Watford is among the top ten most missed destinations across the UK.

New research has found that the town seems to be one of the places where people are eager to get back to as soon as they can – with the borough being among the top 10 cities (Watford is a town!) that travellers miss.

With the UK having been put into lockdown for more than two months, people have been taking to Instagram to reveal the places they miss most.

Using the #takemeback hashtag, Instagrammers have been posting pictures of cities, towns and tourist attractions across the world they want to revisit as soon as they can.

Although the hashtag has attracted millions of uploads, researchers have broken them down by extracting location data for 208,362 of the posts.

The research found that Watford placed sixth out of the top 10 areas travellers miss most in the UK, with London being the most missed city.

Following the release of the data, Mayor of Watford Peter Taylor said: “I suspect the main reason Watford is quite high up is because of the Warner Bros studios, but we have some great things here in Watford so its great that we are so high up.

“I think in the town people mainly miss the football and being able to visit Vicarage Road to watch Watford FC as well as visiting the Colosseum. 

“I also think people are missing the High Street, intuWatford, Cassiobury Park and all those little things that we took for granted.

“For me personally I am looking forward to go back to Vicarage Road when I can and can’t wait to get back to doing pub quizzes.”

Here are some of the things we are looking forward to in Watford when things returns to normal.

Harry Potter Studio Tour

The Harry Potter Studio Tour in Leavesden is undoubtedly a hotspot for wizarding fans all around the world. When this popular attraction reopens, fans of the wizarding world will get to experience first-hand how the Harry Potter movies were made at the world-famous Warner Bros studios. Plenty of fans are sure to be excited for the Government to cast the Alohomora spell on the site's doors and enjoy going behind the scenes of one of the world's most famous movie franchises. 

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Cassiobury Park Railway

This is Watford’s most popular park, and although it is open to people who social distance, its Miniature Railway has closed due to the pandemic. Trains are run all year round through a small section of the park and is sure to be a ride park users will board when circumstances permit.

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intuWatford

Shops were shuttered at the end of March because of the pandemic, but they are set to reopen in just over a week’s time across the country. And in Watford, it means that intuWatford will be back open for shoppers wanting to get back to the shops. The shopping centre is situated in the High Street and is home to a variety of shops, including Apple, Game, JD Sports and much more. The shopping centre already has plans in place for when shoppers return which is set to help people social distance across the centre.

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Watford Market

Yes, Watford Market was allowed to reopen on the first day of June, but we were still looking forward for it to return! The market stalls along the parade can vary day to day and offer a wide variety of tasty foods from all over the world. Whether its Asian, Caribbean or Indian food, the market will have it, as well as some stalls offering people the chance to buy a wide selection of goods.

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Going back to Vicarage Road

Football is set to return later this month and the Hornets will be back playing at their home stadium in Vicarage Road. But in a bid to adhere to social distancing, fans will not be allowed to return to the stadium. However, that doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy cheering the Hornets on from their TV screens, and when circumstances permit, they’ll be able to return to the Watford stadium to watch our home team live in action. And when fans are allowed back, the atmosphere is sure to be electric.
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(Photo Action Images)

Watford town centre

Want a coffee? A cake or a good meal out? Either way, the town centre to a number of coffee shops, restaurants and bakeries, such as the LP Cafe, Ocean Bells, Tarboush and the Viento Coffee Company, that have closed because of the coronavirus pandemic. High Street also has a vibrant night life, and is home to a number of clubs and bars including the Moon Under Water, Rileys Sports Bar, Walkabout, Pryzm and much more. They too have closed while a number of shops that have also been shuttered during the lockdown. Even though High Street has slowly started to reopen, we can’t wait for it to get back to normal.

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