‘Lovely’ parks praised as Nottingham’s outdoor spaces named best in country

Data analysis has found Nottingham has the best parks in the UK, and park users say they ‘love’ the ones that have taken Nottingham to the top spot. Research from tombola looked at Tripadvisor reviews of 20 of the UK’s biggest and most popular destinations, such as London, Manchester and Birmingham, and found Nottingham and Newcastle have the best parks.

According to the data, the best rated parks in Nottingham are The Arboretum in the city centre and Highfields Park in Lenton. And park users in Highfields agree Nottingham has the best parks in the country, and shared why they love the park so much.

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Stephanie Drakes, 68, who lives in Nottingham city centre, said: “I love it here, I come here three or four times a week to give the dog a walk, and have done for around 11 years or so. It’s a nice circular walk and I really admire the greenery here.

“There’s the beautiful Portland building to walk by too, and the way it’s kept is just amazing. All of my friends live in the south east, and they love it when I’m able to bring them here, I love the parks in Nottingham.

“There’s lots for children to do around here, with a big playground, and the parking is free. I do have just one complaint though.

“On bank holidays, the café is closed, and I’ve brought friends here expecting it to be open and it isn’t. I can’t understand why that would be done.”

Janice Cobb, 62, of Bradley Court in Beeston, said: “We haven’t been here in a while but it’s right on our doorstep really. It looks so nice around here and it takes me right back to when I was six-or-seven-years-old having grown up around here when I’d be taken here, we’d park up and have an ice cream outside.

“From when we’ve walked around, everyone seems nice and peaceful. It’s lovely to get out around here.”

Husband Brian Cobb, 63, who lives with wife Janice, said: “It’s a lovely park. The ducks and geese seem nice and friendly around here too, they’ve been coming right up to me.”

Anna Bonnici, 25, an economics student at University of Nottingham, said: “I love the cleaner air, and I love that it’s big enough to really go around. Here, Wollaton Park and The Arboretum are all quite nice.

“They’re all really well kept too. It’s nice to go around them all.”

To find the best park, ‘nature and parks’ was inserted into a TripAdvisor review filter, with reviews containing specific words and phrases such as ‘scenic’, ‘lovely walk’ and ‘green space’ divided by the total number of reviews to find a percentage. Nottingham is also found to have the second-best day out in the UK, when parks, Sunday lunch, fish and chips, and free attractions are taken into account.

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