For sheer variety, few English landscapes can compete with the contrasting nature and ever-changing vistas of the Yorkshire Dales.
From pretty picture-postcard farming villages to elegant market towns, intimate valleys and wild, lonely uplands, the Yorkshire Dales has it all.
The challenge is how best to sample the national park's abundance of natural riches without falling into the trap of charging breathlessly from one Instagrammable location to the next.
Our advice is to plan ahead, but leave plenty of leeway for unexpected detours. Slow down and explore on foot where possible – especially in Wharfedale – where Dalesbus operates regular services up and down the valley to return you to your starting point.
Yorkshire Dales – a brief history
This maze of interlacing valleys was carved by repeated periods of glacial activity over the last 500,000 years, when retreating ice sheets scoured out deep fissures in the limestone, leaving lonely upland plateaus of peat, punctuated by stark, terraced escarpments such as Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent – two of the famous Yorkshire Three Peaks.
Stepping back still further in time, the limestone, which is such an elemental feature of the Yorkshire Dales, was laid down some 350 million years ago and variations in the durability of this porous sedimentary rock produced the complex landforms we see today – characterised by precipitous cliffs with vast networks of interconnected caverns below the surface.
The word ‘Dale’ derives from the ancient Germanic word ‘Dal’ meaning valley. Depending on how you define them, the limestone landscapes of North Yorkshire are riven by as many as 40 separate river valleys, but most of the locals agree that there are 10 ‘official’ Dales.
Before the advent of the motor car, travelling over the ‘tops’ between the valleys was a tough and potentially dangerous undertaking, so over the centuries each individual Dale evolved its own distinct character; from the verdant meadows of Swaledale to the isolated windswept vastness of Garsdale.
Places to stay in the Yorkshire Dales
Cottages
From peaceful farming villages nestled below dramatic limestone escarpments to mysterious caves, romantic abbeys, romantic cottages and sparkling waterfalls, the Yorkshire Dales offer visitors a chance to truly unwind. But where are the best places to stay? A holiday cottage, perhaps?
We’ve unearthed five fabulous Yorkshire Dales holiday cottages off the beaten path to help you escape the madding crowd yet still sample the very best of the national park.
Camping
“There is no better country in England,” wrote British novelist J.B. Priestley; and he’s right. For sheer variety, few places in England can compete with the contrasting landscapes and ever-changing vistas of the Yorkshire Dales.
Visiting this much-loved corner of the British countryside is special no matter how you do it. But camping or glamping is surely one of the best ways to feel a true sense of connection to the countryside. Need some ideas? Read our guide to the best campsites in the Yorkshire Dales.
Hotels
Still looking for the perfect base for exploring the Yorkshire Dales? Perhaps you're seeking a little luxury? Why not stay in one of the hundreds of hotels in the Yorkshire Dales?
With so many hotels to choose from, picking the right one for your holiday may seem a little daunting. To help with your search, we've compiled five of our favourite Yorkshire Dales hotels – including pub stays, country houses and village inns.
Things to do in the Yorkshire Dales
Skipton
The bustling market town of Skipton is one of the most accessible of the southerly portals into the national park. There’s ample car parking and the visitor centre at the town hall on the High Street is an excellent place to orient yourself and plan the days ahead.
The 900-year-old castle is one of the best-preserved examples of a medieval fortress in England and the town centre is packed with cafes and pubs. Toast the symbol of the national park with a pint of Timothy Taylor’s at the outstanding Woolly Sheep on – you guessed it – Sheep St!
Settle-Carlisle Railway
The famous Malham Cove is the most iconic of the limestone features in the Yorkshire Dales. The village itself and footpaths leading to the Cove will be busy, so to escape the crowds, take the scenic route over the moors to Settle, starting point for the world-famous Settle-Carlisle Railway.
Hourly services operate to Carlisle with steam trains operated by West Coast Railways running through the summer months (advance booking essential). A return journey on England’s most scenic railway is an unforgettable experience and a sustainable way to admire the scenery without negotiating the single-track roads of the Dales.
Austwick and Ingleborough
Visit Austwick and call in at possibly the best delicatessen in Yorkshire – Courtyard Dairy – where Andy Swinscoe and his team have built tasty showcase of artisan cheeses from the Dales and further afield.
Austwick itself is a gem of a village from where you can wander up Crummackdale and climb onto the vast expanse of limestone pavements nestling beneath the brooding profile of mighty Ingleborough. The summit is a challenging five-hour out-and-back hike for adventurous souls, but most people settle for a loop around the crags and woodland of Feizor, with coffee and cake at the charming Elaine’s Tea Rooms.
Clapham and Ingleborough Cave
At the top of Clapham village lies the entrance to Ingleborough Cave – a portal to the stunning subterranean world that lies beneath the fells. Visitors can venture 0.5 km into the caves along illuminated walkways in complete safety, but for expert cavers, the complex extends for miles underground, culminating in the vast cavern of Gaping Gill, whose main chamber could comfortably accommodate the dome of St Paul’s Cathedral.
Kirkby Lonsdale
The elegant Georgian market town of Kirkby Lonsdale is well worth a visit. Park in Market Square – except on Thursdays, when it’s still occupied by the weekly charter market – and browse among the boutique shops and cafes before wandering through the grounds of St Mary’s Church to reach Ruskin’s View. This spectacular viewpoint overlooking the River Lune was immortalised in oils by JMW Turner and described as one of England’s ‘loveliest views’ by Ruskin.
Sedbergh
Head up the A683 to the ‘book town’ of Sedbergh. This handsome stone-built town is the gateway to the Howgills – an oft-overlooked range of 2000ft hills sandwiched between the better-known summits of the Lakes and the Dales.
Swaledale
Swaledale's rich upland pastures are enclosed within an angular gridwork of dry-stone walls to form a regimented progression of meadows which have been restored to their former glory – exploding into a riot of spring wildflowers during May.
The most spectacular meadows can be found at Thwaite and Muker – the perfect spot for a picnic beside the River Swale. From Muker, climb south over Askrigg Common before descending into Wensleydale – one of the longest of the Dales. At the head of the valley stands the fascinating village of Hawes, while Leyburn – the setting for the original BBC adaptation of James Herriot’s All Creatures Great and Small – guards the eastern entrance to the dale.
Wensleydale
It's easy to spend an entire day exploring the delights of Upper and Lower Wensleydale. Here, the River Ure flows over a series of cascades at Aysgarth and Redmire and past a string of fortifications from the Roman Fort at Bainbridge to the stunning medieval edifices at Castle Bolton and Middleham.
Wharfedale
But yet more delights lie ahead as you swing south to travel through the heart of the national park along perhaps and prettiest and most varied dale of them all: Wharfedale. Stretching some 20 miles from Cray to Bolton Abbey, Upper Wharfedale is simply sublime at any time of year.
From Aysgarth, head south-west along lonely Bishopdale then meander beside the River Wharfe through a succession of picture postcard villages: Cray, Hubberholme, Kettlewell, Kilnsey. All of them are gorgeous and most of them are home to at least one welcoming village pub dispensing local cask ales, hearty food and – if there’s a chill in the air – roaring log fires.
The great novelist and thinker J.B. Priestley spent many a happy hour wandering up and down Wharfedale. His favourite ‘local’ was The George in Hubberholme, where the annual tradition of the ‘Hubberholme Parliament’ – a candle-lit auction of grazing rights – still takes place in January each year.
Further down the valley, it would be easy to get distracted by the Dickensian delights of Grassington – the valley’s principal settlement, but there’s much more to explore: Burnsall, Appletreewick and the stunning Bolton Abbey estate, where a riverside walk among the bluebells of Strid Gardens, followed by afternoon tea at the Cavendish Pavillion café is a must.
Yorkshire Dales villages
What do you imagine when you think of the Yorkshire Dales? Drystone walls, verdant river valleys, wildflowers meadows? Or wild moorlands, stately homes, parklands and gardens? What will certainly come to mind is the historic market towns and charming riverside villages.
You could easily spend a week in these small Dale settlements or even a month. Discover our pick of the prettiest villages in the Yorkshire Dales to visit.
Yorkshire Dales walks
There are 1,633 miles of footpaths and 384 miles of bridleways in the Yorkshire Dales, offering visitors the chance to spot the national park's 1,000 species of moths, its 100 species of nesting birds and more than 30 species of mammals.
The Yorkshire Dales may be land-bound, but what it lacks in coastal drama it makes up for in magnificent moorlands, deep valleys and striking limestone crags, from the villages and towns of Settle and Hawes to the wild landscapes of Malham Cove and Malham Tarn.
There are many great walks in the Dales, from the epic Pennine Way to more leisurely day walks. Find the right one for you with our pick of the best walks in the Yorkshire Dales.
