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Not everything that glitters is gold - which is why Ben Aitken went to Wolverhampton for the weekend.
Over the next year, the bestselling author of
AChip Shop in Poznan and
The Gran Tour visited twelve of the least popular spots in the UK and Ireland for a city break, as ranked by national tourism boards. The motivation wasn't to take the biscuit or stick the boot in, but to seek out the good stuff, to uncover the gems, to
have a nice time. By doing so, he hoped to demonstrate that anywhere - like
anyone - can be interesting and nourishing and enjoyable if approached in the right fashion.
Ben went skiing in Sunderland, to the football in Wrexham, and fell in love with Dunfermline. He kissed an alpaca in Bradford, suffered jellied eels in Chelmsford, and had more craic in Limerick than was wise. The upshot is a celebration of the underdog; a hymn to the wrong direction; and evidence that there's no such thing as a shitty break. What's more, by spreading its affection beyond the usual suspects (which are often overdone and overpriced),
Shitty Breaks promotes a less expensive and more sustainable brand of travel.
By going against the grain, the book champions the unsung in an algorithmic, over-signposted world dominated by celebs and hotspots. Cheeky weekend in Milton Keynes anyone?
About the author
Ben Aitken was born under Thatcher, grew to 6ft then stopped, and is an Aquarius. He was conceived by a nurse and a shipwright, grew up in Portsmouth and was in a boyband for a spell in the noughties, then worked as a carer throughout his twenties. He is the author of six books: Dear Bill Bryson, A Chip Shop in Poznan (a Times bestseller), The Gran Tour ('Both moving and hilarious', Spectator), The Marmalade Diaries, Here Comes the Fun and Shitty Breaks. He writes for The Guardian and The Times, was the TCG Travel Journalist of the Year in 2024, and is an occasional lecturer at the University of Portsmouth.
