Remote working quickly has become the new normal and what better way to do so than from a quaint village with beautiful views and fast broadband speed?
To find the top secluded areas to find serenity while working, we have taken some of the most beautiful towns and villages across the UK, US and Europe and measured them against a series of metrics.
The metrics include the average monthly cost of rent and the daily Airbnb rate, the number of WiFi spots and cafes with WiFi, distance to the nearest airport as well as the distance to the sea and the number of greenspaces for UK locations.
Looking to explore the British countryside? These are the UK’s top five secluded areas to work remotely:
From the East to the West Coast, these are the top five secluded areas to work remotely in the US:
Find serenity in these five quaint European towns and villages, far from the city buzz:
Find more information, including the top activities to try at all locations featured in the study, in the tables below.
Top 25 Most Secluded Areas in the UK
| Rank | Name | Average monthly rent (£) | Average daily Airbnb rate (£) | Number of greenspaces | Number of cafés with WiFi | Distance to the sea (miles) | Town centre distance from mainline train station (miles) | Top activity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lymm | £772 | £80 | 68 | 9 | 12.2 | 3.63 | Lymm Dam |
| 2 | Linlithgow | £912 | £85 | 49 | 5 | 2.9 | 1.06 | Linlithgow Palace |
| 3 | Whitby | £700 | £109 | 4 | 7 | 2.2 | 0.65 | 199 Steps |
| 4 | Penzance | £570 | £105 | 14 | 3 | 0.5 | 0.88 | Minack Theatre |
| 5 | Tewkesbury | £657 | £120 | 39 | 4 | 21 | 1.74 | Tewkesbury Abbey |
| 6 | Oban | £675 | £100 | 0 | 5 | 1.8 | 0.41 | Oban Distillery |
| 7 | Tenby | £654 | £112 | 6 | 2 | 1.2 | 0.15 | Tenby Castle Beach |
| 8 | Alnwick | £558 | £105 | 1 | 5 | 7.1 | 2.54 | Alnwick Castle |
| 9 | Painswick | £663 | £99 | 43 | 2 | 10.7 | 3.04 | Painswick Rococo Garden |
| 10 | Keswick | £628 | £97 | 6 | 8 | 18 | 13.94 | Catbells Lakeland Walk |
| 11 | Ombersley | £750 | £115 | 56 | 0 | 37.8 | 3.17 | The Wharf Caravan Park |
| 12 | Hebden Bridge | £1,230 | £83 | 66 | 2 | 38.1 | 0.88 | Hardcastle Crags |
| 13 | Looe | £700 | £107 | 10 | 1 | 2.5 | 0.7 | Looe to Polperro walk |
| 14 | Ambleside | £480 | £120 | 7 | 4 | 18 | 6.59 | Loughrigg Fell |
| 15 | Llanrwst | £526 | £100 | 11 | 0 | 11.3 | 0.38 | Gwydir Castle |
| 16 | Castle Combe | £700 | £149 | 49 | 0 | 17.5 | 5.25 | Castle Combe Village |
| 17 | Hawes | £400 | £107 | 1 | 2 | 28.2 | 5.34 | Hardraw Force |
| 18 | Snowshill | £711 | £120 | 29 | 0 | 25.4 | 6.4 | Snowshill Manor and Garden |
| 19 | Bakewell | £806 | £104 | 17 | 2 | 45 | 6.2 | Monsal Trail |
| 20 | Clovelly | £575 | £111 | 7 | 0 | 5.1 | 15.49 | The Milky Way Adventure Park |
| 21 | Burford | £2,288 | £135 | 21 | 4 | 34.2 | 4.84 | Cotswold Wildlife Park and Gardens |
| 22 | Cirencester | £1,032 | £148 | 30 | 6 | 20.4 | 4.23 | Corinium Museum |
| 23 | Lyndhurst | £975 | £122 | 22 | 2 | 6.9 | 2.94 | New Forest National Park |
| 24 | Sandwich | £6,002 | £109 | 19 | 8 | 2.8 | 0.4 | Sandwich Wildlife Park |
| 25 | Salcombe | £923 | £131 | 7 | 2 | 0.7 | 12.62 | Salcombe Distilling Company |
Top 10 Most Secluded Areas in the US
| Rank | Location | Average monthly rent (£) | Average monthly rent ($) | Average Airbnb daily rate (£) | Average Airbnb daily rate ($) | WiFi spots | Number of cafés with WiFi | Town Centre Distance from Major Airport (km) | Top activity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fairfield, IA | £340.65 | $450 | £60 | $79 | 547 | 7 | 90 | Maharishi Vedic Observatory |
| 2 | St Augustine, FL | £763.13 | $1,007 | £145 | $192 | 1,974 | 6 | 8 | St. Augustine Distillery |
| 3 | Sedona, AZ | £926.25 | $1,223 | £161 | $213 | 1,985 | 5 | 42 | Chapel of the Holy Cross |
| 4 | Dahlonega, GA | £454.20 | $600 | £167 | $221 | 449 | 0 | 106 | Consolidated Gold Mine |
| 5 | Cannon Beach, OR | £926.25 | $1,223 | £228 | $301 | 410 | 2 | 148 | Haystack Rock |
| 6 | Moab, UT | £496.03 | $655 | £144 | $190 | 615 | 3 | 29 | Arches National Park |
| 7 | Bar Harbor, ME | £686.81 | $907 | £190 | $250 | 1,212 | 3 | 21 | Acadia National Park |
| 8 | Doylestown, PA | £820.08 | $1,082 | £123 | $162 | 1,073 | 0 | 35 | Fonthill Castle |
| 9 | Telluride, CO | £926.25 | $1,223 | £382 | $503 | 523 | 2 | 111 | Telluride Mountain Village Gondola |
| 10 | Barrow/Utqiagvik, AK | £1,335.47 | $1,763 | £59 | $77 | 165 | 0 | 2 | Inupiat Heritage Center |
Top 10 Most Secluded Areas in Europe
| Rank | Location | Country | Average monthly cost of rent (£) | Average daily Airbnb rate (£) | WiFi spots | Number of cafés with WiFi | Town centre distance from major airport (km) | Town centre distance from major airport (miles) | Top activity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Český Krumlov | Czech Republic | £206.16 | £64.91 | 1,057 | 8 | 101 | 63 | Cesky Krumlov Castle |
| 2 | Interlaken | Switzerland | £690.86 | £165.48 | 2,596 | 4 | 50 | 31 | Harder Kulm |
| 3 | Bled | Slovenia | £225.33 | £93.60 | 1,522 | 1 | 35 | 22 | Lake Bled |
| 4 | Hvar | Croatia | £184.77 | £69.00 | 809 | 1 | 23 | 14 | Tvrdava Fortica |
| 5 | Lymm | England, UK | £772.00 | £80.00 | 30 | 9 | 24 | 15 | Lymm Dam |
| 6 | Tórshavn | Faroe Islands (Denmark) | £696.32 | £167.44 | 180 | 3 | 47 | 29 | Tinganes |
| 7 | Kotor | Montenegro | £368.03 | £54.90 | 727 | 1 | 6 | 4 | Kotor Old City |
| 8 | Angra do Heroísmo | Portugal | £428.12 | £71.10 | 238 | 0 | 26 | 16 | Monte Brasil |
| 9 | Albarracin | Spain | £533.40 | £83.70 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 12 | Pinares del Rodeno |
| 10 | Longyearbyen | Svalbard (Norway) | £814.39 | £131.92 | 100 | 1 | 5 | 3 | Svalbard Museum |
Methodology & Sources
None of the locations used in this research have a population of more than 20,000 people. The locations have been ranked according to a series of metrics and ranked from the highest to the lowest overall index score. Where data wasn’t available, some locations were treated as their surrounding area for the average daily Airbnb rate.
Population numbers were collected from Nomisweb and Wikipedia on 24 August 2020.
The currency exchange rates used were correct as of 25 August 2020.
All conversions have been calculated manually based on the data used in our research.
- UK rental costs
- Distance to the sea
- Population in UK towns
- Greenspaces
- UK broadband speed
- Distance from town centre to train station
- WiFi spots
- Cafés with WiFi & Top activities
- Average daily Airbnb rate
- US & Europe rental costs
- Population in US & European towns
- Broadband speed
- Distance to nearest airport
Leave a Reply