York and other North Yorkshire, United Kingdom Things to Do Tips

The city of York is absolutely great. Historical and vibrant at the same time, this city has a lot to offer to people who visit it for a day as well as to people who decide to stay longer. During the Roman era, York was a thriving, well-defended settlement containing the army headquarters from which the Romans administered the north of England. York was England's second city through most of the Middle Ages.

Today, the main hotspot of the city is the cathedral, the Yorkshire Minster, which towers over the city. Although reason enough to visit York all by itself, the city has more to offer than “just” the Minster. As York was an important city during the medieval period, the city has lots of remnants dating back from this period. Walls, gates, medieval houses and small streets filled with picturesque shops, actually too much to see in just one day.

Click here to go to my York page.

Leave a Comment

The Yorkshire Dales are actually the thing that made Yorkshire famous. The Yorkshire Dales are an area that consists of lush valleys, creating that typically English landscape that foreigners have in mind, when thinking of the English countryside. Green valleys, with groups of trees, stone walls cutting the landscape into smaller parts, grazing sheep, etc. The area consists of lots of Dales, each with their own characteristic atmosphere.

Leave a Comment

The village of Haworth (pronounced somewhat like Howard) is one of the nicest picturesque places of Yorkshire. It is located west of the city of Bradford.

The main road passes the small and nice trainstation. However, the real beauty of this place lies a bit further uphill, where you can find the really picturesque town centre. Cobblestone streets and small Victorian houses and shops create a very nice, albeit somewhat touristy, atmosphere. The place is also famous for its link with the Brontė sisters.

Leave a Comment

Haworth is also known as the place where the famous Brontė sisters lived. These sisters are responsible for some of the best-known books in English literature, such as Wuthering Heights (location of this book is also close-by) and Jane Eyre. The sisters are:

Charlotte (1816-55) – Jane Eyre
Emily Jane (1818-48) – Wuthering Heights
Anne (1820-49) – The Tenant of Wildfell Hall

Behind the church you can find the Brontė Parsonage museum, which used to be their home and is now a museum dedicated to the Brontės and their work.

Leave a Comment

From the village of Haworth you can make a walk towards the ruins of an old farm house named Top Withens that stood model for the house in Emily Brontė’s book Wuthering Heights. For those of you who read the book, it may be very nice to see the locations and landscapes described in the book. For those of you who haven’t read it, it is a nice hike anyway.

Leave a Comment

Malham Cove is a huge natural limestone cliff just north of Malham, which was once the scene of a spectacular prehistoric waterfall. The valley above the cove is now dry, with the river having found an alternative route through an undiscovered cave system deep underground. However, at the foot of the cliff, a small stream called Malham Beck rises from a submerged cavern.

At the parking lot a visitors centre is located, which can provide you with a simple map that indicates a nice hiking trail of several hours. This trail starts in the village and leads through some nice meadows to Janet Foss, a picturesque waterfall, afterwards the trail leads to Gordale Scar a narrow gorge with two small waterfalls at the end of a rugged valley. This part of the walk is a dead end, you need approximately 1 hour to walk to the end of the valley and back. If you then continue on the main trail you will ultimately end up on the top of Malham Cove. The last part of this trail offers some spectacular views on the cliffs as well as on the surrounding landscape. On the other side of the cliff A short steep trail with steps leads back down to the foot of Malham Cove and further back to the village and parking lot. When you have limited time, I suggest you forget about walking to and from Gordale Scar.

Leave a Comment

Walking on top of Malham Cove is a very nice experience. The top layer and the underlying cliff really make a 90 degree angle, so people who are afraid of heights shouldn’t go to close to the edge (which has been fenced off by a rope).

What is also very nice is that the limestone underground is not even but filled with crevices as you can see in the picture, creating a bit of an extraterrestrial atmosphere.

Leave a Comment

Gordale Scar a narrow gorge close to Malham Cove, with two small waterfalls at the end of a rugged valley. Walking to the scar takes about ½ hour from the main roundtrip hiking trail to Malham Cove (and ½ hour back). The beauty of this place lies in the unexpected. Who would imagine this type of landscape when visiting Yorkshire (the textbook picture of English landscape) with its peaceful meadows, trees and handmade stone walls.

Leave a Comment

Yet another of those unexpected places. At Brimham Rocks you can see what wind and rain can do to stone if you give it enough time. The area of Brimham Rocks (part of the National Trust foundation) is filled with spectacular rock formations, where the odd forms can make your imagination run free. Many of the rocks have already been given names, fitting their appearances, and are clearly indicated on the map you receive at the entrance of the area.

Leave a Comment

Directions: Brimham Rocks are located some 20 miles north of Leeds and 20 miles northwest of York. The entrance is found just off the B6265, some 4 miles east of Pateley Bridge.

Ingleton Falls is an area of great beauty. Here you can take a nice hike (loop) of some 3 hours passing lots of falls and woodland scenery. Highlight of the area are the Ingleton Falls themselves, which are located at the far end of the loop (of course).

Especially when the weather is nice, this area with lots of water as well as great views, is great, with lots of opportunities for a picnic or just to hang around.

Leave a Comment

Directions: Ingleton can be found on the A65 in the west of Yorkshire, rather close to the city of Lancaster.