There are a handful of things that I particularly love when I travel: cities with lots of cool history, places with beautiful landscapes, and going to destinations that haven't been written about to death by other bloggers.
This last point is what made me say yes to a trip to a fairly unconventional destination: Kingston upon Hull.
Normally just known as “Hull,” this English town in East Yorkshire isn't likely to be found on many UK travel itineraries. It's a maritime-turned-university city that struggled for a long time to get back on its feet after being heavily bombed during WWII (and when I say heavily, I mean it – Hull was the second-most war damaged city in the UK after London).
And the collapse of the local shipping and fishing industries in the '70s further challenged people trying to make a living in Hull. Just a couple years ago, Hull was voted one of the worst places to live in the UK.
But things are swiftly turning around for this almost-coastal city: in 2017, Hull has the distinction of being the UK City of Culture.
And the city is going all-out in celebration.
I spent four days in Hull earlier this month, hanging out with a local blogger and getting to know all the reasons why Hull ISN'T one of the worst places in the UK. In fact, Hull surprised me with just how cool it really is.
I wasn't sure what I was expecting of Hull, but after a day of walking around its Old Town streets and wandering around its marina, I found myself exclaiming, “This isn't what I was expecting at all!”
In fact, I was pleasantly surprised by my entire visit to Hull. I ate great food, visited some cool museums, took some nice photos, and got a taste of the history that I love discovering when I travel.
After my time spent in Hull, I decided that I want to share with you some things that you probably don't know about the city – and therefore reasons why it's worth visiting!
6 Reasons to visit Hull
1. It has history
I mentioned the WWII history that Hull suffered through, but the city's history goes back much further than that. Originally founded by monks as a port in the 12th century, Hull was an important thoroughfare for centuries, first in the wool trade and later in the fishing/whaling industry.
It's also cited as possibly being the spot where the English Civil Wars first kicked off. In 1642, King Charles I was denied entry into Hull through the old Beverley Gate, which is often seen as the trigger for the start of the war.
The remains of the infamous gate were excavated in the 1980s, and you can see them today in Hull's Old Town.
2. It has free museums
Free museums are typical throughout the UK, but in Hull ALL the museums are free. And there are some pretty good ones, too, like the Ferens Art Gallery, the Hull and East Riding Museum (full of history), and the Wilberforce House, where you can learn about William Wilberforce and his contribution to ending the slave trade in the UK.
My favorite Hull museum was the Streetlife Museum, which is part transport and part history museum. Inside you'll find Victorian-style street scenes, as well as old trolleys, buses, cars, and even bicycles.
3. You'll find art everywhere
Hull has always had lots of art and culture, local guide Paul Schofield told me. But, with the city being the Capital of Culture this year, now it's absolutely bursting with it. There are small gallery exhibits as well as large art installations all over town.
When I was there, they had just removed a large wind turbine blade from Queen Victoria Square and were installing a work called the “Weeping Window” on the outside of the Maritime Museum, which consists of hundreds of ceramic poppies cascading down the side of the building.
4. It has good pubs and food
Yes, I'll say it: England DOES have some great food! (Don't pay attention to all those stereotypes about British dining…) And I found Hull to be absolutely bursting with great pubs, cafes, and restaurants.
Some of my favorite eats and drinks included:
- Tea at Liquid Jade
- Fish and chips at the Lion & Key (I LOVE the inside of this pub!)
- Burgers and huge milkshakes at Furley & Co.
- The best chips (fries) at Head of Steam
What I think I liked best about eating in Hull was that there aren't a ton of huge chains. It's easy to find a cool independent cafe or restaurant here.
5. It's incredibly affordable
The UK is not necessarily known for being a budget-friendly destination. But I found Hull to be extremely affordable – and not just because the US dollar is so strong right now. Meals were usually under £10, and I got a movie ticket on a weekday evening for just £4!
We also went for afternoon tea at the Royal Hotel, which only cost £13.95 per person. While local Hull blogger Courtney said this was actually pretty pricey for Hull, you certainly won't find ANY high tea for even close to that price in places like London.
6. It's close to lots of other cool places
Lastly, even though you might not visit Hull exclusively like I did, it's actually close to a lot of other cool places to visit in this part of the UK.
A 10-minute drive will get you to the Humber Bridge, which is a massive 1.4-mile-long suspension bridge spanning the Humber estuary.
A 15-minute train ride will take you to the adorable market town of Beverley.
And in just an hour by train you can get from Hull to York, which IS a city many people visit in the UK.
RELATED: A First-Timers Guide to York
Where to stay in Hull
I stayed at the Royal Hotel in Hull, which is right in the city center and actually connected to Hull's main train stations (this is SUPER handy, since arriving by train is the easiest way to get to Hull from other parts of England).
The hotel is old and retains a lot of its Victorian charm. The rooms aren't really anything special (though I found the bed really comfy), but the lobby is gorgeous and the breakfast buffet is tasty. The hotel also gets a thumbs up from me for the free cocktails and desserts that they hand out on Tuesday evenings!
Read reviews of the Royal Hotel | Book a room here!
Or, you can check out the best hotels in Hull here.
My must-dos in Hull
So what are the things that I consider to be must-dos in Hull? Here's my list:
Take a walking tour with Paul Schofield. This guy knows his stuff, and more importantly really loves Hull. He does history tours, pub walks, and more.
Visit a couple free museums. The Streetlife Museum is my favorite!
Check out funky Humber Street. Here old fruit warehouses have been transformed into cafes and small galleries. Grab a brownie at Cocoa Chocolatier & Bakery – you won't regret it.
Eat ALL THE FOOD. Speaking of food, check out as many of Hull's cool independent restaurants, cafes, and pubs as you can! (My favorites are all listed earlier in this post.)
Go to The Deep. This aquarium is the symbol of Hull, and is a great place to visit on a rainy day. The Deep has everything from sharks to penguins, and is dedicated to education and conservation as a nonprofit. If you visit on the weekend, you can even have dinner next to the largest tank.
See the Humber Bridge. Make the drive (or call a taxi) to see the Humber Bridge. When it was built in 1981, the bridge was the longest of its kind anywhere in the world.
Take a half-day trip to Beverley. Lastly, I highly recommend taking a half-day trip to Beverley from Hull. There's a big market on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but it's fun to shop and cafe-hop and visit churches any day of the week.
Want to follow in my footsteps in Hull? See my itinerary for this trip on HipTraveler.
So what do you think? Would you visit Hull?
Note: This post was brought to you as a result of the #WelcomeToEngland campaign, created and managed by iambassador in partnership with Visit Britain. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.
Amanda Williams is the award-winning blogger behind A Dangerous Business Travel Blog. She has traveled to more than 60 countries on 6 continents from her home base in Ohio, specializing in experiential and thoughtful travel through the US, Europe, and rest of the world. Amanda only shares tips based on her personal experiences and places she's actually traveled!
Such a wonderful city with spectacular architecture, rich history, and cool restaurants!
I have never been there but will love to next time I visit England.
If you like cool cities that are relatively off the typical tourist trail, then you’ll love Hull!
Victoria @The British Berliner,you sound a happy person (not)with people who have an opinion of Hull like yours we dont want you here,it sounds as though you have never been just like most people who like to have a dig at us and know nothing,but yet we have an american girl on here who loved it just like the thousands of others who have come to visit to see how this city is changing,enjoy your day.
Thanks for your comment John.
As a fellow British person I’m just as entitled as the next person on opinions, and I did make a clear that I hadn’t been to Hull & why. I’ve always been a very tongue-in-cheek type of person & so may that continue.
If you read my blog, you’ll see that part of my business as “The British Berliner” is promoting Britain & the UK abroad. You’re welcome!
p.s. Thanks for coming to my blog and making a comment. 🙂
pps. Amanda is a lovely girl who I admire enormously.
Come on and own your comments, you were having the predictable dig at Hull. Ok it’s not the greatest City, most of the town centre was flattened by bombs in the war and many great buildings not to mention lives lost, but it’s far far better than a lot I could name. Come with an open mind, for a weekend when this COVID madness is over, I hope you can then can appreciate this wonderful city that has been through so much.
Cool post Amanda. One of my best friends went to the University of Hull, and was always awfully embarrassed about it.
Would I visit Hull? Probably not! It’s considered rather dull however, if I happened to be in York, and had about a week, and it was raining or something, I might venture in as a day trip, but I wouldn’t go there specifically lol!
It’s not nearly as dull as the stereotypes make it out to be! 😉
I believe you! 😉
I am originally a Hull girl so would also recommend all the Parks in Hull but especially East for zoo and pleasant cafe location and Pearson for Victorian Glasshouse and surrounding avenues area which is worth a walk to savour quirky independent retailers and cafes. Famous also for Venn of Venn diagram, the wildness of Spurn Point (not sure how much is left). Then there’s a train ride to Bridlington and Sewerby (Briglington in local speke). But don’t take my word for it go see, the people are “straight talking”, you will meet with northern humour, grit and warmth once you get your ear in. X
All great suggestions – thank you!
Interesting read – delighted that you enjoyed it.
I hated living there in the 90’s – such a violent, horrid, depressing and miserable city. I escaped as soon as I could.
But now, every time I go back to visit my family, I appreciate it more and more. It really has improved remarkably. I’m actually proud of the city, and one could say that I love Hull for the first time in my life. I’m even hoping to take some of my London friends there.
That’s great to hear! It’s crazy how much a place can change in just a couple of decades.
Thanks so much for this wonderful article about my home town. I moved away to Sheffield for university 25 years ago, but still regard Hull as my home. Both my parents were born there; my grandfather was a trawlerman and my great grandfather a fruit merchant. It’s great to see it getting the attention and credit it deserves.
The history of Hull as a maritime/fruit trading port is really fascinating! I like how they’re converting all the old fruit warehouses on Humber Street.
Looks fab Amanda, glad you had a good time!
I haven’t been to hull in quite a long time, but looks like it’s time to go! I think Hull is going through a similar resurgence to the one Liverpool did when we were capital of culture in 2008! It did really great things for the city!
Come see me soon too! 🙂
I’d say this year is definitely the time to go to Hull! And yes, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it follows in the footsteps of Liverpool – the two cities actually have a lot in common!
Can i say thanks for showing my previous comment,i would like to add that Kingston upon Hull like any other city does have its not so good areas and looks a bit run down in places and we do have crime but not on the scale of say Manchester or London to name a couple,Hull is a medium sized city and different because we are at the end of the line you are in it or out of it the nearest city is York 30 miles or Leeds 60 miles,and unlike York or Leeds we dont take into account our out lying villages which are some beautifull places if we did Hull would rank a lot higher but Hull ends at its border line.The one thing that gets most peoples back up is that when you drive into hull you see the old Lord line building and a small area of what was once the fish docks now just left as an eye sore but unless the company that own this land do something about it their isnt much we can do they are just land grabbing.Having said all that and been honest about problems i hope people come and visit their is a lot going on this summer and many more improvements to Hull are in the pipeline enjoy.
I still really enjoyed the city, and found it actually really beautiful, especially in the older part of town!
That milkshake is insane!
For the longest time I only visited London. The two years ago I had an opportunity to visit Norfolk and recently, Bristol. I’ve been so pleasantly surprised by how good the food is in England. The bad British food stereotype couldn’t be more misleading.
I also didn’t realize how many free museums and things there are to do in England. It was the same in Bristol with several very good free museums.
And I can’t believe how inexpensive Hull is! That afternoon tea has to be the best value afternoon tea in England.
Hull was SO affordable! I’m not used to that in England! Haha. And yeah, I’m making a point of visiting more places in the UK – there are so many cool cities!
What a fun article to read! Here’s a vote in favor of continuing to profile places other travel bloggers haven’t written about — I got into reading travel blogs in the first place because I wanted to learn about new places, so when I find a post like this about somewhere I’ve never heard of, I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot! So fun to travel along with you via your writing and photos. At this point I don’t want to hear another word about Southeast Asia — so bored of hearing about Thailand — but I’m now curious to learn more about Hull!
I try my best to write about a mixture of places people know about and places people have never heard of – so glad you enjoyed this post!
Well how nice to hear nice comments,i am an ex fisherman from Hull not many people know this but over years over 6000 men were lost at sea from this city either by getting washed overboard or trawlers going down in bad weather up in the arctic,and they are never forgot as we have memorials and a service for them every year and thats why most Hull people are different and friendly to people in other cities i think it was like living with one big family but time is passing on.Hull has had a struggle over the years through no fault of its own but now, wow what a difference things are really moving and a lot more to come,we are Hull we are proud.
I love visiting cities where the locals really are proud of where they come from! And I did see one of the maritime memorials while I was there – I think it’s really great that those memorials are still around to remind people of the past.
Adding to your recommendations about restaurants in Hull, may I add ‘The Aegean’ on Anlaby Road as an experience not to be missed. As a Hull ex-pat living in Salisbury I visit my home City infrequently. On my last visit in 2016 a lot of areas were sites of redevelopment to celebrate this year. Another of my favourite restaurants ‘Mr Chu’s’ was closed for this very reason. I Googled ‘Places to eat in Hull’ and found The Aegean, made a booking and duly attended. What a revelation, at just after 7pm the place was almost full. The food was absolutely fantastic, the service incredible and the total ambience something to be experienced. I am visiting Hull again later this year and intend to refresh my memory.
Sounds great! Thanks for the extra recommendation.
Born in ‘Ull’ (Hull) in 1961, moved in 1987 to Kent due 2 work commitments, got fed up of people in conversation saying “oh it’s north isn’t it!” came back in 2002 & it’s changed like me a lot, if your open too talk 2 people u will make more friends in a couple of hours then u’d wish 2 meet in a couple of years in any city i can care 2 mention…glad u enjoyed stay & please visit again,LUVULLX.
I definitely enjoyed my stay, and did indeed meet lots of friendly people!
Great place. Moved there from London with my job and spent whole of 80’s there. Friendly people and cost of living very good.
Yes I found that, too!
I love Hull. I moved to the South bank of the Humber just across the Humber Bridge from Hull from Hertfordshire some years ago and I love the area. As a mature student I went to Hull University. Hull is unpretentious, interesting and has loads to offer in less square footage than many of our larger cities that take an age to cross. Come to Hull, it’s a small city, has beautiful parks, a lovely Marina, good food and friendly people.
I definitely appreciated how easy Hull was to get around – I thought the size was just about perfect!