Southampton has been named one of the top places in the UK to offer the best Christmas shopping experience.

According to an algorithm created by Premier Inn, Southampton is seventh out of 10 on the list of festive stress-free shopping experiences.

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The algorithm looks at factors including busyness, number of shops, parking and quality of its Christmas market.

Top of the list is Edinburgh, followed by Glasgow in second place, and Oxford in third.

Also beating Southampton was Newcastle and Belfast, as well as south coast neighbours Bournemouth.

However, the city did beat the likes of Manchester, Brighton and York.

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The algorithm itself uses six specific factors, including;

  • how busy each city is by its size and population
  • how many shops there are
  • the size and rating of the Christmas market
  • traffic
  • parking availability
  • chance of snowfall in the area.

A Premier Inn spokesperson said: “Christmas is the ideal time to support the UK’s highstreets and enjoy the shopping and entertainment that goes with it.

"However, it can be a daunting task trying to compete with large festive crowds. By creating this expert algorithm, we hope we can help consumers to avoid key shopping stressors, and instead have an enjoyable experience.

"It came as no surprise to us that Edinburgh topped the list, with the city being the ideal winter destination.

"Its cobbled streets, striking architecture and abundance of shops making it the perfect place to tick gifts of the list and soak up the very best of the season at the impressive Christmas market."