Shitty Breaks (Hardback)
A Celebration of Unsung Cities
Ben Aitken
Adios Paris. Hello Wolverhampton.
Not everything that glitters is gold – which is why Ben Aitken gave London the cold shoulder and went to Preston instead.
Hailing from Portsmouth, Ben knew from experience that unfashionable places could be quietly brilliant. So, over the course of a year, the author of A Chip Shop in Poznan and The Gran Tour visited twelve of the least popular spots in the UK and Ireland for a city break. The motivation wasn't to take the mickey 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 love letter 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 ghosting Bath and giving Lisbon the boot, the book champions the unsung in an algorithmic, over-signposted world dominated by celebs and hotspots. Cheeky weekend in Milton Keynes anyone?
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.
Sh*tty Breaks is a powerful and delightful antidote to smug travelogues of popular places. Driven both by a real love for people and an abiding sense of the ridiculous, Ben Aitken walks and talks his charming way around the unsung cities of the British Isles. For all that it is funny, and it really is, it is also an important love letter to ordinariness in all its forms which, in these needy times, is a precious thing. Funny and immensely thought provoking.Roger Morgan-Grenville, author of The Restless Coast
A jaunty journey of quick wit that takes you to parts of the UK that don't often feature in tourist board campaigns.Tom Chesshyre, author of Slow Trains Around Britain
An excellent read, nice and wry.Christopher Somerville, author of Walking the Bones of Britain
Aitken's writing is always a delight.Madeleine Bunting, author of The Seaside
Always interesting, frequently funny and often moving. This alternative tour is one of the best and most affectionate travel books written about our islands in some time. A charming, amiable testament to the power of ignoring mainstream destinations that will have you looking up the time of the next train to Preston or Dunfermline.Daniel Gray, author of Sunday Best: Travels through the Day of Rest
New York? Pah! After reading this, I'm off to Newport instead to see what's occurring. With Aitken's trademark gentle humour and astute observation, this is a book about finding treasure in the most underrated places, and I absolutely loved it.Kate Wickers, author of Shape of a Boy
