MALVERN has shown it is head and shoulders above other towns and villages in England as a popular destination for visitors.

Great Malvern had a destination score of 76 per cent according to Which? which placed it among top destinations in the UK (23rd on the list).

Malvern Gazette: ATTRACTION: Malvern Priory ATTRACTION: Malvern Priory (Image: Newsquest)

Malvern is in UK's best towns and villages according to Which? with a ranking of three stars for food and drink and tourist attractions and a five star rating for scenery. 

The Worcestershire town also enjoyed a four out of five rating for overall attractiveness but fell down for shopping with a rating of two out of five but three out of five for peace and quiet.

Malvern Gazette: STUNNING: British Camp in the Malvern Hills sits within the AONB STUNNING: British Camp in the Malvern Hills sits within the AONB (Image: Visit Worcestershire)

Malvern's score was the same as that of Alnwick, Hutton Le Hole and Beddgelert. 

Malvern is famous for its former Benedictine monastery, the remains of which make up some of the early parts of Great Malvern Priory, and for the Malvern Hills which inspired the composer Edward Elgar and the health-giving properties of Malvern water.

The two best small towns in the UK are within an hour-and-a-half drive of each other – in the neighbouring counties of Somerset and Wiltshire.

More than 9,000 Which? members rated the inland towns and villages they'd visited, with the top spots going to Wells in Somerset and Avebury in Wiltshire.

They were followed by other highly rated towns in every corner of the UK – from Scotland to Dorset – and North Wales to the Lake District.

They may be geographically smaller than many destinations but they pack a lot into a small space.

The high rating follows on from another accolade. In March Great Malvern was named on a prestigious list as one of the best places to live in The Midlands.

The town was included when the Sunday Times released its Best Places To Live list, sponsored by Halifax.

The "dramatic views of the Malvern Hills" and "well-kept town centre" were praised as the two major reasons for its inclusion.

Here is the list showing the destination scores)

(1) Wells (83 per cent)

(2) Avebury (82 per cent)

(3) Corfe Castle (80 per cent)

(4) Port Sunlight (80 per cent)

(5) Grasmere (79 per cent)

(6) Lavenham (79 per cent)

(7) Llangollen (79 per cent)

(8) Ludlow (79 per cent)

(9) Stamford (79 per cent)

(10) Cartmel (78 per cent)

(11) Church Stretton (78 per cent)

(12) Crickhowell (78 per cent)

(13) Ironbridge (78 per cent) 

(14) Melrose (78 per cent)

(15) Arundel (77 per cent) 

(16) Grassington (77 per cent)

(17) Inveraray (77 per cent)

(18) Keswick (77 per cent)

(19) Lower and Upper Slaughter (77 per cent)

(20) Pitlochry (77 per cent)

(21) Alnwick (76 per cent)

(22) Beddgelert (76 per cent)

(23) Great Malvern (76 per cent)

(24) Hutton Le Hole (76 per cent)

(25) Betws-y-Coed (76 per cent)