Welsh location named in a list of the UK’s most boring towns
A national newspaper named a Welsh location among the UK’s most boring towns.
The Telegraph published a list of seven ‘unsung wonders’ for being boring, on the grounds that ‘mass tourism is built around selling experiences’, whereas supposedly ‘boring’ towns are not.
Listing seven ‘boring’ towns in the UK, the newspaper’s destination expert Chris Moss wrote: “The following seven unsung wonders are special. These are towns we collectively consider boring.
“What does that tell us about such places, and ourselves? Would an effort to appreciate their understated assets be rewarded with illumination? Answers on a tedious screed please.”
Lampeter is named number seven on a list which includes Stevenage, Surbiton, Alloa, Grantham, Swindon, and Runcorn.
For its Lampeter listing, The Telegraph wrote: “I would have gone to Lampeter” used to be the answer to the question “What would you have done if you’d got all Es in your A-levels?” It’s not that rural Ceredigion is unpleasant. It’s just that for someone aged 18-21 and ready to embark on the great multifarious adventure that is student life, Lampeter is all the things that the Sorbonne is not.
“The problem, really, is that everywhere else here seems interesting: the Pembrokeshire Coast National Trail; St David’s with its wonky cathedral; foodie town Narberth; lovely Laugharne, where Dylan Thomas lies. Lampeter’s understatedness is so extreme it is almost overstating itself. Look on a map and you will see the town sits in a sea of green – and about as far from the actual sea as you can get in this peninsular corner.
“The one great strength Lampeter has is its authenticity. Almost bereft of tourist attractions, it doesn’t conform to any of the commercial strictures that draw English people to Wales. This is the real deal. In an Instagrammed, boxed-up, corny world, and in a country too often reduced to a tourist cliché, that’s priceless.”
Top tourist attraction: Welsh Quilt Centre
The ‘boring’ list
1. Stevenage
2. Surbiton
3. Alloa
4. Runcorn
5. Grantham
6. Swindon
7. Lampeter
Let us know what you think of Lampeter’s inclusion in the most boring list…
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I lived in Surbiton for over 20 years, it’s an excellent place.
It’s not a town though, it’s a suburb.
I even managed to play for a Surbiton pub rugby team. They must’ve been desperate for players.
I agree I lived in Hanwell but had a work colleague over in Surbiton who I used to meet quite regularly. Not only did I prefer Surbiton to Hanwell but there was much more going on there as well
Lampeter just needs its station back.
Lampeter needs everything back not only the station
And the university and all the shops that have closed and a boot up the bum of the hovel known as Bridge Street and the return of free shoppers parking to get people using the high street. And a County Council with a bit of intelligence would be good too. We took 17 months to sell up and escape and it wasn’t the house that was the problem! We were a B&B pre-Covid but would struggle now to know why anyone would want to stay there.
Oh well I must be boring ..I like Lampeter!
You’re not at all. Its a lovely town for people who enjoy quiet, small-community living, love nature, countryside, walks, value history, heritage and calmness. Ignore these articles, the author has almost certainly never visited!
Agree Peter
Not fair. I lived in Lampeter for five years, though it was way back in the late 1960s. Then, at least, it was a delightful, stimulating and really nice place in which to live.
It was a go to place for Hippies then Gone down a bit since Hag’s record shop shut in 2016
Llambed for me was a blank canvas and for the four years I was there, I painted like Dali! Lle grêt!
Just because the Torygraph says Lampeter is “boring” doesn’t make it true. This cretinous Conservative far-right comic continually attacks anything Welsh , so when they report stories about Wales to me is like experiencing a dull toothache. Sad thing is. I really use to enjoy it years ago until they changed to a cheaper paper making it less absorbent and I found it increasingly difficult to wipe my backside. I now use the Daily Mail. And as a treat Reform UK fliers.
What in sweet jesus are you rambling on about?!?!!
Papur c***u.
It’s a fair summary of the imperial comic. Which bit is confusing you?
He’s absolutely spot on what bit don’t you understand?
I grew up in Abergavenny, on Tuesdays market day in 1990s the town was plagued with tourists.
Some people would prefer Lampeter to Narbeth that is full of tourists. Tourists take parking spaces, so locals can’t park, often they only visit weekends / summer and the rest of the year the region is empty.
Lampeter may be a good place to buy property now with a major employer opening, which will create lots of well-paid jobs https://www.ceredigion.gov.uk/resident/news/2025/new-plans-for-the-future-of-lampeter-campus-announced/
Major employer!!!
Nothing wrong with Lampeter Its the go to place for potential Vicars
It awarded the first Bachelor of Divinity (BD) degree in Britain to a Nonconformist (a Methodist) in 1871, which was a big deal at the time.🤣
One boring man’s boring opinion. What the hell is a “destination expert”? He should get a proper job, one that would benefit society.
The fact that he doesn’t like the place pushes it way up in my estimation. Pompous scribblers fancy themselves as “influencers” but in reality they are self indulgent oddballs begging to be noticed.
Well im in Wales and I can tell you they have not been to Bargoed now that’s a dead boring place .
I live in Cardiff, believe me you can have too ‘exciting’. I’d happily take boring / uneventful over some of the things you can witness in inner cities these days.
Ok what’s boring to one maybe not to another. I personally hate Cities as I cannot cope with crowds. Lampeter has a wondetful university full of cosmopolitan students. Not many stores but the ones that are there have quality products. Beautiful walks and lovely people. I live in Carmarthenshire so not that far from Lampeter. It’s a town that i visit usually on my way to Cardigan.
Nothing wrong with Lampeter. Its a quiet friendly place and within close proximity to the Ceredigion coast, Brechfa Forest and mid Wales. A good bus service the T1 connects to Carmarthen, Aberaeron and Aberystwyth regularly. If the Telegraph think Lampeter is boring then they should visit Milton Keynes,Rotherham or Kirkby in England.
I’ve noticed Lampeter gradually dieing over the years. Now that they have closed the university it is well and truly dead. I’m quite appalled as it used to be a thriving community thirty years ago.
Absolutely agree.
It’s full of English. The ‘boring’ moniker does not deter them and will never stop them
What are you talking about?
Well the Daily Telegraph used to be a newspaper now it’s just throwing insults at everybody. Heaven forbid what it’s going to turn out now it’s in the same ownership as the Daily mail. 😱