2 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.

A grand country estate in the middle of a city, this huge Elizabethan and Jacobean building—built around 1500 and remodeled in the 16th and 17th centuries––was at one point the family home and birthplace of Lord Darnley (1545–67), the notorious husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. It contains one of Britain's most important collections of fine and decorative arts, including furniture, paintings, and ceramics. Surrounding the house are 1,500 acres of parkland, lakes, gardens, miles of woodland walks, as well as a working rare breeds farm, where kids can enjoy a petting zoo. The park and gardens were created by noted 18th-century landscape designer, Capability Brown. Temple Newsam is 4 miles east of Leeds on A63; Bus 10 runs directly from Leeds Central Bus station from Easter to mid-September.