Between 2023 and 2026, I visited the 35 English cities I had never been to before. I saw some of the best cities in England. – insert link. I also saw some of the worse. This list is about the latter.

Full disclosure. I was only visiting these cities for a day. This is obviously not enough time to have a fully-informed opinion of these cities. You may well disagree with my views. That’s fine. We don’t have to agree on everything in life.

5. Norwich (literally means northern farm)

I’ve known a few Norwichians in my time and the one thing they’ve always told me is to never go to Norwich. There is nothing to do there.

Naturally I had to go and see this for myself. I can confirm the rumours were true. There is absolutely nothing to do there. All the attraction(s) were closed and there isn’t much to see in the city centre. It also didn’t help my lunch was a burned, dry burger.

4. South-end (named for being at the Southern end of Prittlewell village)

South-end is a young city only gaining city status in 2021. Frankly it was better off staying a town. In centuries gone by, South-end used to be a thriving holiday destination. Londoners would come in droves for a sunny day at the beach. Now like many seaside resorts, Southend is a shell of its former self desperately clinging to its glory days. When I went, the city, including the sea-front was half-closed. Granted it was winter time, but I don’t think it would have been much different in the summer. While it boasts the longest pleasure pier in the world, this was also closed. Its one star attraction and I couldn’t even go on it.

3. Stoke (literally an old word saying Stoke)

I have never heard ANYBODY say a good word about Stoke. Its poor reputation is sadly justified. As soon as I came out of the station, there were roadworks all the way to the city centre. It was ugly and made the streets difficult to navigate.

Stoke is described as a city, but, in fairness, it was never supposed to be one. Rather, one hundred years ago, six random towns were told they were a city now and they just had to deal with it. This meant the city was lacking in any collective identity.

Any identity that might have once existed died at the same time as the city’s pottery industry, leaving behind a city centre deader than your average graveyard. But it’s not all bad news. Stoke had some of the friendliest people I’ve met in my travels.

2. Gloucester (Castle in a bright place)

Gloucester was a big disappointment. Maybe I was conflating it with the posher Cheltenham, but I was expecting a fancy, elegant city, not a half-dead urban jungle on life support.

Just like Stoke, there were ugly roadworks right outside the station and just like Stoke, the poverty was plain to see. And like Norwich, my lunch was not great. In fairness, this was my first time having pani puri and I wasn’t sure what to expect, but was the mint and coriander sauce supposed to be so cold and slimy? Is the puri supposed to be drowning in sauce? Is it supposed to be so soggy? The plus side? Walking along the Gloucester Sharpness canal.

1. Doncaster – the castle by the river Don

Although Stoke and Gloucester had positives, the South Yorkshire city of Doncaster was all negative. Just like Stoke and many other Northern cities, it was devastated by deindustrialisation. I don’t think the city ever recovered from the collapse of its mining industries. It is also an impoverished city with an endless supply of homeless people. It was sad to see.

Doncaster is one of England’s youngest cities – along with Colchester and Milton Keynes, gaining city status thanks to Queenie’s 2022 platinum jubilee. But like Southend, it was better off staying a town. The city centre was dead just like the half-closed market I bought my lunch from. It didn’t help I had an awful time getting home, but that’s a story for another day. Definitely not a city I’m going back to anytime soon.

          Remember, this is all just my opinion and you are free to disagree. And please don’t take my word for this. Visit these cities yourself and form your own opinions. What cities would you say are the worst in England? Let me know in those comments below.