Knaresborough stands on the cliff above a gorge of the River Nidd, three miles from Harrogate. The view from the castle grounds down to the river and the great railway viaduct of 1851 is one of the best-known in Yorkshire. You can hire a rowing boat below the viaduct in summer.
Along the river is Mother Shipton's Cave, with its petrifying well, said to be the oldest paying tourist attraction in England, open since 1630. The town has a Wednesday market, a maze of steep lanes and a chapel cut into the rock face.