Many of England’s most enjoyable tourist attractions are in Yorkshire. Visitors from overseas should make time to see them, rather than heading straight for Edinburgh.
The train through Yorkshire
As the camera-toting hordes pack into London, then take the train up to Edinburgh for the token side-trip, they’ll pass through some of England’s finest scenery.
Much of that is in Yorkshire, a county worth getting off the train for.
Highlights of York
The walled city of York acts as the obvious honeypot, with train buffs able to work themselves into a loco frenzy at the National Railway Museum and sweet-tooths likely to make a beeline for York’s Chocolate Story.
Yorkshire’s literary heritage
York’s nice line in cobbled streets and tea rooms extends to Haworth, a pilgrimage site for Bronte fans. The parsonage where Charlotte, Emily and Anne lived and wrote is now a museum, but strapping on the walking boots and tackling the moors backing onto the town is the best bet to get the Wuthering Heights atmospherics.
The literary links don’t stop in Haworth – Whitby on the coast is where Dracula rocks up in Bram Stoker’s vampire novel. The spookily gothic ruined Whitby Abbey on the hilltop and near-satanic seagull cawing ramp up the vibe somewhat, while the Captain Cook Museum should be of interest to Australians wanting to know more about the explorer’s origin story.
Reasons to visit Yorkshire’s cities
Elsewhere, the cities have their own character.
Hull is home to the pioneering Deep aquarium and an important place in the anti-slavery movement. It also acts as the gateway to the wildlife-packed Spurn peninsula.
Bradford has World Heritage-listed mills turned into cultural centres and Sheffield has industrial heritage and a fine brewing scene.
The Yorkshire Dales
But the Yorkshire countryside plays the quintessential England card. The lush, green Yorkshire Dales is all waterfalls, real ale breweries, castles, sheep and Wensleydale cheese. And that’s cracking, Gromit.
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More Yorkshire travel
Other Yorkshire travel articles on Planet Whitley include:
- What overseas visitors should do in Leeds.
- Do I need to book York Dungeon tickets in advance?
- The National Railway Museum in York: A parking guide.
- What first time visitors need to know about visiting Whitby Abbey.
- A practical guide to visiting the Yorkshire Wildlife Park.
