Best Scenic Place in York and North Yorkshire, England - Map and Reviews

Masham is a charming small market town in the Ure Valley of North Yorkshire celebrated throughout England as the home of two of the most acclaimed independent breweries in the country: the Theakston Brewery, whose Old Peculier beer has been produced here since 1827, and the Black Sheep Brewery established in 1992. The combination of the two brewery visitor experiences in a single market town has made Masham one of the most visited beer tourism destinations in Yorkshire. The Theakston Brewery offers tours of the Victorian brewery buildings and the cooperage where oak casks are still made by hand in one of the last working cooperages in England. The Black Sheep Brewery, established in a distinctive Victorian maltings building above the town, provides a more modern brewery tour experience with exceptional views of the Ure Valley from its elevated position. The market place of Masham, one of the largest in North Yorkshire relative to the size of the town, hosts a weekly market and provides the centre of a market town that has maintained its traditional character while developing a visitor offer based on genuine local products of exceptional quality.

Middleham in Wensleydale is a small market town in the Yorkshire Dales famous for its horse racing training tradition, the ruined Neville castle and the association with Richard III who spent much of his youth here as a ward of the Earl of Warwick. The combination of the castle history, the working racehorse training community visible on the moors each morning and the attractive market town character creates a destination of unusual variety in the lower Dales landscape. Middleham Castle, managed by English Heritage, was the principal residence of the Neville family and the place where the future Richard III grew up as a ward of the Kingmaker earl. The castle is one of the largest in Yorkshire and the surviving great keep, the gatehouse and various residential buildings provide excellent evidence of accommodation available to one of the most powerful noble families in medieval England. The racehorse training tradition at Middleham, established on the high gallops above the town since the early eighteenth century, makes the town one of the most important racing centres in northern England. The morning exercise of horses on the Middleham High Moor provides one of the most distinctive sights available in the Yorkshire Dales.

The Shambles is one of the best-preserved medieval streets in Europe and one of the most visited locations in York, a narrow lane of overhanging timber-framed buildings whose upper storeys project so far over the street that the buildings on opposite sides almost meet overhead, creating a dim, enclosed passage quite unlike anything else surviving in England. The street lies in the heart of York's medieval core a short walk from the Minster, and its character is so complete and so evocative of the medieval urban environment that walking through it genuinely transports the imagination to a different century. The name Shambles comes from the Anglo-Saxon word shammel, referring to the shelves or stalls on which butchers displayed their meat for sale. In medieval York the Shambles was the dedicated street of the butchers' trade, and the wide sills projecting below the windows of most buildings were originally the display surfaces where cuts of meat were laid out for customers. The hooks for hanging carcasses can still be seen fixed to the exterior of several buildings, and the street's gradient was designed to allow the blood and offal from the butchery trade to drain away downhill, a practical arrangement that reflects both the commercial organisation of medieval York and the hygienic concerns of its authorities. The buildings themselves range in date from the late medieval period through the sixteenth century, with the characteristic jettied construction in which each successive upper floor projects further over the street than the one below. This style of construction was practical for several reasons: it increased the floor area of upper storeys without requiring a wider footprint at ground level, it protected the timber frame structure of the ground floor walls from rain, and it demonstrated the wealth and ambition of the building's owner through the conspicuous use of structural timber. Today the Shambles houses a range of small independent shops, cafés and tourist-oriented businesses that reflect the commercial continuity of the street across seven centuries, even if the butchery trade has long since departed. The adjacent Shambles Market, a daily covered market selling food, crafts and local produce, extends the commercial character of the area into the surrounding streets.

Thornton-le-Dale near Pickering in the North Yorkshire Moors is consistently voted the most beautiful village in Yorkshire, a settlement of stone cottages along a beck fringed with daffodils in spring and lined with willows in summer. A thatched whitewashed cottage by the beck is one of the most photographed buildings in the north of England, appearing on calendars and in photographic collections of English village scenes with remarkable frequency. The village has the genuine character of a working agricultural settlement rather than a preserved tourist artefact, its residents managing working farms and ordinary village life alongside the considerable visitor interest its reputation generates. The beck flowing through the centre creates the visual element that defines the scene and provides the perpetual gentle sound of flowing water that animates any visit. The stocks on the village green and the medieval market cross provide historical focal points, and the surrounding architecture of limestone and pantile roofs reflects the characteristic building tradition of the North Yorkshire Moors. The North Yorkshire Moors Railway station at Pickering nearby and Dalby Forest to the north provide excellent complementary heritage and outdoor experiences.

Skipton is the Gateway to the Yorkshire Dales, a market town of considerable character and historical importance at the southern edge of the Dales National Park whose combination of a fine medieval castle, a broad market street of considerable architectural quality, the canal basin of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the excellent transport connections into the surrounding Dales makes it one of the most rewarding and most used bases for exploring the national park. The town has served as a market centre for the surrounding Dales farming communities since the medieval period and retains the commercial vitality and the market tradition that give it an authentic town character. Skipton Castle, one of the most complete and best-preserved medieval castles in northern England, stands at the top of the High Street and is privately owned and open to visitors. The castle was originally built by Robert de Romille in the early twelfth century and developed subsequently by the Clifford family, who held it for over three centuries and whose rebuilding in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries created much of the fabric visible today. The castle withstood a three-year siege during the Civil War before surrendering on terms in 1645 and was subsequently repaired by the redoubtable Lady Anne Clifford, whose restoration work can be read in the yew tree she planted in the courtyard in 1659 that still grows in the same spot. The canal basin at the foot of the town provides an attractive focus for the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, the longest single canal in Britain, and the walking and cycling along the towpath into the Dales provides excellent access to the countryside immediately north of the town.

The North Yorkshire Moors Railway is one of the finest heritage railways in Britain, a line of outstanding scenic character that runs for 18 miles from Pickering through the heart of the North York Moors National Park to Grosmont, where it connects with the main Esk Valley line to Whitby. The combination of exceptional moorland scenery, a well-preserved Victorian railway infrastructure and the atmospheric experience of travelling behind a steam locomotive makes it one of the most popular heritage attractions in the north of England. The railway's origins lie in the Whitby to Pickering Railway opened by George Stephenson in 1836, one of the earliest railways in the world, which originally used horse traction for much of its length before being converted to steam. The line was incorporated into the North Eastern Railway and eventually into British Railways, but declining passenger numbers and freight revenue led to its closure under the Beeching cuts in 1965. The North Yorkshire Moors Railway Preservation Society purchased and reopened the line in 1973, and it has been operated by volunteers and professional staff ever since as one of Britain's great examples of railway preservation. The route is spectacular throughout its length. Departing Pickering, a market town with a Norman castle and a good range of visitor facilities, the line climbs steadily through the Newtondale gorge, a dramatic valley carved by glacial meltwater that provides some of the finest scenery on the line. The station at Goathland, used as Hogsmeade station in the Harry Potter films, is one of the most visited on the line and sits within a particularly beautiful section of moorland. Continuing north the line drops to Grosmont through Newtondale before reaching the Esk Valley. The railway operates primarily with steam locomotives from its impressive collection of mainly 1920s to 1960s British steam engines, though diesel locomotives also feature on the timetable. Special event days including evening Pullman dining trains, wartime recreation weekends and Santa specials throughout December attract additional visitors throughout the year. An extension of the heritage railway service beyond Grosmont to Whitby using the Network Rail Esk Valley line has been operated seasonally, providing the opportunity to travel from Pickering all the way to the coast by heritage and Network Rail services without using a car.

Hawes is the principal market town of upper Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales, a small but lively town whose combination of the famous Wensleydale Creamery, the excellent Dales Countryside Museum, the weekly Tuesday market and the superb walking available on the surrounding fells and dale makes it the most complete and most welcoming destination in the upper dale. The town provides the essential services for the walking and cycling visitors who use it as a base for the excellent accessible landscapes of upper Wensleydale and the connecting valleys. The Wensleydale Creamery in the centre of the town produces the crumbly white cheese associated with this dale since the twelfth century when the Cistercian monks of Jervaulx Abbey first made it from ewes' milk. The creamery is open to visitors and provides one of the most popular cheese-related visitor experiences in England, combining the working dairy with a shop, café and visitor interpretation in a format that has become a national model for artisan food tourism. The Hardraw Force, England's highest unbroken waterfall above ground at approximately 30 metres, is accessible through the pub garden of the Green Dragon Inn at Hardraw a short distance from Hawes, a combination of the finest waterfall in the Dales with an obligatory pub visit that appeals greatly to the walking visitor community. The combination of Hardraw and Hawes provides an excellent half-day in the upper dale.

The Bolton Abbey Estate in Wharfedale, North Yorkshire, encompasses one of the most beautiful and historically rich landscape combinations in England, a 30,000-acre country estate owned by the Duke of Devonshire that includes the celebrated Augustinian priory ruins, the River Wharfe and its gorge, extensive heather moorland, ancient woodland and the wide, pastoral valley of Wharfedale. The estate has been welcoming visitors since the Victorian period and continues to draw around half a million people annually to experience a landscape that has inspired artists, writers and walkers for generations. The priory ruins at the heart of the estate, established in 1154 and dissolved in 1539, occupy a meadow above a bend in the Wharfe in a setting of exceptional natural beauty. The nave of the priory church survived the Dissolution and continues in use as the parish church of the village, while the spectacular ruins of the east end and the conventual buildings provide one of the most romantic abbery landscapes in England. The view of the ruins from across the river, with the woods rising behind and the sound of the Wharfe nearby, is one that has been painted many times. The Strid, a short but spectacular walk upstream from the priory, is where the full volume of the River Wharfe is compressed through a narrow rock gorge of deceptive depth and lethal unpredictability. The contrast between the calm river above and below the Strid and the churning power of the water within the gorge is immediately and viscerally apparent, and the history of deaths in this small section of river over many centuries reflects the genuine danger of the current beneath the narrow crossing points. The moorland section of the estate above the valley is managed primarily for driven grouse shooting but is traversed by excellent footpaths and provides walking of considerable quality with views over Wharfedale and the surrounding Dales landscape.

The Coldstones Cut is a remarkable geological feature located in the Yorkshire Dales, specifically in the Pateley Bridge area of Nidderdale. This distinctive rock formation consists of a deep natural cleft or gully carved through millstone grit, creating a dramatic passageway through the moorland landscape. The Cut has been enhanced over the years by human activity, particularly during the nineteenth century when it served as part of the packhorse routes that crossed these high moors. The name "Coldstones" itself refers to the exposed gritstone rocks that characterize this upland area, and the "Cut" describes the passage that has been worn and worked through the stone over centuries of use and natural erosion. Historically, this area was vital to the lead mining industry that dominated Nidderdale from medieval times through to the nineteenth century. The Coldstones Cut would have been used by packhorse trains carrying lead ore down from the mines on the high moors to the smelt mills in the valleys below. The route through the Cut was part of a network of tracks that connected remote mining sites with markets and processing facilities. Evidence of this industrial heritage can still be found in the surrounding landscape, with remnants of old mine workings, spoil heaps, and the traces of stone-paved causeways that once made these treacherous moorland crossings safer for heavily laden horses. The physical experience of visiting the Coldstones Cut is quite memorable. The rock formation creates a natural corridor through the gritstone, with walls rising on either side that can be several meters high in places. The rock surfaces display the characteristic weathering patterns of millstone grit, with layers and striations that tell the story of millions of years of geological history. In wet weather, water often cascades through the Cut, and the sound of running water echoes off the stone walls. The rocks themselves are often covered with mosses and lichens, particularly on the north-facing surfaces where moisture lingers. During winter, the Cut can be particularly atmospheric, sometimes filled with snow or decorated with icicles hanging from the overhanging rock. The surrounding landscape is typical of the higher reaches of the Yorkshire Dales, characterized by expansive heather moorland, rough grassland, and scattered gritstone outcrops. From the area around the Coldstones Cut, there are extensive views across Nidderdale and toward the higher peaks of the Dales. The moorland is home to upland bird species including curlews, lapwings, and red grouse, and in late summer the heather blooms create a purple blanket across the hills. The nearest settlements are Pateley Bridge to the southeast and Lofthouse to the southwest, both traditional Dales villages that once served the mining communities. The area is also relatively close to Gouthwaite Reservoir, which lies in the valley below. Reaching the Coldstones Cut requires some commitment, as it is located on open moorland accessed primarily by footpaths and bridleways. The most common approach is from the minor roads that run across the moors from Pateley Bridge or from the Lofthouse direction. Walkers typically park at designated spots along these moorland roads and then follow footpaths across the open ground. The terrain can be challenging, particularly in poor weather, with boggy sections and rough, tussocky grass being common. Proper walking boots are essential, and navigation skills are important as moorland paths can be indistinct in places. The area is exposed to the elements, so appropriate clothing for changeable weather is necessary regardless of the season. The best times to visit are generally during the drier months from late spring through early autumn, though each season offers its own character. Summer brings the heather into bloom and generally offers the most stable weather, though even then conditions can change rapidly on these exposed moors. Winter visits can be rewarding for experienced walkers, but snow and ice can make the area treacherous, and short daylight hours need to be carefully considered. The moorland is used for grouse shooting during the season, and walkers should be aware of any restrictions or considerate of shooting activities, though public rights of way remain accessible. Spring and early summer are excellent for observing upland birds during their breeding season. One fascinating aspect of the Coldstones area is its role in the development of Yorkshire's vernacular architecture and industrial heritage. The millstone grit that forms the Cut and surrounding outcrops is the same stone that was quarried throughout the Dales to build the characteristic stone walls, barns, and houses that define the region's appearance. The natural jointing and weathering patterns of the grit made it ideal for splitting into building blocks, and small-scale quarrying took place at numerous locations across these moors. Additionally, the area contains evidence of much older human activity, with some researchers suggesting that certain tracks across these moors follow routes that have been in use since prehistoric times, serving as territorial boundaries and trade routes long before the lead miners arrived.

Malham Tarn is an extraordinary natural feature of the Yorkshire Dales, the highest natural lake in England, lying at over 380 metres above sea level in a limestone landscape of exceptional geological interest. The tarn and its surrounding environment form a National Nature Reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest, protected for both its ecology and its unusual geological situation. What makes Malham Tarn particularly unusual is its very existence. Limestone is a porous rock through which water typically drains quickly rather than forming permanent lakes. The tarn exists because it sits above an impermeable layer of Silurian slate at the bottom of a glacially scoured basin, trapped by a geological fault that juxtaposes the permeable limestone with rock that holds water. The surrounding limestone landscape drained rapidly after the last Ice Age, leaving behind a patchwork of dry valleys, limestone pavements and springs that makes the Malham area one of the finest karst landscapes in Britain. The tarn and surrounding fen, marsh and calcareous grassland support an outstanding range of wildlife. The fen community in particular contains plant species associated with the high calcium levels produced by the limestone bedrock, including rare sedge communities and wetland plants that have become scarce across much of northern England. The tarn itself supports breeding populations of several water birds and is an important feeding site for migratory species. The field study centre on the tarn shore, established in 1947, has been a base for ecological research and environmental education for more than 70 years. The landscape around Malham Tarn can be explored as part of the Malham circular walk, one of the most popular and rewarding day walks in the Yorkshire Dales. The full circuit takes in not only the tarn but also the spectacular Malham Cove, a curving limestone cliff 80 metres high with an extensive limestone pavement at its summit, and Gordale Scar, a dramatic limestone gorge with two waterfalls that can be climbed with care in dry conditions. The combination of dramatic geology, clear walking paths and the varied scenery between these features makes the Malham area one of the best day walking destinations in northern England.

Reeth is the principal village of upper Swaledale in the Yorkshire Dales, a handsome settlement set around a large triangular green high above the River Swale whose combination of Georgian and earlier stone buildings, the views up and down the dale from the village green and its position at the meeting of Swaledale and Arkengarthdale make it the natural centre of the northern Yorkshire Dales and one of the finest Dales villages. The village provides the services and character of a genuine rural community that also accommodates the walkers, cyclists and visitors drawn to this exceptionally beautiful section of the national park. The Swaledale landscape above and below Reeth is among the finest traditional farming landscapes in Britain, the pattern of stone-walled hay meadows and pastures on the valley sides providing in summer one of the finest botanical spectacles in the Dales, the unimproved meadow flora of yellow rattle, wood cranesbill, melancholy thistle and numerous orchid species colouring the valley in ways that have all but disappeared from the lowland English countryside. The meadows of upper Swaledale are among the best preserved examples of traditional hay meadow management in Britain. The lead mining heritage of Swaledale is visible in the landscape above Reeth, where the heather moorland is pitted with the remains of mine shafts, smelt mills and the distinctive linear scars of the hushes, channels cut in the moorland to use water flow to expose ore-bearing rock. The Swaledale Museum in Reeth provides interpretation of the mining history and the wider cultural history of this remote but distinctive dale. The Coast to Coast walk passes through Reeth and the Pennine Journey route traverses the surrounding moorland, making it an excellent walking base.

Staithes on the Yorkshire coast is one of the most atmospheric fishing villages in northern England, a settlement of red-roofed cottages packed into a ravine descending to a narrow harbour between the spectacular headlands of Cowbar Nab and Penny Nab. The village was the birthplace of the young James Cook's mercantile career, the future circumnavigator arriving to serve as a shopkeeper's apprentice before the sea drew him first to Whitby and then to the Royal Navy. The village descends steeply from the clifftop through a series of steps and narrow lanes to the harbour below, still used by a small fleet of fishing boats. Staithes has been a centre for artists since the late nineteenth century when a colony of painters formed the Staithes Group, recognising the quality of the light and the dramatic character of the village. The tradition of artists working here continues and several galleries and studios in the village reflect the ongoing creative response to this exceptional setting. The Cleveland Way coastal path traversing the headlands connects Staithes with Runswick Bay to the south, providing some of the finest cliff walking in Yorkshire. The combination of the village character, the fishing heritage, the Cook connection and the coastal scenery makes Staithes one of the most rewarding destinations on the northeast coast.

Goathland on the North Yorkshire Moors is a village of considerable charm and historical character that has achieved a level of fame in contemporary popular culture quite disproportionate to its modest size through its use as the filming location for the television series Heartbeat, which ran for eighteen series between 1992 and 2010 and used the village as the fictional Aidensfield. The filming association has made Goathland one of the most visited villages in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park, and the combination of the Heartbeat heritage, the genuine moorland village character and the Goathland station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway creates a destination of considerable visitor appeal. The village green, the pub and the surrounding moorland landscape retain their character as a genuinely traditional North Yorkshire Moors moorland village, the grazing sheep and the open moorland around the village perimeter providing the authentic backdrop that made it attractive to the Heartbeat production team. The station on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway heritage line, styled as Hogsmeade Station for the Harry Potter films, provides an additional cultural reference point that brings a younger demographic to complement the Heartbeat visitor base. The Mallyan Spout waterfall accessible by a short walk from the village provides an excellent natural feature complementing the village visit, the waterfall cascading approximately 20 metres into the West Beck gorge in a setting of considerable woodland beauty particularly attractive in the autumn when the surrounding deciduous trees are at their most colourful.

Wensleydale is the broadest and most pastoral of the Yorkshire Dales, a wide river valley of exceptional agricultural beauty running east from the high fells above Hawes to the Vale of York, its broad floor of traditional meadows and its stone-built villages creating the archetypal image of the Yorkshire Dales that has appeared on countless calendars, postcards and chocolate boxes. The dale takes its name from the village of Wensley rather than from the River Ure that flows through it, and while the dale lacks the dramatic limestone pavements and waterfalls of some of its neighbours, it compensates with a landscape of human-made beauty that reflects centuries of traditional farming practice. The meadow landscape of Wensleydale is of national ecological importance. The traditional hay meadows that have been farmed by the same methods for centuries, cut once annually after the flowers have seeded and fertilised only with farmyard manure, support plant communities of extraordinary diversity including yellow rattle, wood crane's-bill, great burnet and dozens of grass and wildflower species that have been lost from the intensively managed lowland meadows of the rest of England. The Pennine Dales Meadows Special Area of Conservation protects the finest surviving examples, and a walk through an unimproved Wensleydale meadow in June is one of the most quietly beautiful experiences the English countryside offers. The dale is equally famous for its cheese, a crumbly white cow's milk variety with a history stretching back to the Cistercian monks of Jervaulx Abbey who developed the recipe in the twelfth century. The Wensleydale Creamery at Hawes, which narrowly escaped closure in the 1990s and was saved by a management buyout, now welcomes visitors to see traditional cheese-making in action and sells its products direct from the creamery shop. Aysgarth Falls, where the River Ure descends in three broad natural steps through the dale, is the most spectacular natural feature in Wensleydale and one of the most visited sites in the Dales. The nearby castles of Bolton and Middleham add historical depth to a dale that rewards slow exploration.

Beningbrough Hall is an early eighteenth-century country house of the highest architectural quality standing in its own parkland beside the River Ouse in North Yorkshire, managed by the National Trust and housing an exceptional collection of portraits from the National Portrait Gallery which provides the principal focus of the interior display. The house was built between 1712 and 1716 and is one of the finest examples of early eighteenth-century English baroque architecture in the north of England, its restrained but confident exterior and richly decorated interior representing the best of the Queen Anne architectural tradition applied by a talented provincial architect. The house was built for John Bourchier and the quality of the craftsmanship throughout is remarkable for a house of this period and this region. The carved woodwork, the plasterwork ceilings, the painted staircase hall and the bold architectural mouldings of the principal rooms represent a level of execution that compares favourably with the great London houses of the same period. The central hall rising to the full height of the house and lit by a clerestory above is one of the finest baroque interior spaces in the north of England, its proportions and details carefully calibrated to produce an impression of solemnity and grandeur appropriate to the aspirations of its patron. The partnership with the National Portrait Gallery allows Beningbrough to display over one hundred seventeenth and eighteenth-century portraits within its historic rooms, providing a combination of architectural quality and picture collection that creates an unusually coherent and satisfying visitor experience. The portraits, displayed in appropriate period settings, illuminate both the history of the house and the broader history of the period they represent. The walled garden and the parkland setting by the Ouse provide good outdoor visiting, and the combination of house, garden and landscape makes Beningbrough one of the most rewarding National Trust properties in Yorkshire.