The ‘world’s prettiest street’ is in a beautiful UK city

One of the UK’s prettiest streets is so picture perfect it’s consistently ranked as one of the most beautiful in the UK.

Adding to its list of achievements, it’s now been revealed as one of the most Instagrammable streets in the UK by Leeds Locksmiths. 

The Shambles in York was hashtagged a huge 53,800 times on the picture sharing platform, placing it in the top 10 most snapped streets in the UK.

This windy cobbled street in York is known as the inspiration for Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter films, and it’s arguably one of the best-preserved medieval streets in Europe. 

The Shambles was once full of butchers’ shops and houses, many complete with a slaughterhouse at the back, which explains the raised pavements to form a channel where the residue could be washed away.

It’s still possible to see some of the original butcher’s meat-hooks attached to the shops, and in some sections it’s possible to touch both sides of the street with arms outstretched. 

The name is thought to derive from ‘Shammel’, an anglo-saxon word for the shelves which previously flanked the open shop-fronts.

House and Garden previously placed The Shambles among the top 20 most beautiful in the world, and it was also placed third on TripAdvisor’s list of “must-see” famous British streets. 

Six London streets dominated the Leeds Locksmiths rankings, with Oxford Street far ahead of the rest boasting 1,020,700 hashtags.

Regent Street followed with 469,200 hashtags, while Carnaby Street’s quirks drew in 425,000 hashtags.

The UK’s most Instagrammable streets, according to Leeds Locksmiths

1. Oxford Street, London – 1,020,700
2. Regent Street, London – 469,200
3. Carnaby Street, London – 425,000
4. Portobello Road, London – 362,000
5. Bond Street, London – 290,000
6. Neal’s Yard, London – 184,000
7. Victoria Street, Edinburgh – 127,600
8. Royal Crescent, Bath – 56,600
9. The Shambles, York – 53,800
10. Gold Hill, Dorset – 39,700
11. Steep Hill, Lincoln – 39,500
12. Ashton Lane, Glasgow – 33,000
13. Grey Street, Newcastle – 28,600
14. The Royal Mile, Edinburgh – 22,600
15. Circus Lane, Edinburgh – 20,000
16. Arlington Row, Bibury – 17,200
17. Mermaid Street, Rye – 16,600
18. Elm Hill, Norwich – 11,800