The Best Places in the United Kingdom

The draw here is the Machrie Links, a windswept old course on Islay that golfers treat as a kind of pilgrimage. The hotel wraps around that obsession without being consumed by it: rooms are quietly luxurious, the spa is extensive, and the restaurant looks out over the sea with locally sourced food that suits the surroundings. Non-golfers find plenty of excuse to stay, mostly involving dramatic Hebridean scenery and not leaving the spa.

A converted Victorian station hotel sitting a short walk from Royal Dornoch Golf Club, which is almost certainly why you've found it. Inside, grand staircases and wainscoting set a properly baronial tone, stag's heads survey the scene without irony, and self-aware tartan accents keep things from tipping into theme-park Highlands. It's the kind of place that makes a cold, windswept round feel like a reasonable life choice.

Royal Portrush's fourth fairway runs past the window, which sets the tone: this woodland hotel takes golf seriously, with club storage, a putting green, and transfers to the course sorted before you ask. Nine acres of ancient forest shape everything else, from the wood-furnished, forest-hued rooms to a spa using locally gathered ingredients. The Vault downstairs stocks small-batch Bushmills whiskeys for guests who know what they're after.

Steps from Royal Portrush Golf Club on the Northern Irish coast, this old-school hotel has been around forever and wears it well: tartan fabrics, dark wood, maritime paintings, and a deep green and blue palette that nods to the Atlantic outside. The Red Sail Room, a bar and restaurant inside, goes velvet banquettes and glowing lamps, which is a different mood entirely. Retro bicycles are on hand for anyone who didn't come just to golf.

The dining room is polished enough that you'd almost forget you're here for pizza, which is precisely the point. This Southwark pizzeria brings Neapolitan tradition to London with a tidier, more considered setting than the usual slice-and-go, the kind of room where the dough is still the star but it arrives in surroundings that take themselves slightly more seriously. A second London location shares the same formula.

The dough here leans Neapolitan but doesn't prostrate itself at the altar of tradition, which is probably why this Peckham Rye pizzeria has carved out its own personality rather than just cosplaying Naples. The menu moves with the seasons, the crust is soft and handled well, and the whole room runs warm and informal in the way a good pizzeria should. It's on the 50 Top Pizza Europe list, and the Shoreditch outpost draws the same crowd.

Long-fermented dough is the whole argument at this Neapolitan-style pizzeria tucked into a quiet Bournemouth suburb. The room is warm without trying too hard, and the menu splits neatly between the classics and slightly more loaded options, so nobody at the table needs to negotiate. Consistency is clearly the point here, and 50 Top Pizza Europe named it among the continent's excellent pizzerias. Southbourne locals have quietly figured this out.

A no-frills Neapolitan pizzeria tucked into a quiet stretch of SW16, the kind of spot where the room gives you nothing to look at except your pizza, which turns out to be the point. Sharing plates and small bites fill out the table while you wait, and people do travel for it, which says something about the dough. Named on 50 Top Pizza Europe's list of Excellent Pizzerias, it wears the honour lightly, just like the place itself.

Neapolitan-style pizza in the middle of York, where the dough is the whole argument, light and properly developed in a way that makes toppings feel like they were always meant to be there. Cresci is a casual pizza restaurant that shifts between classics and more contemporary combinations without losing its footing. The room is informal but not accidental, comfortable for a quick slice or a slower dinner.

A pizza spot inside a Mayfair pub, which is already doing something mildly subversive for the postcode. Crisp W1 sits within the Marlborough and keeps the formula that works elsewhere: good pizza, a lively room, and a mix of reservations and walk-ins so you're not locked out if planning isn't your thing. The crowd skews younger than the neighborhood usually tolerates, and nobody is pretending the food is precious. Casual, metropolitan, and not fussed about its surroundings.

The dough is the whole argument here, kept light enough that a full pizza doesn't feel like a dare. DoppioZero is a casual Neapolitan-style pizza spot in Finsbury Park with the informal energy of somewhere that opened last year and already knows what it's doing. The fried starters round out the menu in the way they're supposed to, without trying too hard. Young crowd, loud enough to feel alive, not so loud you need subtitles.

Sourdough pizza in a relaxed Warwick spot that leans more weekend-in-the-pub than Naples-by-the-book, and that's entirely the point. Dough & Brew is a casual pizzeria with a convivial streak, where the dough gets serious attention and the atmosphere stays loose. It doesn't chase the Neapolitan tradition; it runs its own Anglo-modern formula instead, which 50 Top Pizza Europe has noted among its excellent pizzerias.

The dining room occupies Sir George Gilbert Scott's vaulted Gothic Revival interior at St Pancras, which sets an unfair standard for anywhere else you might eat a steak this week. This is a British steakhouse with a serious beef programme built on dry-ageing and live-fire charcoal, and the cooking doesn't try to match the architecture with drama. It ranked 13th on the World's Best Steak Restaurants list. The martini bar is a good place to start or finish.

A pizza restaurant on High Street where the dough is the whole argument, balanced and consistent in a way that takes some discipline to pull off. The room is urban and informal, the kind of place you eat well without ceremony. The menu moves between classic and more contemporary combinations without making a fuss about either. Listed among 50 Top Pizza Europe's Excellent Pizzerias, which is the sort of thing Mancunians will politely ignore until they've tried it themselves.

A neighborhood pizza spot on Newington Green that doesn't try too hard, which is precisely why it works. The menu moves between classic Italian pies and more unexpected combinations, and the room keeps things informal without sliding into shabby. Service checks in without hovering. The kind of place Islington residents probably pretend they haven't told anyone about, then tell everyone about.

Wood-fired ovens built in Naples, ingredients shipped from Italy, and dough that's been quietly fermenting for over 48 hours before it gets anywhere near your table. Paesano is a Neapolitan pizza shop done with real conviction, spread across three Glasgow locations, with an industrial room, open kitchen, and trattoria tables packed shoulder-to-shoulder. No reservations, so a queue is part of the deal, though the operation moves fast enough that you'll barely notice.

Neapolitan dough with a Spanish accent, long-fermented and cooked at a pizzeria that seems genuinely unbothered by what a pizzeria is supposed to be. The menu drifts happily into tapas and fried things, all of it built for sharing rather than eating efficiently and leaving. Two locations now, started in Leytonstone, and the energy in the room matches the cooking: informal, loud in a good way, and not trying to impress anyone in particular.

A Neapolitan pizza joint on Lavender Hill that doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is, which is the whole point. The dough, the char, the generous hand with toppings all trace back to a Naples family recipe that's been around forever. No tasting menus, no mood lighting, just a proper pizzeria operating on the logic that if you know what you're doing, you don't need to dress it up.

The dough sits for up to 60 hours before it sees the oven, which tells you most of what you need to know about Razzo. It's a small Neapolitan pizza restaurant near Leith, serious about its flour, its fresh yeast, its imported tomatoes and anchovies, and not much else. The room is simple, every table in plain view, Italian music in the background. Book ahead on weekends, and consider bringing a bottle.

A Battersea pizzeria where the dough is treated as a statement rather than an afterthought, light and carefully finished in a way that politely asks you to pay attention. The room is orderly and calm, more candlelit-date than checkered-tablecloth, and the whole thing is pitched at people who want the craft spelled out without the fuss. Neapolitan tradition run through a precise, contemporary sensibility.

A Neapolitan pizza shop on the fourth floor of a shopping centre, which sounds like a setup for disappointment but isn't. The dough ferments for 24 hours and comes out of a 500-degree oven with proper char and plenty of tomato. Classics share the menu with weekend specials that lean into curious combinations. Spritz cocktails, a short wine list, and a relaxed room that fills with tourists and locals who didn't plan too hard.

The name is a promise: narrow Neapolitan streets, and the sense that someone's nonna is expecting you. This Stoke Newington pizzeria keeps its focus on dough, heat, and a short list of things done right, with classics sitting alongside a few more personal recipes. Nothing here is trying to be a postcard of Naples; it's more like a habit for the people who live nearby, which is the better thing to be.

Pizza by the slice in Bournemouth, which is either a bold move or a quietly confident one, possibly both. Vicolo keeps things rooted in classic Neapolitan territory, no foam, no twists, no manifesto on the wall, just a short menu of traditional pies and a few richer variations done without fuss. The room is small and unhurried, the kind of place where nobody's rushing you out. It earned a spot on 50 Top Pizza Europe's Excellent Pizzerias list.

Long-fermented dough is the quiet argument at this Neapolitan pizza spot in Ealing, where lightness is the point and showmanship is decidedly not. The room leans into warm Italian-trattoria comfort, the kind that makes a Tuesday feel like a reasonable night for a long dinner. It works equally well for a relaxed catch-up or something slightly more date-shaped, which is more than most pizza places can honestly claim.

BBQ Xiang is a tiny Cantonese roast meat and noodle shop on Caroline Street, the stretch locals call Chippy Alley or Chippy Lane depending on their loyalties. Neon lights and a waving lucky cat watch over a room so cramped that getting to your seat counts as a contact sport. Students and post-pub stragglers come for lacquered duck, char siu, and a bowl of noodle soup, all cheap, fast, and served over Cantopop ballads.

Crown Kitchen is a family-run Chinese restaurant in Cathays with a menu roughly the size of a catalogue, which is why regulars message ahead on WeChat to see what's actually available. The room is round tables with lazy Susans, lanterns, and a cloud-tiled ceiling that nobody's here to admire. Come hungry, order far too much, and expect complimentary watermelon at the end. The Infatuation put it on its list of Cardiff's 13 best restaurants.

Hatsu Udon is a no-frills udon canteen in Grangetown, where the kitchen faces a counter built for solo lunches and nobody is lingering over wine. The noodles are handmade, soft and springy, and the tempura prawn keeps its crunch even after a dunk in the broth, which feels like a minor loophole in physics. Homesick Hongkongers, students, and locals share the room, and the tomato beef udon is a comfort bowl for all of them.

Ichiban is a casual Japanese spot on Albany Road in Roath, and its menu runs past 170 items, which is how it keeps groups with opposing food opinions from splitting up. Sushi sits beside stir-fries, soups, and fried things, and the teishoku tray puts beef, sashimi, rolls, rice, and miso on one table. Kirin is the obvious drink. It's been around forever, and takeaway and delivery run like a well-oiled machine.

Longa is a Turkish breakfast café in Heath where the plan is always a quick bite and the morning disappears anyway. The menemen arrives bubbling in a copper pan with a basket of warm sesame simit for scooping. The room is bright and mismatched, with a shelf of Istanbul travel books and Turkish Mr Men at the back. Weekends mean dogs, prams, and people hovering over your table, so settle in and order another tea.

This casual ramen shop in Grangetown sits in a former bank, which means the only thing being withdrawn here is a bowl of tonkotsu. It started as lockdown noodle kits sold by a guy from the music industry, and the handmade noodles still carry that cult-following springiness. High ceilings, plants, and long wooden benches handle solo lunches and group dinners with equal calm.

Mesen is a wood-fire restaurant in leafy Rhiwbina, named for the Welsh word for acorn, with no gas anywhere in the kitchen, so everything gets cooked over flame and smoke. The blackboard menu changes weekly and leans on Welsh produce. Weekends fill with date nights and tables of friends arm-wrestling over tomahawks, and a dive bar out back stays loose enough to pour a WKD spritz.

Milkwood is a Pontcanna bakery and cafe where upstairs feels like a friend's living room, with a fireplace, big windows, and wood floors, and downstairs has a small terrace for the street. Brunch leans Welsh, so expect cockles on toast and warm bara brith. Weekend queues run long, which is how a quick breakfast turns into an afternoon with a book. Weekend evenings bring wine and pizza, for the committed.

Nagare is a Spitalfields coffee shop that treats a flat white like a small ceremony. The dark wood chairs look antique in a way that took some planning, and the milky white La Marzocco sits behind the counter like a piece of kitchen design you'll be quietly coveting by the second sip. Beans can come from a small-batch roaster in Hong Kong, and the menu covers iced, milky, filter, and drip. Expect a quick coffee and a very photogenic pause.

Qamariyah is a Yemeni dining room in Adamsdown with curved archways and warm tones, where you can take a regular table or sink into the low floor seating. The mandi arrives over spiced rice, and the naan is so large it negotiates for table space. Everyone over-orders, so lunch tomorrow is already handled. It's alcohol-free, which leaves room for fruit juices and a steady flow of Adeni milk tea.

Dark wooden fixtures give this Eritrean restaurant near Brixton a quietly palatial feel, the kind of room that makes a Tuesday feel like a proper occasion. The menu is scaled by party size, from solo plates to feasts for eight, built around injera, slow-cooked vegetable stews, smoked dried beef, and grilled red snapper seasoned with Eritrean herbs. Food writer Riaz Phillips singles it out among the city's East African spots.

A Vietnamese sandwich shop in Hackney so small it barely has room to be modest about itself. One table, a few seats, and a duo behind the counter pressing fresh bánh mì to order. The baguette alone is the kind of thing that makes you reconsider every other baguette you've ever met. Eater counts it among London's 38 best restaurants, which is a lot of weight for a shop this size to carry.

One thing on the menu: tantuni, a street-food wrap from Mersin in southern Turkey that you won't find on many London menus. Beef is boiled, seasoned, and fried in cotton oil, then packed into thin lavash with parsley, tomato, and onion, bent into shape, and handed over. Jonathan Nunn called it the superior late-night snack template, and the West Green Road regulars filing in after dark are not arguing.

The da pan ji, a big plate of chicken and potato stew built on Sichuan peppercorns and hand-pulled flat noodles, is reason enough to make the trip to Walthamstow. This neighborhood Uyghur restaurant near Walthamstow Central is a warm, low-key room where the cooking is the whole point. The chaomian, short noodles stir-fried with beef and tomato, is a good place to start before the main event arrives.

Pepper pot and garlic pork cooked low and slow at a market stall that has survived longer than the shopping centre it once stood beside. The chef draws on Guyana's layered culinary history, where cassareep, clove, and cinnamon turn a stewed chicken the color of mahogany. This is Guyanese home cooking at a counter in Castle Square, and the queue tends to answer any questions you might still have about it.