces are less frequently described as calm or peaceful. Visitors note that busy streets, limited quiet areas, and smaller park spaces make it harder to find restorative walks within the city.

At the top of the ranking, Lincoln, Oxford, Nottingham, Newcastle upon Tyne, Aberdeen, Cardiff, York, Leicester, Bath, and Stoke-on-Trent provide a wealth of scenic parks, riverside trails, and tran

At the other end of the spectrum, Stirling ranks last on the Relaxing Walks Index. Although the Scottish city is rich in historic landmarks and nearby natural beauty, TripAdvisor reviews suggest that its urban parks are less frequently described as calm or peaceful, making it harder for residents and visitors to find restorative walking spots.

List of the best UK cities for relaxing walks:

Rank City Relaxing Walks Index

1 Lincoln 26.31

2 Oxford 19.77

3 Nottingham 17.34

4 Newcastle upon Tyne 15.29

5 Aberdeen 13.86

6 Cardiff 13.03

7 York 12.75

8 Leicester 12.30

9 Bath 11.71

10 Stoke-on-Trent 11.53

11 Edinburgh 11.46

12 Sunderland 11.31

13 Peterborough 10.78

14 London 10.59

15 Cambridge 10.58

16 Milton Keynes 10.54

17 Preston 10.22

18 Southampton 10.10

19 Perth 9.67

20 Manchester 9.64

21 Colchester 9.25

22 St Albans 9.06

23 Newport 9.06

24 Liverpool 8.63

25 Wolverhampton 8.39

26 Swansea 8.14

27 Wrexham 8.10

28 Coventry 7.93

29 Bradford 7.79

30 Worcester 7.68

31 Chelmsford 7.61

32 Winchester 6.90

33 Kingston upon Hull 6.83

34 Glasgow 6.81

35 Lancaster 6.42

36 Lichfield 6.19

37 Leeds 6.14

38 Southend-on-Sea 6.12

39 Birmingham 6.03

40 Gloucester 5.98

41 Hereford 5.88

42 Wakefield 5.74

43 Sheffield 5.70

44 Plymouth 5.60

45 Bristol 5.51

46 Brighton and Hove 5.37

47 Portsmouth 4.83

48 Dundee 3.89

49 Derby 3.65

50 Stirling 0.99

Methodology

To identify the best cities in the UK for relaxing walks, the study analysed over 200,000 TripAdvisor reviews of popular parks across 50 major UK cities. Reviews were examined to identify mentions of relaxation-related terms. The keywords analysed included “relaxing”, “calm”, “peaceful”, and “tranquil.”

For each city, the number of reviews containing these terms was calculated as a percentage of the total park reviews. This percentage formed the Relaxing Walks Index, which was then used to rank the cities. Cities with higher percentages ranked higher in the study.