Beyond York
Explore Yorkshire.
Yorkshire is not really a place to tick off in one day.
The coast feels different to the Dales. The North York Moors
feel different again. Then there are ruined abbeys, old market
towns, literary villages and places that don’t fit neatly into
any category at all.
Start with the sort of Yorkshire you want to see.
Think of these as ideas first, tours second. Use the page to work out which parts of Yorkshire appeal to you. Where a route matches one of our days with Highwayman Tours, there’s a link if you’d like to see how we put it together.
North York Moors & Yorkshire Coast
Moorland, fishing villages and the North Sea.
This part of Yorkshire changes character constantly.
Open heather moorland gives way to wooded valleys, railway villages,
high sea cliffs and old fishing settlements.
Whitby gets most of the attention, but some of the best places are
found before you reach it, after you leave it, or by simply looking
beyond the harbour.
Pickering
Pickering is often treated as somewhere to pass through, which is a shame. Its ruined castle sits above the town, the heritage railway begins here and the centre still feels like a working North Yorkshire market town rather than a resort.
Worth noticing: Pickering Castle is a much quieter medieval site than many of Yorkshire’s headline castles.
Goathland
Sheep wandering the common and the famous railway station are only the obvious bits. Goathland was once promoted as a Victorian spa village and Mallyan Spout drops around 70 feet into the wooded ravine below.
Our tip: If you have time, leave the television associations behind and walk towards Mallyan Spout or explore part of the old Rail Trail.
North Yorkshire Moors Railway
One of the great ways to experience the landscape itself. The line crosses the moors between Pickering, Goathland and Grosmont, and some services continue to Whitby.
Worth knowing: The railway is seasonal and timetables vary, so this is one place where checking the official site before your day really matters.
Whitby
Whitby is several places at once. There is the old town beneath the Abbey, the working harbour, Georgian streets on the west side, Captain Cook history, jet jewellery, beaches and the Gothic mythology that grew around Bram Stoker’s Dracula.
Don’t just do: fish and chips, photograph the Abbey and leave. Cross both sides of the harbour and give the east side time on foot.
Whitby Abbey & St Mary’s Church
The clifftop is much more than a Dracula backdrop. Whitby’s religious history stretches back to the Anglo-Saxon monastery associated with St Hild, while the later Gothic abbey ruins dominate the headland above the town.
Don’t miss: St Mary’s Church and its extraordinary interior sit beside the Abbey. The climb through the famous 199 Steps is part of the experience.
Robin Hood’s Bay
A steep village of lanes, passages and cottages dropping towards the sea. The lower village is the part you have come for, and wandering without a strict route is considerably more rewarding than simply walking down to the beach and back.
Worth knowing: It is genuinely steep. Anyone with limited mobility should take that seriously before committing to the walk into the lower village.
Scarborough
Britain’s original seaside resort deserves more credit than it gets. The castle headland separates two very different bays, with the old harbour below and huge views from the historic site above.
Our pick: Scarborough Castle. Its headland contains layers of history from prehistoric occupation and a Roman signal station to medieval and modern military history.
The moors themselves
Don’t make the mistake of seeing the North York Moors purely as empty space between attractions. Heather, high roads, wooded dales and wide views are the attraction.
Best advice: Leave some empty time. The places you stop simply because the view looks good are often the places you remember.
Worth knowing before you go
- Whitby can easily absorb half a day if you properly explore both sides of the harbour.
- Robin Hood’s Bay is far steeper than photographs make it appear.
- Check heritage railway operating dates rather than assuming trains run every day.
- The coast can feel several degrees cooler than inland Yorkshire, even in summer.
- If the weather closes in, Whitby generally gives you more indoor options than the smaller villages.
The Yorkshire Dales
Valleys, waterfalls and roads that deserve the journey.
There isn’t one Yorkshire Dales experience.
Wharfedale is different to Wensleydale. The country around
Grassington feels different again from the high ground around
Ribblehead.
Trying to see everything usually means seeing very little properly.
Choose a valley, leave time for the landscape and accept that you’ll
need another visit.
Bolton Abbey
The famous Priory ruins are only one part of a huge estate of riverside pasture, woodland and moorland. This is somewhere you can make as short or as substantial as you want.
Our tip: Don’t treat the ruin as a fifteen-minute photograph. Follow the Wharfe and make the landscape part of the visit.
Grassington
A cobbled square, stone cottages, ginnels, independent shops and easy access to the River Wharfe make Grassington one of the most useful bases for understanding the eastern Dales.
Look beyond the square: Follow the lanes away from the centre or walk down towards the river and Linton Falls.
Linton Falls
The River Wharfe squeezes over a rocky break immediately below Grassington. The falls are compact rather than enormous, but the river, stone bridges and surrounding village make this one of the easiest little Dales detours to enjoy.
Best combined with: Grassington rather than treating it as a destination by itself.
Kettlewell & Upper Wharfedale
Stone villages, field barns, drystone walls and the River Wharfe make the upper valley feel distinctly more rural than the country around Grassington.
Our tip: Kettlewell is lovely, but the valley around it is the real reason to keep exploring.
Bishopdale
A smaller side valley running away from Wensleydale. It doesn’t have one enormous headline attraction, which is precisely why it feels different to some of the busier Dales.
Why go: For the road, stone walls, waterfalls and open countryside, not for a checklist.
Aysgarth Falls
Rather than one single drop, Aysgarth is a sequence of waterfalls where the River Ure descends over layers of limestone and shale. Upper, Middle and Lower Falls each feel different.
Best conditions: They become considerably more dramatic after sustained rain.
Bolton Castle
A great fourteenth-century castle overlooking Wensleydale. Unlike many romantic ruins, enough survives here to get a genuine sense of rooms, towers and life inside a medieval fortress.
Worth it for: The castle itself and the view across Wensleydale from the site.
Hawes
A compact market town high in Wensleydale, surrounded by some of the classic field-barn and drystone-wall landscapes associated with the Dales.
Good for: breaking up a landscape-heavy day with somewhere to wander, eat and understand a little more about life in the Dales.
Ribblehead Viaduct
Twenty-four enormous stone arches crossing the exposed landscape beneath the Yorkshire Three Peaks. Ribblehead is impressive in photographs, but the scale only really makes sense on foot.
Our tip: Walk away from the roadside viewpoint. Even a short walk changes the angle completely and gives the viaduct room to sit in the landscape.
West Burton
A small Wensleydale village wrapped around a green, with Cauldron Falls hidden just beyond the houses. It is exactly the sort of small stop that gets lost when people race between the better-known Dales names.
Look for: Cauldron Falls, painted by J.M.W. Turner during his travels through Yorkshire.
Worth knowing
- Distances on the map can be deceptive because the landscape and smaller roads naturally slow the pace.
- Aysgarth is a series of three falls rather than one single viewpoint.
- Bolton Abbey is an enormous estate, not simply the Priory ruins.
- The Dales are often at their best when you resist trying to fit too many valleys into one day.
- Weather can vary considerably between the exposed uplands and sheltered valleys.
Howardian Hills & Abbey Country
Grand houses, ruined monasteries and quiet villages.
Immediately north of York is a landscape shaped by estates,
monasteries and market towns.
Castle Howard may be the headline name, but Helmsley, Rievaulx,
Byland and the villages between them make this one of the richest
historic corners of North Yorkshire.
Castle Howard
One of England’s great Baroque houses, but the wider landscape is just as important. Lakes, woods, temples, monuments and formal gardens spread out around the house.
Don’t rush: If you’ve paid to come here, give the grounds proper time. The estate makes much more sense once you explore beyond the house.
Helmsley
A proper North Yorkshire market town with a compact centre, independent shops and a ruined medieval castle sitting almost beside the main square.
Our tip: Don’t only use Helmsley for lunch. Give yourself enough time to wander beyond the square and through the castle grounds.
Rievaulx Abbey
Hidden deep in the Rye valley, Rievaulx is one of Yorkshire’s great monastic ruins. Its scale is obvious immediately, but the museum and surviving details make it worth considerably more than a quick circuit.
Look for: The contrast between the earlier, plainer stonework and the more elaborate thirteenth-century rebuilding of the abbey church.
Byland Abbey
Byland once ranked among the great Cistercian monasteries of northern England. Its church was unusually ambitious and became influential in the development of Gothic architecture in the north.
Our pick: The huge circular window on the west front and the surviving medieval floor tiles when uncovered.
Coxwold
A handsome village running up a broad main street beneath the Hambleton Hills. It is small, quiet and exactly the sort of place that makes sense between larger historic sites.
Worth a look: St Michael’s Church and the village’s distinctive mix of eighteenth-century architecture.
Kilburn White Horse
A giant hillside figure cut into the escarpment above the Vale of York. The White Horse itself is famous, but the real reward is the broad view from the high ground around it.
Best reason to stop: The view. On a clear day the landscape stretches an enormous distance across the Vale.
Ampleforth
Best known for the Benedictine abbey and college, Ampleforth sits among rolling countryside between the Howardian Hills and the North York Moors.
Why include it: It gives this part of Yorkshire a completely different monastic story to the medieval ruins at Rievaulx and Byland.
The Howardian Hills
Rolling farmland, woods, estates and villages occupy the country around Castle Howard. It is a gentler landscape than the Moors and Dales, but one of North Yorkshire’s most attractive areas.
Best approach: Treat the countryside between the named places as part of the guide, not simply the space separating them.
Worth knowing
- Castle Howard can easily take several hours once the grounds are included.
- Rievaulx is one of the places where paying attention to the museum materially improves the ruins outside.
- Byland is much quieter than many of Yorkshire’s famous abbeys and is free to explore.
- Winter protection can mean Byland’s medieval floor tiles are covered.
- Helmsley works particularly well as a place to slow down between historic sites.
Fountains Abbey, Nidderdale & Knaresborough
Ruins, strange rocks and one extraordinary river town.
This is Yorkshire at its most varied. One of Europe’s great
monastic landscapes sits surprisingly close to market towns,
open moorland, peculiar geology and the wooded gorge beneath
Knaresborough.
Don’t try to turn it into one enormous checklist. Fountains alone
deserves considerably more time than many visitors give it.
Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal
This isn’t simply an abbey ruin. The medieval monastery, eighteenth-century water garden, follies, woodland and deer park form one enormous designed landscape.
Don’t rush: Walking from the Abbey into Studley Royal changes the entire character of the visit.
Ripon
One of England’s smallest cities, centred on a medieval cathedral and traditional market square. Ripon is compact enough to wander without turning the visit into a major expedition.
Start with: The Cathedral, then explore the streets around the marketplace rather than immediately moving on.
Masham
A handsome market town on the edge of Wensleydale with an unusually large market square, galleries, independent businesses and a strong brewing tradition.
Why stop: Masham feels lived-in rather than constructed for visitors. Give yourself time to wander rather than only using it as a lunch stop.
Brimham Rocks
Huge weathered formations of millstone grit rise from open heather moorland. Some look balanced almost impossibly on top of one another, while others form passages, towers and strange natural sculptures.
Worth knowing: The famous formations close to the entrance are only a fraction of the site. Exploring the wider moor changes the experience completely.
Pateley Bridge
A small town squeezed into the valley beside the River Nidd. It makes a useful place to understand Nidderdale as somewhere people live rather than simply another landscape viewpoint.
Use it for: A wander, something to eat and a change of pace between the surrounding moorland and natural sites.
Knaresborough
Knaresborough is built dramatically above the River Nidd. Medieval streets and stone stairways tumble from the market town towards the riverside beneath the famous railway viaduct.
Our pick: Walk from the Castle grounds down to Waterside. The town makes far more sense when you experience both levels.
Mother Shipton’s Cave
Knaresborough’s famous legend centres on the sixteenth-century prophetess Mother Shipton, but the site is also known for its petrifying well and wooded riverside setting.
Good with: A wider Knaresborough visit rather than as the only reason to see the town.
Nidderdale
Reservoirs, moorland, drystone walls, farms and small settlements sit in the valley and surrounding high ground. It is less dominated by famous names than some areas of the Dales, which is part of the appeal.
Best advice: Don’t reduce Nidderdale to Brimham Rocks and a quick stop in Pateley Bridge. The landscape between them matters.
Worth knowing
- Fountains Abbey is large enough to justify the greater part of a day by itself.
- Brimham Rocks can be a quick look or several hours of wandering depending on how far you explore.
- Knaresborough is far better when you walk between the castle and riverside rather than seeing only the famous viewpoint.
- Market days can completely change the atmosphere of the smaller towns.
- Nidderdale deserves to be treated as a landscape, not simply the road between individual attractions.
Haworth & Brontë Country
The books make more sense once you’ve seen the moors.
Haworth’s cobbled Main Street is only the beginning.
The Brontë story belongs equally to the Parsonage, the church,
the village and the open moorland beyond it.
You don’t need to be a literary obsessive to understand why this
landscape became inseparable from the family’s writing.
Brontë Parsonage Museum
This was the Brontë family home, not a later reconstruction. The rooms, furniture, possessions, manuscripts and personal objects make the family suddenly feel considerably less distant.
Our advice: Visit before heading onto the moors. The landscape means more once you’ve understood how closely the family lived and worked together.
St Michael & All Angels
The church beside the Parsonage was where Patrick Brontë served as parish priest. It ties the family story directly into the life of nineteenth-century Haworth.
Don’t skip it: It sits right beside the Museum but is surprisingly easy to overlook.
Haworth Main Street
Steep, cobbled and lined with old stone buildings, Main Street is the Haworth everybody recognises. It is atmospheric, but also the busiest and most visitor-focused part of the village.
Worth doing: Wander some of the smaller streets away from the main slope. Haworth becomes much quieter surprisingly quickly.
Penistone Hill
Immediately above Haworth, Penistone Hill gives you open moorland without committing to a long-distance walk. The views back towards the village and out across the hills are reason enough to go.
Our pick: This is the easiest way to add genuine Brontë landscape to a visit if you don’t have time for the longer walks.
Brontë Waterfall
A walk out onto the moors leads to a small waterfall associated with the sisters’ walks beyond Haworth. The destination is modest. The landscape getting there is really the point.
Be prepared: Moorland conditions can change quickly. Proper footwear matters once you leave the village behind.
Top Withens
A remote ruined farmhouse high on the moors. It is commonly associated with Wuthering Heights, although it shouldn’t be treated as a literal model for the fictional house.
Why go: For the exposure, silence and scale of the moorland rather than for the building itself.
The Brontë Way
The full route is far longer than most visitors need, but individual sections let you connect literary sites and moorland without having to invent your own walk.
Useful for: Turning Haworth from a museum-and-shopping visit into a real landscape day.
The moors
This is the element of Brontë Country most easily lost when visitors stay entirely within Haworth. Wind, open ground, changing weather and long views are part of the story.
The point: You don’t need to walk ten miles. You do need to get beyond the village for a while.
Worth knowing
- The Brontë Parsonage Museum itself recommends combining the house, village, church and surrounding moors.
- Haworth Main Street is steep and cobbled.
- The longer moor walks need proper footwear and sensible weather preparation.
- Top Withens is worth visiting for the walk and setting more than the ruin itself.
- You can experience meaningful moorland scenery without undertaking the longest walking routes.
Ancient, strange & overlooked
Yorkshire gets much stranger away from the famous sights.
Not everything worth finding has a visitor centre, gift shop or
enormous brown road sign.
Prehistoric ritual landscapes, lonely standing stones, vanished
manor houses, curious follies and deserted settlements are scattered
through the county. Some require imagination. That’s part of their appeal.
Thornborough Henges
Three enormous earthwork circles stretch across the landscape near the River Ure. They were constructed around 4,500 years ago as part of a much wider ceremonial landscape.
What makes them extraordinary: Each henge is roughly 250 metres across. Originally, the great banks may even have appeared white because of gypsum covering.
Nosterfield
What looks today like a nature reserve occupies a landscape where quarrying and archaeological work revealed evidence of prehistoric activity connected to the wider Thornborough complex.
Why it matters: It helps make sense of Thornborough as part of a whole prehistoric landscape rather than three isolated earth circles.
The Devil’s Arrows
Three enormous prehistoric standing stones survive beside Boroughbridge. A fourth is known to have existed, and the alignment belongs to the same broad prehistoric landscape as Thornborough.
Don’t expect Stonehenge: They’re simply standing in the modern landscape, which somehow makes them feel even stranger.
Marmion Tower
A magnificent fifteenth-century gatehouse standing beside St Nicholas’s Church at West Tanfield. The manor house it once guarded has vanished almost completely.
Look inside: The gatehouse has surviving rooms, a spiral stair, fireplaces, a guardroom and an elegant oriel window.
The Druid’s Temple
It looks ancient. It isn’t. The strange stone circle and passages hidden in woodland above Masham were created as a nineteenth-century folly inspired by much older monuments.
That’s the fun: Don’t visit expecting archaeology. Visit because wealthy Georgians building their own fake prehistoric temple is strange enough already.
Wharram Percy
One of England’s best-known deserted medieval villages. Earthworks mark vanished houses and streets, while the ruined church makes the settlement much easier to read on the ground.
Bring imagination: This isn’t a reconstructed village. The appeal lies in reading the landscape and working out what used to stand there.
Nun Monkton
A remarkably large village green, old houses and a quiet church make Nun Monkton feel curiously detached from the much busier Yorkshire surrounding it.
Why include it: Not because there is one enormous attraction, but because it is precisely the sort of place most visitors would never think to seek out.
The place that isn’t in the guidebook
Old churches, forgotten towers, tiny villages, ruins and viewpoints are everywhere in Yorkshire. Some of the best discoveries begin because you noticed a tower on a hill or an interesting name on a map.
The Undiscovered North rule: If something looks interesting and you have the time, occasionally go and see what it is.
Worth knowing
- Thornborough Henges are genuine prehistoric earthworks, not stone circles.
- All three Thornborough henges are now under English Heritage care and publicly accessible.
- Ancient sites often have uneven grass, livestock and very limited facilities.
- The Devil’s Arrows sit within an ordinary modern landscape rather than a managed visitor attraction.
- Several of these places are rewarding precisely because very little has been added for tourists.
These are the roads Highwayman Tours spends its days on.
Highwayman Tours runs private driven days from York for groups of up to four. Choose one of the established routes above, or ask whether something more personal can realistically be put together.