Yorkshire Dales

The Dales are an inland area of hills and moorland, and you won't find a beach for a seaside vacation here. The nearest proper sand is on the North Yorkshire coast or around Morecambe Bay, both a long drive away.

What the Dales do have is river swimming. On warm summer days locals and visitors use pools on the Wharfe near Grassington and Burnsall, the falls of the Swale around Keld and plunge pools under smaller waterfalls. The water is cold even in July and August, and rivers rise fast after rain, so this is a bracing dip rather than a reason to come.

Eating in the Dales means country pubs, tea rooms and local produce. The most famous product is Wensleydale cheese, made in Hawes and usually served with fruit cake. Masham is a small brewing town with two long-established breweries, and the Yorkshire bitter they make is poured in pubs across the region. Dales lamb, game from the grouse moors and big cooked breakfasts appear on most menus.

The best cooking is in a handful of ambitious dining pubs and country inns, mostly in Wharfedale and the lower dales. Elsewhere the food is honest pub fare and cafés serving scones and Yorkshire curd tart. For variety and late dining you need to head to Harrogate or York.

The region's heritage is spread among castles, abbeys and stone market towns, not gathered in one centre. Skipton Castle is one of the best-preserved medieval castles in England. Bolton Castle stands above Wensleydale, and Richard III spent his youth at Middleham. Richmond has a large Norman castle above the Swale and a sloping cobbled market square ringed by Georgian houses. Ruined abbeys and priories include Bolton Priory by the Wharfe and Jervaulx.

Other landmarks show the working landscape: the Ribblehead Viaduct on the Settle to Carlisle line, lead-mining remains in Swaledale and Arkengarthdale, and the field barns and drystone walls. The Dales Countryside Museum at Hawes tells that story. There is plenty to see, but it is mostly small in scale.

Evenings here are spent in village pubs: a fire, a pint of local bitter and walkers talking over the day's route. Skipton has a few more bars and stays a little livelier at weekends, but no town in the Dales has clubs or anything open late. If going out matters to you, Leeds is the nearest real night out.

This is a landscape of green valleys, drystone walls and open fell, and much of it is limestone. Malham Cove, Gordale Scar and the limestone pavement above them sit within an easy walk of each other. The Three Peaks of Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent make a famous long day's hike above Ribblesdale. The Pennine Way and the Dales Way cross the park, and Aysgarth Falls and the gorges of Wharfedale and Nidderdale offer gentler walks.

Under the hills lies one of Britain's great caving areas, around Ingleton and Gaping Gill. Road cyclists come for steep passes like the Buttertubs. Heather turns the moors purple in late summer, but the weather changes quickly, and the hills are rolling fells, not mountains.

The towns around the Dales make a long list of good days out. From the eastern dales, Fountains Abbey and the Studley Royal water garden take about half an hour. Ripon's cathedral, spa town Harrogate and Knaresborough's riverside are close by, and York, with its Minster and walls, is about an hour away. From Richmond, Durham's cathedral and castle are a short drive north.

On the southern side you can reach Haworth and the Brontë parsonage, the Victorian mill village of Saltaire, and Leeds. From the western dales, Kirkby Lonsdale and Lancaster are close and the Lake District towns are within reach. A car makes all of this far easier, although the Settle to Carlisle railway is a day out in itself.

The Dales suit families who like being outdoors. There are paddling spots by the river at Bolton Abbey, waterfalls at Aysgarth, gentle walks with sheep everywhere, and show caves near Ingleton and Clapham where children walk past stalactites. A heritage steam railway runs near Skipton, and several farm parks and adventure attractions are scattered through the valleys. Castles such as Skipton and Richmond are good outings for children.

You'll need a car, and a wet day can be hard to fill because indoor options are few. Rented cottages, campsites and the calm villages make life easy with young children, and older children can try caving, gorge scrambling or a first long hill walk.

Most visitors drive. Distances are short, but the lanes are narrow and walled, often single-track over the passes, and they jam at popular spots like Malham and Bolton Abbey on summer weekends. The Settle to Carlisle railway serves the western dales, with stations close to walks at Settle, Horton and Ribblehead, and trains also reach Skipton. Buses into the higher valleys are sparse.

Once you're settled in a village, walking takes over. Many walks start from the door, and towns like Grassington, Hawes and Settle are small enough to cover on foot. Without a car you'll need to pick your base carefully and keep your plans simple.

Shopping in the Dales means market towns. Skipton's busy street market and Richmond's and Hawes's weekly markets, local cheese and preserves, outdoor-gear shops in walking villages, small galleries, antique shops and wool crafts. It's pleasant browsing on a rainy afternoon, not a reason to come. For boutiques and department stores, you need Harrogate, York or Leeds.

This is not a cheap part of Europe. In the summer season, rented cottages and country inns fill up and cost what you'd expect in rural England, and pub dinners add up. On the other hand, the main attraction is walking, which is free, and the hills, waterfalls and many of the ruins cost nothing to see. Campsites, bunkhouses, youth hostels and self-catering cottages let a family or group keep costs well down, especially outside the school summer break.

The best performance venue is the Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond, a tiny playhouse from 1788 that still stages plays and concerts. Skipton has a small arts venue. Summer brings the long-running Swaledale Festival, with concerts in village churches and halls, and the Grassington Festival of music and arts. Folk sessions, brass bands and choirs fill some pub and chapel evenings. Outside those festival weeks there is little to see, and serious concerts or theatre mean a trip to Harrogate, York or Leeds.

The Dales have no bathing culture of their own. They offer slowness instead: quiet villages, long walks, fires in pubs and nights dark enough to see the stars. Several country-house hotels and inns have spas, but these are hotel facilities, not public baths.

The real bathing tradition is just outside the region, in the old spa town of Harrogate, a short drive from Nidderdale and Wharfedale. Its Victorian Turkish Baths, with tiled steam rooms and hot rooms, are a fine place to end a walking trip. Most visitors, though, unwind here simply by doing very little in beautiful countryside.