LOCH Lomond and the Trossachs has been named as one of the UK’s top five favourite national parks in a new survey which has just been published.

Holiday lettings company holidaycottages.co.uk surveyed 1000 people across the UK asking them to reveal what their number one national park is, as well as the destinations they most want to explore in the future.

The Lake District came first with 24% of the vote, followed by the Peak District (10%), New Forest (8%) and the Yorkshire Dales (8%).

To the surprise of many around the area, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs came fifth with 7% of votes, and the largest area of water on the island of Great Britain, plus 21 other lochs and mountains that include 21 Munros, came out even better in the so-called “bucket list” vote.

In a big message to national tourism agency Visit Scotland, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs came second on the list of national parks that are on people’s bucket list for visiting before they die.

Loch Lomond and the Trossachs was named as Scotland’s first national park in 2002 and has since been joined by the Cairngorms national park.

National Parks are large areas of land that are protected by law for the benefit of the nation. They were originally established by the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act.

There are 15 national parks in total in Great Britain, England having 10 and Wales having three.

Shannon Keary, digital PR manager at holidaycottages.co.uk said: “We are lucky to have so many beautiful national parks in the UK, and it’s really interesting to see which ones are the nation’s favourite, and which are top on the bucket list to visit.

“Our national parks are truly amazing and are the perfect destination for a year-round staycation.”