From diverse street art to extravagant murals and multicoloured exteriors, the UK is filled with colourful landscapes, and Manchester is most definitely one of them. New research from the experts at Adobe Express has revealed the most colourful cities in the UK, using Google search volume, number of Instagram hashtags, number of social media mentions, and number of user-generated content images − and Manchester has been named pretty far up.
These places aren’t just pretty to look at—they’re like playgrounds for your imagination. Whether you’re into art or just love exploring, there’s something here to spark your creativity, and Manchester has plenty to offer.
Manchester steals the third spot with an overall score of 14.495, but that’s not surprising to us. Our city has a huge number of social media mentions (241,530) and Adobe Express also found 60,800 Instagram hashtags mentioning #Manchesterstreetart and #streetartManchester.
The Northern Quarter is home to yet more colourful murals from both local and international artists. Yet vibrancy doesn’t just come from Manchester’s art, as its characteristic industrial red brick adds depth to its colour palette. Explore the likes of Sackville Street, Oxford Road and London Road to see this in action, plus plenty of medieval and Victorian examples contrasted with modern buildings across the city.
Manchester came third to Reading (32.127) and neighbour Liverpool (16.785), boasting even more incredible street art, and we’re happy to share the most colourful crown. Manchester did however beat famously colourful cities, including Brighton and Hove and Edinburgh, in the race to be most colourful, showing how stiff the competition was.
The most colourful UK cities are:
- Reading − 32.127
- Liverpool − 16.785
- Manchester − 14.495
- Bristol − 14.218
- Edinburgh − 9.140
- Glasgow − 8.441
- Brighton and Hove − 5.963
- Belfast − 4.679
- Sheffield − 4.287
- Birmingham − 3.316
To see some of Manchester’s brightest and best street art, visit #manchesterstreetart on Instagram.