Hull, Yorkshire—an English port town with a defiant spirit
With 800 years of maritime history, this northern town is going all in on its seafaring past in 2026 with revamped museums, docks, and preserved ships. See why its laid-back charm is so hard to resist.
Turn any corner in Hull and there’ll be a homage to its 800 years of British maritime heritage. A weathervane in the form of an 18th-century sail ship; an elaborate coat of arms with an upturned anchor above a Georgian shipping office; or even herring carved into the pavements around the old docks.
Life in this northern city on the mighty Humber Estuary has been shaped by the sea for centuries. It was once part of the Hanseatic League and officially named Kingston-upon-Hull after becoming a royally stamped port under King Edward I in the 13th-century. Whaling and fishing brought immense wealth into the city coffers over many centuries, and Hull’s most famous son, William Wilberforce, led the British movement to end the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
Its fortunes declined in the second half of the 20th century. During this era, it was famously described by national poet Philip Larkin, who lived here from the 1950s to his death in 1985, as "a frightful dump, chilly and smelling of fish." But don’t let that put you off: He fell for the city’s gritty charms, eventually, and wrote about it often.
There’s a defiant spirit here that’s hard to resist. And today, he’d be pleased to see what Hull has achieved. Thanks to a major regeneration program that’s coming to fruition in 2026, the city’s grand clutch of architectural gems has been polished, and its seafaring past is being brought to life in revamped museums, docks, preserved ships, and public spaces. On weekends, its 1940s Fruit Market, dock warehouses, and 19th century Paragon and Hepburn Arcades now become a haven for restaurant diners, coffee sippers, and art lovers.
(See all 25 destinations that made our list of the best places to visit in 2026.)
What to do
The reopening of Hull Maritime Museum in summer 2026 will crown almost a decade of works centered on Hull’s internationally important seafaring history. Thousands of artifacts are being re-hung and immersive, hands-on exhibits are being added. Housed in a regal-looking old docks office, it’s connected to other maritime sights through a new heritage trail with multimedia art and streetside info panels.
The route passes through the three key areas of Princes Dock Street, Humber Street and High Street; lively strips now full of restaurants, terrace bars, small galleries, and independent boutiques. Visit socially minded Humber Street Gallery and the excellent Art & Soul, a hub for local creatives and unique Yorkshire souvenirs. Drop by the North End Shipyard, where the restored 1960s Arctic Corsair fishing trawler—described as ‘Hull’s Cutty Sark—will be docked from summer.
At Hull Marina, visit the newly refurbished Spurn Lightship for a self-guided tour of this floating lighthouse museum. There are excellent free heritage walking tours led by Hull locals on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. Families should also make a beeline for The Deep, Hull’s waterside, conservation-led aquarium.
The cobbled streets of Hull’s old town are a popular place to wander. Miraculously saved from World War II bombing, its rows of Georgian townhouses are so well preserved that the area has been shot as a stand-in for Dickensian London in films and television.
Pause at the statue of Gandhi in the small Nelson Mandela Ornamental Garden in front of the house where Willaim Wilberforce was born in 1759. Then duck inside; his home is an excellent small museum documenting the British politician’s life and abolition campaign. Beside it, there’s also the Streetlife Museum and Hull & East Riding Museum of Archaeology for those who want to delve deeper into the area’s past. Engineering fans will appreciate a stroll through the waterside Humber Bridge Country Park just south of town, for close-up views of the 1.3-mile-long (2.2km) single-span suspension bridge—the longest in the world when it opened in 1981.
When to go
Summer gives the best chance of sunny, dry weather, making it the ideal season to visit Hull. In July and August, temperatures can reach around 22°C (71°F), encouraging restaurants and bars to put out al fresco pavement seating. The warmer months also bring a packed program of open-air theatre and performance to Stage@The Dock, beside the estuary. Hull Folk & Maritime Festival takes over the city in July, and Humber Street Sesh brings emerging artists, performers, and musicians to the Fruit Market in August.
Where to eat
For its size, Hull has a surprisingly excellent food scene. The regenerated Fruit Market area has become a breeding ground for eclectic, independent restaurants and cafes. Try pork and harissa sausage rolls, pillowy fried doughnuts, and inventive focaccia sandwiches at bakery-cum-café Flour & Feast; North Sea mussels at the Humber Fish Co; or Sunday roasts with a Latin twist at Cuban Pete’s—all on pedestrianized Humber Street.
But if you want to linger, make Thieving Harry’s your choice. The cafe serves great coffee with a full English breakfast and sits on the corner of the street in a 1940s fruit warehouse, with mismatched tables and armchairs by huge windows looking out over the bobbing sail masts in Hull Marina.
For vegetarians, Hitchcocks restaurant is an institution. Housed in a wood-beamed Georgian townhouse of Hull old town, its menu theme each night is chosen by the first person to book for that day. Tapasaya is a local favorite for its contemporary fine-dining Indian cuisine served in a glass-fronted dining room opposite the marina. It also has a small kiosk dishing up paneer tikka naan wraps and other grab-and-go South Asian snacks inside Trinity Market. In recent years, this old city market has reinvented itself as a home for street food vendors, with a live-music stage. On sunny days, the eastern market doors are flung open and diners can take their goodies to outdoor seating on Market Place, opposite the huge gothic Minster.
Hull also has a characterful clutch of traditional British pubs: for a neat beer crawl and a pork pie, try Ye Olde Black Boy (a Philip Larkin favorite), Fretwells, and The Lion & Key, all along the medieval High Street just south of Hitchcocks.
Getting around
Hull’s attractions are clustered in the city center and best explored on foot. From King’s Cross Station in London, it’s around three hours by train to Hull, with several departures a day and typically one change. Once you arrive in Hull, everything is within easy walking distance of Hull’s centrally located train station.
The nearest airport is Leeds Bradford Airport, just over an hour-and-a-half drive away, which services mostly European cities. The hub for long-haul flights is Manchester, a bigger airport about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Hull.
Public transportation links to Hull from either airport involve several changes; for those flying into the north of England, it’s well worth renting a car. This also makes it easier to explore the wider Yorkshire region of moors, dales, and coastal towns—detours and rural meanderings are all part of the experience in rural England.
