Yorkshire Road Trip 🚗🌄🏘️
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Home to two national parks and so many beautiful cities, Yorkshire is a top destination in the UK. With this road trip, you’ll get to explore a bit of everything!
Yorkshire Road Trip Itinerary Summary
📍 Hebden Bridge 🎨 – Artistic town with canals and independent shops
📍 Haworth 📚 – Home of the Brontë sisters
📍 Leeds 🌆 – Bustling city with great shopping and dining
📍 Grassington 🧁 – Traditional Dales village
📍 Malham Cove 🏞️ – Limestone cliffs and stunning views
📍 Ribblehead Viaduct 🚂 – Iconic railway landmark in the Dales
📍 Hawes 🧀 – Home of Wensleydale cheese
📍 Pateley Bridge 🍬
📍 Harrogate 🫖 – Elegant spa town
📍 Knaresborough 🌉 – Famous viaduct and riverside walks
📍 York 🏰 – Walled city with a rich history
📍 Castle Howard 🏛️ – Grand stately home
📍 Robin Hood’s Bay 🌊 – Steep lanes and sea views
📍 Whitby ⚓ – Abbey ruins and Dracula connections
📍 Staithes 🎨 – Picturesque fishing village
Total Distance: 🚗 Approx. 250 miles
📸 Photos & Info are located further down. Keep scrolling to see all these places. ⬇️
This Yorkshire Road Trip offers the perfect mix of rolling landscapes, seaside towns, and cultural stops. 🌤️📸🍂
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Additional Information & Highlights
📍 Hebden Bridge
A beautiful market town in West Yorkshire.
🗺️ Things To Do:
- Wander around the town
- Walk along the canal
- Visit Hardcastle Crags (National Trust)
- Go to Heptonstall (quaint village)
💡 My Top Tip: Visit on a Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday if you can as there is the market on from 9AM to 4PM. There are local vendors as well as a lot of food options.
📍 Haworth 📚
This is one of my favourite villages in England. It’s so quaint and the perfect place to visit for book lovers.
Haworth? Check out my Haworth Day Out Itinerary
🗺️ Things To Do:
- Walk down Main Street (and take loads of photos)
- Go on a ride on the steam train with the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway
- Walk to the Brontë Waterfall
- Visit the Brontë Parsonage Museum
🥾Brontë Waterfall Walk: 5.8 km, moderate, 1h35m – trail here
💡 My Top Tip: Make sure to go to the Cabinet of Curiosities. It’s a very unique shop located at the top of Main Street.
🟢 Want to know more about
📍 Leeds 🌆
🚆How to get there: Train to Leeds (timetables & tickets)
🗺️ Things To Do:
- Do a walking tour to learn more about the city
- Go to the Leeds Corn Exchange
- Go to Kirkgate Market
- Discover the County Arcade
- Visit the Royal Armouries Museum, Leeds Central Library, Henry Moore Institute and Leeds Art Gallery
- Go on a food tour and discover hidden gems
📍 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.
📍 Hawes 🧀
🅿️ Parking: At the Wensleydale Creamery
🗺️ Things To Do:
- Go to the Wensleydale Creamery. You can either opt for a tour during which you’ll learn how the cheese is made, or simply go to the shop and sample the cheese. They also have a café with an outdoor space.
- Go to Hardraw Force waterfall
- Visit the Dales Countryside Museum
- Wander around the town (there are loads of cafés, pubs and little shops)
- Drive the Buttertubs pass to Thwaite
💡 My Top Tip: Park at the creamery, it’s free, and then walk to the village from there via the Pennine Way and St Margaret’s Church (it only takes 10 minutes).
🟢 Want to know more about Hawes? Check out my Hawes Day Out Itinerary
📍 Pateley Bridge
📍 Harrogate 🫖
🅿️ Parking: Jubilee Car Park is very well located but a bit on the expensive side
🗺️ Things To Do:
- Go to the Turkish Baths (this is truly a highlight)
- Visit the RHS Garden Harlow Carr
- Discover the shops and cafés of the Montpellier Quarter
- Go to the Valley Gardens
- Get an afternoon tea at Betty’s Tea Room
💡 My Top Tip: Park at the creamery, it’s free, and then walk to the village from there via the Pennine Way and St Margaret’s Church (it only takes 10 minutes).
📍 Knaresborough 🌉
One of the prettiest market and spa towns in Yorkshire.
🅿️ Parking: York Place Long Stay is a practical car park as it’s only a few minutes walk to the town centre and is reasonably priced.
🗺️ Things To Do:
- Visit Knaresborough Castle and Courthouse Museum
- Enjoy the views over the viaduct and river from the castle yard
- Walk along the river Nidd
- Visit Mother Shipton’s Cave and the Petrifying Well
- Hire a boat and go on the river
🟢 Want to know more about Knaresborough? Check out my Harrogoate – Knaresborough Day Out Itinerary
📍 York 🏰
🅿️ The easiest way is to go to one of the park and ride around York and go to the city centre from there as parking can be tricky in York.
🗺️Things To Do:
- Go on a sightseeing cruise on the River Ouse
- Book a walking tour of York to learn more about the city and its history
- Go to the Shambles
- Visit York Minster
- Visit the York Dungeon
- Walk on the city walls
- Go on a ghost tour and learn about the local spooky stories
- Visit all the main landmarks with the Hop-On Hop-Off Bus
- Go on a Harry Potter walking tour of York
- Visit the JORVIK Viking Centre
💡 My Top Tip: Try to go to the Shambles as early as possible. It gets insanely busy from 9:30AM but if you don’t mind getting up early and going around 8AM, you’ll have the place for yourself!
📍 Castle Howard
📍 Robin Hood’s Bay
🅿️ Parking:
There are two car parks in Robin Hood’s Bay, Bank Top and the station car park. They are both pay and display and you can walk from there to the village.
💡 My Top Tip: Make sure to wear good shoes as the way down is quite steep and there are a lot of cobblestones in the village. You do not need hiking shoes but trainers are preferable.
📍 Whitby
🗺️ Things To Do:
– Visiting Whitby Abbey (tickets here)
– Walking up the 199 steps and take in the views
– Going to Captain Cook Museum and learn more about the famous explorer
– Visiting the Whitby Distillery
– Go for a drink or listen to live music in one of the bars by the harbour
💡 My Top Tip: Walk up the 199 steps just before sunset as the views are fantastic and if the weather is nice the sunset is absolutely beautiful.
📍 Staithes
🅿️ Parking:
There is a large car park by the fishmonger and café at the top of the village. You can park your vehicle there and walk down to the village. Please note that this is a pay and display.
💡 My Top Tip: Make sure to cross the bridge and go up Cowbar Bank as the views from there are very nice (that’s where I took the picture).
