The Sunday Times Best Places to Live 2026 guide has been released today (March 20), revealing the best places to live in the South West.
The comprehensive guide included a total of 72 locations across the UK. Each location has been visited by the expert judges who assessed factors from schools to transport, broadband speeds and mobile signal to culture, as well as access to green spaces and the health of the high street.
Norwich in Norfolk was named the overall best place to live in the UK, which in the South West Malmesbury in Wiltshire was crowned the best place to live in the region.
Helen Davies, editorial projects director and Best Places to Live editor, said: “This guide is a great opportunity to highlight the best places in Britain. It is full of places that show that our village, town and city centres can still be full of life, as well as places bursting with natural beauty, culture, connectivity and most importantly a sense of community.
“Our expert team of judges visit every location on the list and talk to the locals to find out what they love about the place they live. These judges have travelled the length and breadth of the UK, from the Scottish Highlands to the Cornish coast, selecting the top towns and villages, suburbs and cities for the 2026 guide. One thing all our chosen locations have in common is that the people who live in them are proud to call them home.”
Scroll through to learn about the 8 best places to live in the South West, according to The Sunday Times, and why.
1. Malmesbury, Wiltshire
"Malmesbury’s ever-improving high street is the star of the show in a historic town that’s a safe place for families to put down roots. There’s plenty going on: sports clubs, a theatre group, the Athelstan Players, and hardworking community groups. The highlight of the calendar is the annual carnival, proudly “by the community, for the community”. The Three Cups is one of the country’s most interesting pubs, offering a vegan menu and all kinds of events from yoga classes, language lessons, craft sessions, board games nights and serious experimental music to the more familiar pub activities of good beer and convivial chat. The state schools are excellent, there are jobs at the Dyson Creative Campus and although there’s no station, Bristol, Bath and London are easily reached." | Getty Images
2. Bridport, Dorset
"Arty but not too arty and pretty but not too pretty, Bridport performs its town-and-country balancing act with aplomb. The busy town centre has lots of interest and few empty shops, though St Michael’s Trading Estate is the coolest corner of town. Its old workshops and warehouses are home to interesting independent businesses: art, antiques, aromatherapy and one of the country’s best music shops in Clocktower Records. The community is strong. Noticeboards are packed with posters for yoga classes, clothes sales, choirs and dog shows. Edible Bridport grows free-to-harvest food on verges and in planters around the town and the Bridport Cohousing community land trust has built 53 super-sustainable, affordable timber-framed homes on the edge of town." | Adrian Childs via Google Map
3. Kingsdown, Bristol
"Live in this colourful Georgian enclave and you’re within walking distance of the bars, restaurants, culture and charm that make this city at the top of the property shopping list for anyone looking for urban excitement. Kingsdown is mostly residential, with families and young professionals now moving into the painted period houses that used to be occupied by students. But there is a leisure centre and enough good pubs and cafés to make it feel like a place in its own right. " | Google Maps
4. Dartmoor, Devon
"Dartmoor is the country’s most magical outdoor playground, a bewitching patchwork of craggy tors, steep valleys, pretty villages and ancient thatched cottages. It also has some of our most appealing towns. Among the best are Chagford, which is pretty, arty and community-minded. It has great pubs, allotments, a primary school, an idyllic open-air swimming pool and lots of good shops, and a house-price premium to match. Ashburton is younger, busier and better connected via the A38 to both Plymouth and Exeter, with an outstanding town centre where you can get everything from fresh fish, bread and local meat to vintage clothes, comics and musical instruments." | Google Maps