Yorkshire is England's largest historic county and one of the most rewarding to explore — a combination of post-industrial cities reinventing themselves, expansive moor-and-dale national park country, and a string of small market towns that feel essentially medieval. The accent, the pride, the food (curd tart, Yorkshire pudding, Wensleydale cheese) and the sometimes-belligerent friendliness are all distinctively Yorkshire and not to be confused with anywhere else in England.
The two big cities, Leeds and Sheffield, are both old industrial centres that have transformed in the past three decades — Leeds into a financial and cultural hub with serious independent shopping and a strong music scene, Sheffield into a young, creative city anchored by two large universities and surrounded by some of the best walking country in England. Bradford, next to Leeds, has a particularly good curry scene (one of the best in the UK) and the National Science and Media Museum.
York is the historic jewel — a small walled cathedral city with one of the great Gothic cathedrals (the Minster), Roman and Viking remains, the Shambles (a tilted medieval lane), and the National Railway Museum. Easy to walk in a long day.
The countryside is the other reason to come. The Yorkshire Dales — limestone valleys, drystone walls, sheep-cropped fells, market villages — and the North York Moors — heather moorland reaching the dramatic North Sea cliffs — are both national parks with extensive walking and cycling networks. The South Pennines complete the picture.
Within the Dales, Swaledale is the wildest valley, with Reeth at its heart, and Wensleydale the broadest, with Aysgarth Falls, two castles near Leyburn and the cheese of Hawes. Settle is the start of the Settle-Carlisle railway over the Ribblehead Viaduct, and quiet Nidderdale has gorges and caves around Pateley Bridge. On the Moors, Goathland and Hutton-le-Hole are classic moorland villages.
The coast runs from the cliff-side fishing villages of Staithes and Runswick Bay, through Whitby and Scarborough, to the long sands of Filey. Further south are the seabird cliffs of Flamborough, the chalk hills of the Yorkshire Wolds, and the sand spit of Spurn at the mouth of the Humber.
West Yorkshire has more than its cities. Haworth is the home of the Brontës, Saltaire a Victorian model village, Halifax has the Piece Hall, and Ilkley and Holmfirth are attractive stone towns under the moors. In North Yorkshire, Knaresborough, Masham, Thirsk and Malton are all good small market towns to add to a trip.
