Devon has been named the best county in England in a new list released by the Telegraph news paper.
And, with:
- 2 National Parks
- 5 Natural Landscapes
- 14 Blue Flag beaches
- 495km of coastline
- 9 RSPB reserves
- 1 RHS garden
- 177 museums and galleries
- 34 National Trust sites
- 13 English Heritage sites
- Exeter Cathedral
- Premiership rugby teams
- 5 Michelin-starred restaurants
- 1 of Telegraph Travel’s best hotels on Earth
- Two 5AA Red Star hotels
And a whole lot more, it’s no wonder Devon came out on top!
For this year, the rankings included counties with the number of top golf courses, highest waterfalls, number of National Trails and the lowest crime rates. For natural wonders, Devon ranked 1st place in England; for history, culture and luxuries, it ranked 3rd in England; for peace and quiet it ranked 14th and for the reader poll, it ranked 3rd, giving the county an overall score of 981, helping it win by a landslide.
According to the Telegraph: “Devon didn’t just top our rankings, it blew away the competition. Simply put, it has everything.”
The final list, ranked from highest to lowest counties in England:
1 Devon
2 Cumbria
3 North Yorkshire
4 Cornwall
5 Somerset
6 Kent
7 Norfolk
8 Hampshire
9 Dorset
10 Greater London
11 Northumberland
12 Gloucestershire
13 Wiltshire
14 East Sussex
15 Surrey
16 Oxfordshire
17 Shropshire
18 Essex
19 Lancashire
20 Berkshire
21 Worcestershire
22 Lincolnshire
23 Derbyshire
24 Cheshire
25 West Yorkshire
26 Herefordshire
27 Staffordshire
28 Nottinghamshire
29 Cambridgeshire
30 South Yorkshire
31 Rutland
32 Isle of Wight
33 Buckinghamshire
34 West Midlands
35 Greater Manchester
36 Tyne and Wear
37 Durham
38 Leicestershire
39 Warwickshire
40 Hertfordshire
41 Northamptonshire
42 East Riding
43 Merseyside
44 City of London
45 Bristol
46 Bedfordshire
