wrenwood

We will spend a week in the Lake District and would like to then spend another 5 to 7 nights in the area of the Yorkshire Dales and the city of York. So I am looking for suggestions for a central area or small town to use as a base. We will have a car.

Would love your suggestions as to favorite sights, day trips, villages, pubs and restaurants, I know very little about this area!

Rubicund

York isn't in the Dales and is a bit closer to the N Yorks Moors than the Dales. For the Dales, base somewhere like Leyburn, Hawes or Aysgarth. For the Moors, then York itself will give access to the city and the countryside.

bilboburgler

Check with Morgana, but for me base yourself in York itself with a parking space included for around York.

For the Dales I'd use Skipton (or Otley where I live). Pateley Bridge and Grassington are ok but a bit small while Malham is very small but lovely if the weather is fine and you don't want many facilities

bilboburgler

Start with this http://www.yorkshiredales.org.uk/

dotheboyshall

If you want one centre then I'd go for Harrogate. You can get a train to York and the Dales aren't too far away.

Morgana

North Yorkshire covers a huge area and there's no one place that will give access to all it has to offer.
You could stay in York itself and do day trips out of York. If you take this option then make sure you choose accommodation that includes car parking.
Or you could choose somewhere in or near the Dales, explore the Dales and maybe visit York for the day?
I live in the Dales (Wensleydale) and I can advise you on any amount of day trips, sights etc. But where do I start?
I'd certainly find it easier if you could do some research and come back with some places that appeal to you, and I could then help with the practicalities. Once I know where you decide to stay I can definitely help with pubs, restaurants etc.
I'll try and kick off some research.
Masham is a small town in Lower Wensleydale. It has good road links, is a good base for exploring this part of the Dales, has an excellent restaurant called Vennels and two breweries which you can tour.
http://www.visitmasham.com/
It would take you an hour or so (more at peak times) to drive into York. It's near Jervaulx Abbey too.
Another good bade is Pateley Bridge, another small town in Nidderdale.
If you wanted to push the boat out you could stay in my favourite restaurant, the Yorke Arms. It's fabulous! It has several rooms and also a small cottage you can hire. The food is Michelin starred and it constantly gets voted as one of the best restaurants in the UK. It's a few miles outside Pateley, in a tiny hamlet called Ramsgill which is extremely pretty.
http://www.yorke-arms.co.uk/
Hope this helps with some initial planning.

janisj

Two different places and you'd need two different bases. Driving around the Dales is slow so you wouldn't want to base in York . . . and you wouldn't want to base in the Dales to visit York.

As for where to stay in the Dales . . . I'd first decide which bits you want to most explore and stay in the Dale. Otherwise you'll spend a lot of extra time to-ing and fro-ing.

My last trip I stayed in Aysgarth which is a good base for mostly northern areas but I managed to get around quite a bit.

My trip report (looooong but the Dales parts are the June 24 - june 27 posts, you can skip the rest)

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-trip-ever.cfm

janisj

didn't see Morgana's post

sofarsogood

Have a look at this list of towns

http://www.yorkshire.com/places/yorkshire-dales

Grassington is worth considering; Richmond and Leyburn too. Reeth is small village and in a lovely areas of Swaledale. Aysgarth would be a good choice too.

wrenwood

OK, I think we will plan for 4-5 nights between the Yorkshire Dales and Moors. I will check out some of the villages, THANKS!

We will either stop at York for a night or two on the way back to Heathrow, or save York for another trip.

So what do you suggest, 4 or 5 nights, which area is your favorite?

annhig

we stayed at a very nice B&B on the edge of Grassington - lovely position by the river, and an excellent breakfast. We stayed 4 nights but could easily have stayed there longer.

wrenwood

Annhig, what was the name of this lovely B&B?

And by the way Annhig, our time in Cornwall was WONDERFUL! The Magnolias were astounding, and so many other plants, a great trip. Thanks again for all your help!

We were so impressed by the spectacle of Daffodils in some of the towns, I ordered 1,000 of a Cornish bred Daffodil, Kingham. When planted along our driveway, that planting will always remind me of Cornwall!

annhig

wrenwood - the B&B is here:

http://www.bridge-end-farm.co.uk/

it is a little out of the village but it's at the bottom of the hill rather than the top so you can roll back down again after dinner if you decide to eat in the village. We had a downstairs room that had a little conservatory added on - so it was a bit more private than the rooms in the main house; DS had a single in the main house and that was very nice too. Breakfast was taken with all the other guests [about 3 other couples if it's full I think] which was quite convivial. There are lots of places within easy reach but I can't remember them all - if you click on my screen-name there is a TR I think.

I'm pleased that you enjoyed your stay in Cornwall and I was so sorry that our paths didn't cross. I've just been buying bulbs but can't compete with 1000 daffs - that will make quite a splash.

anicecupoftea

Hawes is my top base, slap bang in the middle of the most beautiful Dales scenery whichever direction you go, with the added advantage of filling your boots on cheese samples at the Wensleydale Creamery. Settle is a small town with a choice of pubs and restaurants and gives you the option of giving driving a rest and hopping aboard the Settle/Carlisle railway and watching that scenery bowl past you. Or Middleham (a village between Masham and Leyburn) which is a centre for horse racing, so whilst eating breakfast you can watch strings of horses clop through the village on the way to being ridden out.

PalenQ

I stayed in Harrogate as a base for the Dales - the city tourist office was selling T-shirts "Off to the Dales" - meaning it is a great base for the area. I took a day trip to Haworth, of Bronte clan fame in the famous moors near there. York is also a short train ride away (I was planing to stay in York but having not arranged anything I arrived to find everything full due to some famous horse races - off to the races so I went over to nearby Harrogate and was glad I did.

It is a nice smallish city famed for its thermal installations of bygone times - and there is a Bettys Tea Shoppe or whatever the official names on this famous eaa place is (another Bettys is a mainstay in York).

But Harrogate a really pleasant place not overly touristed.

Morgana

I lived in Harrogate for 20 years and my children grew up there. PalenQ - guess what! It's not a city, it's a town!
With a car its an easy enough drive into Nidderdale. It all depends whether you want to stay actually IN the Dales area or outside. Looking at your earlier comments I'd have thought staying in the Dales (or the Moors) would make more sense for the limited time you are spending here.
There are 6 Bettys in Yorkshire - the first one was opened in Harrogate town centre in 1919. There's another one on the outskirts at Harlow Carr Gardens (my favourite one).
It's worth noting that Harrogate is famous these days as a Conference town. Conferences are held all year, and the more popular ones soon fill up the accommodation in town - and make the restaurants very busy too.
A previous post mentions Middleham (Wensleydale) with its racehorses. It is also famed for its castle, the childhood home of Richard lll.
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/d...dleham-castle/

PalenQ

wow not many cities then I'd dare say in the U.K.! What defines a city - having a cathedral? Curious if not population. Harrogate certainly seemed like a city to me - a big town it tis.

Morgana

Here you go -
http://lovemytown.co.uk/Populations/TownsTable1.asp

annhig

wrenwood- while I think of it, and knowing your interest in gardens, you should have Harlow Carr on your itinerary - it's the site of the most northerly of the RHS gardens. I confess that I've never been, though i did almost get there on that trip to yorkshire we made that's in my TR.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/gardens/harlow-carr

PalenQ

Harrogate is very close to Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal - some really neat gardens there too.