Lyndhurst, Hampshire

Lyndhurst calls itself the Capital of the New Forest, which is a grand title for a village whose defining daily event is a tailback caused by a pony deciding to cross the road on its own schedule. It runs on cream teas, gift shops flogging fudge, and coach parties who mistake a car park for a day out. Alice Liddell, the girl who inspired Alice in Wonderland, is buried in the churchyard here, comfortably the most notable thing to happen in Lyndhurst that didn't involve livestock and a queue of stationary traffic. It is a genuinely lovely place, and it knows it, which is the only thing holding it back.