IELTS Speaking Part 2: Describe a place you like to visit

Place cue cards reward sensory detail. Weak answers describe a location like a guidebook; strong answers put the examiner inside the place and explain what it does to you.

Your one-minute prep plan

1. 1Pick a small, specific place — one café, one rooftop, one stretch of road — not a whole city. Small places are easier to describe vividly.
2. 2Note three things you can see, hear or smell there. Sensory nouns keep you fluent when you run dry.
3. 3Note one typical visit: the time of day, who you're with, what you do first.
4. 4Note one honest reason it matters to you beyond 'it's beautiful and relaxing'.

Band 9 model answer

I'd like to describe a rooftop café near my university, right at the edge of the old part of the city. It's on the fourth floor of a fairly ugly concrete building, so nobody finds it by accident — you have to know it's there, which is half the appeal. I go maybe once a week, usually on Thursday evenings when my classes finish early. What I actually do there is very ordinary: I order the same mint tea, sit at the corner table with the metal railing, and either read or just watch the traffic below. From up there you get this strange view where the call to prayer, the traffic horns and somebody's television all overlap, but four floors up it all softens into a sort of hum. The reason I like it isn't really the tea or the view, honestly. It's that it's the one place where nobody expects anything from me — I'm not a student there, I'm not anybody's daughter or colleague, I'm just a person with a cup of tea. I think everyone needs somewhere like that, a place with no role attached to it, and cities are getting worse at providing them. Whenever I've had a genuinely difficult week, that corner table is where I end up.

The same answer at band 7

The place I want to describe is a rooftop café near my university. It is in the old part of my city, on the fourth floor of a building. It is not famous so it is not crowded. I go there about once a week, usually on Thursday evening after my classes. When I go there, I order mint tea and I sit near the railing. Sometimes I read a book and sometimes I just look at the city and the traffic. I like this place because it is quiet and peaceful and the view is very nice. Also it is not expensive, so students can go there easily. It helps me to relax when I am stressed because of my studies.

The band 7 answer is accurate and complete, which is exactly what band 7 is. The band 9 answer adds unpredictable detail (the ugly concrete building, the overlapping sounds) and finishes with an idea about cities and anonymity, which lifts Lexical Resource and Coherence together.

Phrases worth stealing

“It's tucked away on the fourth floor…”

Natural collocation for hidden places.

“Nobody finds it by accident.”

Short sentence for rhythm after a long one.

“What I actually do there is very ordinary…”

Covers the 'what you do' bullet honestly and sounds unrehearsed.

“From up there you get this view where…”

Introduces sensory description.

“The reason I like it isn't really… it's that…”

Delivers the 'explain why' bullet with depth.

“Whenever I've had a difficult week, that's where I end up.”

Closing line that shows habit and feeling at once.

Part 3 questions that usually follow

Mistakes to avoid

• Describing an entire country or city, which forces you into vague generalities.
• Reciting tourist-brochure vocabulary that doesn't match how you'd really speak.
• Forgetting the 'how often' bullet, which is the easiest one to answer.
• Using only 'beautiful', 'peaceful' and 'relaxing' for two minutes.
• Running out at fifty seconds because you chose a place you rarely visit.

More Part 2 cue cards