Sunday Times Best Places to Live: North Berwick makes the list of the best places to live in Scotland

The Sunday Time Best Places to Live list has been released, with many Scottish towns and islands listed, and the East Lothian seaside resort made the cut.

North Berwick was among Braemar, Culross, Dunblane, the Shawlands area of Glasgow and Melrose as the Scottish areas that made the list.

The best place in Scotland to live, according to the list, is the Isle of Bute, and island on the west coast of the country.

Bute, which is 90 minutes from Glasgow, was said to be “head and shoulders above all the other Scottish islands for commutability” as well as being “full of adventurous locals fizzing with ideas to make their neighbourhoods shine”.

Sunday Times Best Places to Live: North Berwick makes the list of the best places to live in Scotland

The average house price on the island is £155,000, according to the Halifax, which is the sponsor of the guide.

Helen Davies, property editor for The Times and Sunday Times, said: “The Sunday Times Best Places to Live list is necessarily subjective. Leave it just to statistics and you will never capture the spirit of a place. For that, you need to visit to take into account that ‘you have to be here’ feeling.

Is the pub dog-friendly, for example? Can you live car-free? What are the schools and houses like?

“Is it multicultural and multigenerational, and can it offer a good way of life to lots of different sorts of people?.”

She added: “Ten years ago, when we launched the inaugural list, London’s gravitational pull was strong, the WFH (work from home) revolution had not yet reached our doorstep and high streets were stacked with chains. How times have changed — and how welcome that change is.

“This year we have discovered new best places to live, from resurgent city centres in the North, rejuvenated suburbs across the country, hidden villages in the South West, and a commutable Scottish island. We hope there is something to suit everyone.”

In coming up with the list, which features 70 locations across the UK, the judges consider a range of factors including schools, transport and broadband as well as culture, green spaces and the health of the local high street.

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