North Yorkshire Off The Beaten Path

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Most Viewed Off The Beaten Path in North Yorkshire

1.

Castle Howard   York

Castle Howard, York

 8 Reviews  14 miles. By bus including entry £15. Pay the driver board at Bootham Bar, across from the tourist info. This is where the TV series 'Brides-head Revisited' was filmed. The castle grounds are worth... 

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2.

Whip ma whop ma gate   York

Whip ma whop ma gate, York

 2 Reviews  What a great name for a street. I wish more streets had great names like Whipmawhopmagate - it's rather more interesting than Castle St. or High St. Only 32 metres long, It's very easy to miss this... 

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3.

Helmsley   York

Helmsley, York

 5 Reviews  Helmsley lies about 20 miles west of York and is one of England's loveliest market towns. This is really the perfect English town - a large market square with a beautiful church and castle commanding... 

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4.

City - Miscellaneous   York

City - Miscellaneous, York

 18 Reviews  England's most famous highwayman might have been from Essex and have had relations to Derby but he spent so much time in York he actually died here. His grave can be found if you continue down to the... 

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5.

Fountains Abbey   York

Fountains Abbey, York

 7 Reviews  The monks elected Prior Richard abbot, but by 1133 they were forced to look for outside help in order to survive. They turned, naturally enough, to the source of their inspiration, the Cistercian... 

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6.

Beverley   York

Beverley, York

 3 Reviews  Beverley. It is a small market town approx 35 mile between York and Hull. It has a large Minster which could rival York but is sadly overlooked by most tourists. The town is nice for an hour or two,... 

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7.

Yorkshire Moors   York

Yorkshire Moors, York

 6 Reviews  Victoria wanted to see the Moors, so on our way to Edinburgh we disembarked the train in York for the soul purpose of making Victoria’s dream come true. Once in the station we had no idea where... 

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8.

Yorkshire Air Museum   York

Yorkshire Air Museum, York

 3 Reviews  If you like airplanes and travel to North of England you MUST COME HERE! Yes, this originally small air museum is quickly becoming a menace for London's or Duxford's. Why? Come here and discover... 

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9.

Stamford Bridge   York

Stamford Bridge, York

 1 Review  No, I'm not talking Chelsea FC's homeground but instead of a village outside York where the viking army met King Harold Goodwinson 1066. The battle was the last viking battle on British soil and the... 

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10.

Yorkshire Musem, Gardens, Etc.   York

Yorkshire Musem, Gardens, Etc., York

 6 Reviews  The ruins of St Mary's Abbey stand amidst the lawns of the Museum Gardens. The abbey was once the most important and influential benedictine monastaries in the north of England. It was founded in... 

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11.

Riverside   York

Riverside, York

 6 Reviews  I kept coming back here every day I was in York, but I never did see Dame Judi! The finest Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria of our time was born in York some time ago. (As a gentleman, I don't... 

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12.

Eden Camp   York

Eden Camp, York

 3 Reviews  Brilliant day out for any age. Second world war memorabilia, sounds morbid but it is great, even a mess hut for lunches, very reasonable and good choice of food.Takes at least 2/3 hours to see all the... 

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13.

Scarborough   York

Scarborough, York

 3 Reviews  Take a trip to the beautiful holiday resort Scarborough by train. The journey takes only 45 minutes. Scarborough has a north and a south bay, between them lies Scarborough castle (see photo).... 

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14.

Thirsk   York

Thirsk, York

 3 Reviews  We stayed near Thirsk and, with our penchant for the village life overriding our city desires we opted to have a look around Thirsk, a town we'd passed through the night before on our way to our... 

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15.

City Walls - General   York

City Walls - General, York

 2 Reviews  Micklegate Museum seems quite unknown - it's a very small museum inside the Micklegate building (I guess there's an exact term for that one... uh, I'll try to find out). Not like smashingly... 

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16.

Yorkshire Dales   York

Yorkshire Dales, York

 2 Reviews  West of York is the naturally beautiful area of the Yorkshire Dales, designated as one of England and Wales ten national parks. The Dales lie between Kirkby Stephen in the north, Leyburn in the east,... 

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17.

Shopping   York

Shopping, York

 2 Reviews  If you want to do some grocery shopping, or get petrol before returning home, or you fancy 'mall'-type shopping, try Monks Cross. It's about 2 miles north-east of the city-centre & features most of... 

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18.

Whitby   York

Whitby, York

 2 Reviews  Whitby is a coastal town of North Yorkshire and is found on one of Britain's finest stretches of shoreline at the inlet of the Esk River. It was famous as a whaling port and closely associated with... 

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19.

Jorvik Viking Centre   York

Jorvik Viking Centre, York

 1 Review  Jorvik Viking Center Deep beneath the pavement of Modern York, archeologists have uncovered what Viking life was really like. Now you too can journey back 1,000 years to experience Jorvik, its... 

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20.

Thwaite   York

Thwaite, York

 1 Review  Thwaite is a little cluster of stone houses and farms in the Dales which seem to all huddle together as if in protection (probably against the winter here). The village was founded Norsemen and... 

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21.

Castle Bolton   York

Castle Bolton, York

 1 Review  Castle Bolton gives a glimpse into life in the 'middle ages.' It is in a state of half-repair. There's is enough detail left to get an idea of how castle life was. The castle, having been home of 11... 

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22.

Merchant Adventurer's Hall   York

Merchant Adventurer's Hall, York

 1 Review  This building was built in 1357 -61 and is one of the largest of its kind in Britain. "The timbered Great Hall was where merchants conducted their business and held their courts and social events. The... 

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23.

Knaresborough   York

Knaresborough, York

 1 Review  Knaresborough is a lovely town on the banks of the river Nidd and with a huge bridge across it. You can fall for the tourist trap of 'Mother Shipton's petrifiying well' but you can also just wander... 

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Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

Thatched cottages

by Ben-UK

If you're travelling around the area, keep a lookout for old thatched cottages -- not many of them left these days -- I noticed this really nice one in the small village of Rievaulx whilst visiting the abbey there. There's so much to see in the North Yorkshire area it's easy to miss the simple things of village life ...

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Bishopdale

by Sjalen

One of the most overlooked Yorkshire Dales, Bishopdale is one of my favourites. It looks like a miniature Lake District with soft fells, and I guess the reason most people don't visit is because the main road through the dale is still one of the smaller, and nature is the major sight here, not castles or museums. Hannah Hauxwell of TV fame lived here with her cattle on a farm with no mod cons before later moving to Teesdale. At the Wensleydale end of the dale is the very pretty village of West Burton.

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Bellerby

by Sjalen

A tiny but oh so pretty village on the road between Richmond and Leyburn, Bellerby just has a main road through it, with a little beck and a handful of gorgeous stone cottages opposite the Real Ale village pub. What more can you want?

Wandering off the beaten path

by yooperprof

One thing I appreciated at Castle Howard: they didn't have those annoying little "stay on the path" signs scattered everywhere through the gardens and on the grounds. For the most part, the grounds are open for wandering, and the visitor may rely on her/his own discretion in deciding where to go.Of course, that means if you fall down a ravine and break your ankle, it's your own responsibility. It's the advantage - and the cost - of living in a less litigous society.

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Knaresborough

by Sjalen

The little town of Knaresborough is an often overlooked gem between York and Harrogate. If you go by train between those two, you will go across the famous Victorian railway bridge in Knaresborough but if you stop on the way, you will also see the bridge from below - an impressive sight. The river Nidd flows through town and you can rent boats for a while in a lovely setting. Otherwise, just visit the castle ruins at the top of the town. This is where Thomas a Beckett's murderers flew after their deed in Canterbury. The town is also famous for Mother Shipton's petrifying well, turning teddies into stone, but I'll leave that to those of you going there with children to discover.

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Middleham

by Sjalen

The little village of Middleham is located just outside the Yorkshire Dales national park boundaries and less visited than many places around it. Still, it deserves a visit for the great ruins of Middleham Castle, once the childhood home of Richard III. On top of that, the village is a racing horse centre so the whole village is full of stables. This is because already in Richard's days, the monks at nearby Jervaulx Abbey (which you can also visit the ruins of) were breeding horses for the knights. Today, they come a lot sleeker than the destroyers of the Middle ages though. Nearby, you can also visit Castle Bolton where Mary, Queen of Scots was held a prisoner for a while and managed to escape.

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Thirsk

by Sjalen

Thirsk (meaning "swamp" in the old Scandinavian dialect used here), is a small town in the Vale of York with not that much more than a racecourse and most people do not have it on their itinerary but those who do come for one thing only: James Herriot's veterinary surgery. Alf Wright, as he was called in real life, set up his base here when graduating as a vet in Scotland and the rest is history to those of us who've read the "All Creatures Great and Small" books and/or seen the TV series (which was filmed mostly in the more hilly Wensleydale).

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Helmsley

by sandysmith

This delightful quaint market town is just a few miles from the North Yorkshire Moors in Ryedale. In its heyday it was a weaving centre in the seventeenth century. Today several fine coaching houses can be discovered along with the ruins of a castle and a half timbered rectory.Today many walkers start here at the market cross to begin England's longest long-distance footpath journey, The Cleveland Way, which continues for 108 miles in a broad horseshoe round the North York Moors national Park.

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Country Cottage

by sandysmith

The scenery around Rievaulx Abbey is idyllic and you'll notice charming country cottages with typically thatched roofs and english gardens in bloom to compliment the scene - straight off a chocholate box lid!

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a very scenic walk for the reasonably fit

by DOUGALSMUM

A great way to spend a day is to take the 10 mile (approx) round trip from ravenscar to robin hoods bay and back, you need to be reasonably fit as it is quite steep in places but well worth undertaking for the magnificent views that you get whilst walking. Start off at ravenscar by the national parks office, follow the path down that goes in front of the office and you will soon come across the trail signposted "cleveland way". Just follow this trail which takes you through countryside, then along the cliff edge to the hilariously named "boggle hole" ( very hard climb down and then back up many stairs in this area), then on to robin hoods bay for a well deserved cream tea or pub lunch ( there is plenty of choice at RH bay)Then just retrace your steps back the way that you came, the whole walk takes about 5 hours including time for cream tea.N.B; If the tide is out when you get to boggle...

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Top 3 Hotels in North Yorkshire

Guy Fawkes Inn  York

 4 Reviews and 232 Opinions  We went to the pub new years gay. I ordered the fish and chips and found a lump of metal in the... 

 Hotels in York

Fairhaven Country Hotel  Whitby

 2 Reviews and 54 Opinions  We spent one night at the Fairhaven Hotel as wished we could have stayed longer. Excellent hotel... 

 Hotels in Whitby

The Crescent Hotel  Scarborough

 3 Reviews and 172 Opinions  The Crescent was our Hotel for this years Rotary Conference. Hote, rooms, staff, food were of the... 

 Hotels in Scarborough

Questions and Answers

cheekyRaupe profile photo

Q:  We want to visit the North Yorkshire Moors to go hiking and are wondering when is the best time of the year for it? For us it... 

planxty profile photo

A: Your major consideration here is the weather. Certainly, you might get a good spell in late March but on the balance of probabilities, you asre likely to get better... 

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North Yorkshire Members Meetings

Jul 01, 2012 
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Jul 07, 2012 
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