Yorkshire Bed and Breakfast Guide

The Yorkshire Dales is perfect for a bed and breakfast holiday amongst the magnificent scenery, with each Dale offering a different landscape ranging from the rugged to the gentle.

Each offers sensational views, framed by stone walls with rivers and streams flowing through fields dotted with sheep or cows. The southern Dales focus on Upper Wharfedale, following the River Wharfe from the village of Grassington. From Wharfedale reach unspoilt Littondale in limestone country. Unmissable is Malham and the atmospheric Malham Cove. The small towns of Settle and Ingleton give access to the Three Peaks countryside around the Ingleborough, Whernside and Penyghent hills. The area is crossed by the Settle-Carlisle railway and the mighty Ribblehead viaduct en route to Dentdale. The northernmost Dale of Swaledale is noted for its stone field barns and summer flower meadows with the sparkling River Swale flowing past the Dale capital of Reeth village. Nearby Arkengarthdale leads to more rugged moorland scenery. The River Ure is the river of Wensleydale, with its highlight the famous Aysgarth Falls. Hawes and Leyburn are the two main towns. In the Harrogate district, the village of Pateley Bridge is the capital of Nidderdale, which extends from lush farmland to remote Middlesmoor.

Sample locally-sourced, seasonal produce from delis and farm shops and perhaps pick up some gourmet delights for the perfect picnic in the North York Moors countryside. Enjoy walking or cycling from your bed and breakfast across heather-clad moorlands and relax with a drink in a traditional pub beside a blazing fire. This National Park is home to lively market towns and picturesque villages including Malton, renowned as Yorkshire's food capital with a number of artisan producers and a thriving market. The moorland village of Goathland, famous for its appearance in Heartbeat and Harry Potter, can be reached on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, as can the busy market town of Pickering.

The Yorkshire Coast is home to picturesque villages clinging precariously to the cliffsides. Staithes is popular with fossil hunters and is the base for a community of well-known artists who stage the famous Arts Festival every autumn. Whitby is also rich in culture with an annual regatta every August and the famous Bram Stoker Film Festival in October. The Yorkshire Coast is a paradise for food lovers, with the freshest seafood, seafront ice cream parlours and of course the finest fish and chips in the world. For those who love the great outdoors a bed and breakfast provides a perfect base for venturing out to the coast to enjoy surfing, horse riding on the beach or even a cliff-top game of golf.

The rolling chalk hills and valleys of the Yorkshire Wolds are great for walking, with the 79-mile Yorkshire Wolds Way a particular highlight. The Yorkshire Wolds provided the inspiration for some of David Hockney's recent artworks and you can visit the locations of some of his famous paintings. Step back in time and learn more about the lifestyles of wealthy landowners with visits to Castle Howard, Burton Agnes and Burton Constable Hall. From your bed and breakfast visit the ancient city of York to see the iconic York Minster, National Railway Museum and York Castle Museum. Enjoy a traditional Sunday roast at one of the city's gastro pubs, sample modern cuisine at an award-winning restaurant or down a drink in a haunted pub.

From your bed and breakfast in West Yorkshire visit Haworth in the heart of Brontë country, where the famous sisters wrote most of their famous works. Wander the village's pretty cobbled streets, visit the Bronte Parsonage Museum and take a steam train ride on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway. Leeds is the ideal place for shopping, with quirky independent boutiques in the Victorian Corn Exchange, high-end luxury shops in beautiful arcades and modern shopping centres.