What makes for a great place to live? Access to nature, a sense of community and culture on your doorstep can all help. So which towns make the cut?
• Homes in happy places to buy or rent in England and Scotland – in pictures

What makes a place somewhere good to live? Where might we be happiest if we had the choice of going anywhere? It’s an almost impossible question, as we do not all thrive on the same things, but there are some that are universally agreed to be conducive to cheeriness.

When we tried to work out the happiest places for Guardian readers, easy access to countryside and parks, sea, lakes and rivers were high on the list of ingredients, as studies have shown that getting out and about in nature can help improve your mood.