The most beautiful streets in the UK, according to science

Kerb Appeal: The Most Attractive Streets in the UK, According to Science

Estate Agent comparison site GetAgent conducted an eye-tracking technology experiment to reveal which of the world’s most beautiful streets are most aesthetically pleasing to the human eye. 

Participants were asked to examine a set of images depicting over 50 of the world’s most picturesque roads, and AI technology was used to analyse their eye movements in order to rank which streets are truly the most eye-catching.

From New Orleans’ iconic Bourbon Street, to the beguiling blue lanes of Moroccan city Chefchaouen; sometimes it’s not the dazzling skyscrapers or fancy facades of a famous building that attract tourists to a specific road, but minute details like street art, flora and old-school architecture that make for an eye-catching stroll. 

The Top 10 Most Attractive Streets in the UK

In the UK, Scotland came out on top with Edinburgh’s Circus Lane ranking as the most attractive British street in the study (placing sixth worldwide). The charming street is inundated with hanging baskets, colourful front doors and a cobbled street that meanders through the quaint mews houses; and participants focused on it for almost four full seconds, with the image garnering over 272 views overall within the study.

Following behind in second place is The Circus, a famed ring of townhouses in the Roman city of Bath, Somerset. Viewers spent 3.74 seconds each fixating on an image of the luxury street, with 259 glances at it being taken overall. The beautiful row of houses was designed by John Wood the Elder, an architect that took his inspiration from the Colosseum in Rome, and the houses located within each of its three segments are now all grade-I listed.

Completing the top three most attractive British streets is the infamous Gold Hill, a cobbled street located in Shaftesbury and famous across the country as the filming location for the iconic Hovis ‘Boy on Bike’ advert that it’s synonymous with. Study participants stared at a picture of Gold Hill for 3.4 seconds each, on average, and the image received 348 views overall.

Rank	Street	Location	Country	Total views	Avg. fixation time
1	Circus Lane	Stockbridge, Edinburgh	Scotland	272	3.95s
2	The Circus	Bath, Somerset	England	259	3.74s
3	Gold Hill	Shaftesbury, Dorset	England	348	3.4s
4	Vicars’ Close	Wells, Somerset	England	124	3.05s
5	The Street	Castle Combe, Wiltshire	England	226	2.96s
6	Arlington Row	Bibury, Gloucestershire	England	247	2.91s
7	Elm Hill	Norwich, Norfolk	England	227	2.82s
8	The Shambles	York, North Yorkshire	England	156	2.73s
9	Main Street	Haworth, West Yorkshire	England	233	2.54s
10	Chalcot Crescent	Primrose Hill, London	England	230	2.37s

The Top 20 Most Attractive Streets in the World

The most eye-catching street on the globe is the Philosopher’s Path, located in Kyoto, Japan. Once frequented by a famous Japanese philosopher – hence the name – this two kilometre long path is one of Kyoto’s most famous cherry blossom viewing spots, with the trees adorning either side blossoming around April each year and showering the path in an explosion of pink. The study’s participants both fixated on the image of this street for the longest time, on average 6.2 seconds, and the most times (550 views).

In second place, the French street known as Rue Principale clocked up 363 views overall and had viewers locking eyes on it for 4.64 seconds on average. Located in the idyllic village of Rocamadour, the spot sees over a million visitors each year, while the population consists of just 600 people. The location itself is a famous pilgrimage destination and has been visited as part of the Santiago de Compostela for over 1,000 years.

Closing out the top three most attractive streets in the world is none other than the Via Baldassarre Galuppi, a multi-coloured street that can be found in the Venetian island of Burano in Italy. There are no cars on this island, and an assortment of vibrantly coloured houses are nestled in between a vast network of canals that participants in the study stared at for 4.22 seconds on average, and 252 times overall.

Rank	Street	Location	Country	Total views	Avg. fixation time
1	Philosopher’s Path	Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture	Japan	550	6.2s
2	Rue Principale	Rocamadour, Lot	France	363	4.64s
3	Via Baldassarre Galuppi	Burano, Venice	Italy	252	4.22s
4	Herbert Baker Street	Groenkloof, Pretoria	South Africa	256	4.17s
5	Lombard Street	San Francisco, California	USA	282	4.05s
6	Circus Lane	Stockbridge, Edinburgh	UK	272	3.95s
7	The Circus	Bath, Somerset	UK	259	3.74s
8	Gold Hill	Shaftesbury, Dorset	UK	348	3.4s
9	Lijnbaansgracht	Amsterdam, North Holland	The Netherlands	295	3.45s
10	Orchard Road	Central Area, Singapore	Singapore	218	3.31s
11	Bourbon Street	The French Quarter, New Orleans	USA	267	3.19s
12	Cherry Blossom Avenue	Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia	Germany	254	3.13s
13	Quechua Street	Cusco, Cusco Province	Peru	295	3.12s
14	Rua do Bom Jesus	Recife, Pernambuco	Brazil	279	3.07s
15	Vicars’ Close	Wells, Somerset	UK	124	3.05s
16	Rue de l’Abreuvoir	Montmartre, Paris	France	198	2.9s
17	The Street	Castle Combe, Wiltshire	UK	226	2.96s
18	Arlington Row	Bibury, Gloucestershire	UK	247	2.91s
19	Via Torre Belvedere	Spello, Perugia	Italy	201	2.85s
20	Elm Hill	Norwich, Norfolk	UK	227	2.82s

Colby Short, co-founder and CEO of GetAgent comments:

“A good estate agent can tell you that the value of your home can be increased via a variety of different features and home improvements – from planting certain flowers, to even painting your front door a certain colour – and the street your home sits on can impact its value just as much. Whether it’s dotted with cherry trees, nestled amongst cobblestones or sat on a canal – where your house is located can have a real impact.

With summer on the way, many people are heading off abroad or opting for a stay-cation, and our research has revealed a huge number of picturesque streets dotted around the globe for those looking for inspiration for their next move. Whether you’re looking to sell with the help of an estate agent, or are hoping to buy in a new location – don’t underestimate the impact of being satisfied with the view from your bedroom window!”

Full research can be found here: https://www.getagent.co.uk/blog/research/worlds-most-beautiful-streets