Yorkshire Dales Weekend Itinerary 🚗🌿
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This Yorkshire Dales weekend itinerary is the perfect blend of natural beauty, charming villages and local flavours! 🌿✨
Yorkshire Dales Weekend Itinerary Summary
Day 1
📍 Bolton Abbey – Start your weekend at this historic abbey ruin near Skipton
📍 Grassington
📍 Malham Cove – A must-see natural wonder! This impressive limestone cliff offers a beautiful hike to the top with panoramic views over the Dales. This is also a Harry Potter filming location. ✨
Day 2
📍 Ribblehead Viaduct – Iconic 24-arch railway viaduct.
📍 Wensleydale Creamery (Hawes) – Visit to the famous creamery, home of the Wensleydale Cheese. This is perfect for fans of Wallace & Gromit. 🧀
📍 Hardraw Force – Next, visit England’s highest single-drop waterfall. 💦
📍 Buttertubs Pass – Drive along this scenic mountain pass. 🛣️🌄
📍 Thwaite – End your weekend in this picturesque village. 🏡
Total Distance: 🚗 58 miles
Recommended Time: ⌛ 2 days
📸 Photos & Info are located further down. Keep scrolling to see all these places. ⬇️
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Additional Information and Highlights
📍 Bolton Abbey
📍 Grassington
📍 Malham Cove 🏞️
A 70-metre (230ft) high limestone cliff with beautiful views and that was used as a filming location for Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 1.
🅿️Parking: There is a car park (pay and display) by the visitor centre. If you get there very early, you might be able to score a free spot on the side of the road but there are only a few. Alternatively, some fields are opened as carparks when it’s busy but it’s a flat fee for the day.
🧙Harry Potter: In the movie, you can see Harry and Hermione setting up a camp on the stones of Malham Cove.
🥾3 walk options:
- Malham Cove (there and back with quite a lot of steps though) – 3.4km, easy, 1 hour – See trail here
- Janet’s Foss, Gordale Scar & Malham Cove trail. 8 km, moderate, 2h30m – See trail here
- Malham Tarn via Gordale Scar – 12.1 km, hard – See trail here
💡 My Top Tip: I’ve done all of these hikes several times and I truly think that the 8k hike via Janet’s Foss and Gordale Scar is the best overall as it’s long enough for you to see everything, you get better views of Malham Cove than from the direct route and it’s not too hard either.
📍 Ribblehead Viaduct 🚂
Located over the border between Cumbria and North Yorkshire, the Ribblehead Viaduct has 24 arches and is the most impressive landmark on the Settle-Carlisle railway.
🚆How to get there: One of the best way to get there is obviously with the train. Stop at the Ribblehead station.
🅿️Parking: You can find parking spots on the side of the road just past the pub.
🍺Pub: The Station Inn is a place to stop at for a drink or some food. They have a beer garden with views over the viaduct which is particularly nice in summer.
🥾From the road, it only takes 10 minutes to get to the viaduct (½ mile). It’s a dirt path though so make sure you have appropriate shoes as it can get muddy.
📍 Wensleydale Creamery
📍 Hardraw Force
📍 Buttertubs Pass
📍 Thwaite
