At last, the dreadful wait is over. A-level results are out, and students throughout much of the UK will be contemplating the next stage of their education: university. Most will already have decided where they want to study – soon they will be finding out what it's like to live there. 

That's crucial, because going to university is about more than just learning: it’s about selecting a home away from home. In choosing our top 10 university cities in Britain, we’ve left the academic tussles to the eggheads and looked at things from a travel perspective. Our picks are the towns and cities we feel offer not only students, but visitors, the whole package: great sights, sounds and activities, good value, the most riotous nightlife and all-round atmosphere.

So do the venerable brain trusts Oxford and Cambridge make our list by default? And does London inevitably rate over remote Aberystwyth? Or do the bubbly, affordable and liveable likes of Glasgow and Liverpool, or the distinctive character of Edinburgh and Manchester, win through?

Find out with our countdown of the UK’s 10 best university cities.