Travel & Tourism

Two Greater Manchester towns have been named in The Sunday Times’ best places to live

Greater Manchester is great, pass it on.

Thomas Melia Thomas Melia - 28th March 2025

Esteemed UK newspaper The Sunday Times’ has published its list of the ‘Best places to live in the UK 2025’, and it features two Greater Manchester boroughs.

Us Mancs didn’t need anymore clarification to know that where we live is incredible but we’ll always take it, especially when the compliment is coming from none other than The Sunday Times.

The publication revealed its annual guide of ‘Best places to live 2025’ which featured more than 70 different locations throughout the nation.

Although we may have been pipped to the top spot, Greater Manchester is featured not once, but twice, which is pretty impressive.

Claiming the victory this year is the market town with a name as pretty as its surroundings, Saffron Walden, which is only 15 miles from Cambridge.

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The locations were ranked through a number of key categories including transport, house prices, broadband, schools and a new addition, mobile signal.

All the contributors to the full list acknowledge the obvious missing puzzle piece, food, and we know if this was factored in a few more Greater Manchester locations may have nabbed the ‘Best places to live’ honour.

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The first Greater Manchester based entry is The Heatons, a hotspot nestled between the city centre and the city of Stockport, which is actually four neighbourhoods – Heaton Chapel, Mersey, Moor and Norris.

These areas are home to living history in the form of the iconic century old Savoy Cinema and lots of open green spaces.

Food may have been missed off The Sunday Times’ list but it certainly didn’t go a miss on ours.

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Keep yourself fuelled with some good grub through our own, A Manc’s Guide to: The Heatons.

The second spot which managed to grab the title of ‘Best places to live 2025’ is Mossley, a town packed to the brim with cosy cottages, blissful walks and a close-knit friendly community.

It’s not too far from Dovestone Reservoir and the Peak District National Park – when you’ve got all this greenery on your doorstep you’re bound to be in a good mood.

As well as catching the attention of The Sunday Times, just 15 minutes down the road, Lily’s Vegetarian in Ashton-under-Lyne has been named one of the best local restaurants by the Good Food Guide, clearly Tameside is doing something right.

Our friends over in Leeds at The Hoot have lots to cheer about as Ilkley, Hebden Bridge, Easingwold and Ripon all got a mention.

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You can find out the full rundown on all the spots up and down the country that have been selected as part of ‘The Sunday Times’ Best places to live for 2025′ HERE.

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Featured Image: Instagram, @eddie3hundred