3 Best Sights in Leeds, Yorkshire

The family seat of the Earls of Harewood, cousins of the King, the spectacular, 1759, neoclassical Harewood House (pronounced har-wood) was created by York architect John Carr and the period's leading interior designer, Robert Adam—a project that was financed, sad to say, by money that came from sugar plantations and the slave trade. Highlights include important paintings by Gainsborough and Reynolds, fine ceramics, and a magnificent State Bed and other furniture by Chippendale, who was born in nearby Otley.

In June, July, September, and October there are periodic tours of the Private Apartments, which is where the earl and countess live and where you can see a notable collection of watercolors by JMW Turner and works by modern artists like Egon Schiele. The Old Kitchen and Below Stairs exhibition illustrates life from the servants' point of view.

Capability Brown designed the handsome grounds, and Charles Barry added a lovely Italian garden with fountains in the 1840s. Children will love the bird garden with over 40 rare and endangered species and the adventure playground. The estate is 7 miles north of Leeds; you can get here aboard the Harrogate District Bus 36.

These distinctive, slightly skewed concrete blocks by architect David Chipperfield form the largest purpose-built gallery in the United Kingdom outside London. Overlooking the River Calder, they house an impressive permanent collection of important works by 20th-century British artists, notably sculptors such as Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth; painters that include  L. S. Lowry, Ben Nicholson, and Frank Auerbach; and photographers like Martin Parr. Rolling exhibitions devoted to contemporary art are displayed in the Calder gallery. The museum is in the down-to-earth West Yorkshire town of Wakefield, 12 miles south of Leeds off the M1.

This outdoor exhibition space near Wakefield is part of a former 18th-century estate encompassing more than 500 acres of fields, lakes, exotic trees, and rolling hills. The galleries in the park, garden, and three indoor spaces cut into a hillside are filled with a carefully curated collection that includes works by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth, as well as modern sculptors like Antony Gormley, Anthony Caro, and David Nash. A visitor center has a café, a self-service restaurant, a table-service restaurant, a gallery for temporary exhibitions, and information about the ecology and history of the estate. You can get here easily from Leeds by train or car.