Yorkshire: The Moors, the Coast and the Dales

Editor's note

One night in York. Walk the medieval walls, about 3.4km round the city through the four main gates, the most complete in England. In York Minster, climb the central tower and see the Great East Window, glazed in 1405–08 by John Thornton of Coventry and the largest expanse of medieval stained glass in Britain. Ride through the Jorvik Viking Centre, built on the Coppergate excavation, and see Mallard at the National Railway Museum, the locomotive that set the steam record of 126mph in 1938.

Editor's note

Two nights on the North York Moors. Board the North Yorkshire Moors Railway at Pickering for 18 miles of preserved line to Grosmont, on the route George Stephenson opened in 1836, and stop at Goathland, the station used as Hogsmeade in the Harry Potter films. Walk down to Mallyan Spout waterfall, or follow the Rail Trail to Grosmont. In Pickering, climb the castle motte and find the medieval wall paintings in the parish church. Dalby Forest lies at the centre of the Dark Sky Reserve: join a night at the observatories or stand on the rim of the Hole of Horcum after dark, best from October to March.

Editor's note

Two nights on the coast by Whitby. Climb the 199 steps to St Mary's Church and the ruined abbey on the East Cliff, where the Synod of Whitby met in 664 and Bram Stoker set scenes of Dracula. Across the harbour, the Captain Cook Memorial Museum is the Grape Lane house where Cook lodged as an apprentice. At Robin Hood's Bay, walk down the single steep street to the shore, look for fossils at low tide, and follow the cliff path to Ravenscar, where streets were laid out in the 1890s for a resort nobody came to. In Scarborough, walk the castle headland and find Anne Brontë's grave.

Editor's note

One night near Helmsley. Twelve monks from Clairvaux founded Rievaulx in 1132, the first Cistercian house in the north of England, and its roofless arches fill the narrow valley of the Rye; walk the nave, then the 18th-century terrace between its two temples above. Climb the split keep of Helmsley Castle. Sutton Bank has a one-in-four climb and a view James Herriot called the finest in England; walk the escarpment edge to Roulston Scar, looking down on Gormire Lake. A mile south is the White Horse of Kilburn, cut in 1857 and 318ft long, dressed with limestone chippings.

Editor's note

Two nights by Fountains Abbey. Thirteen monks expelled from St Mary's in York founded it in 1132, and it became one of the wealthiest monasteries in England; walk the nave and the great cellarium. In the 18th century the ruin was made the eye-catcher of the Studley Royal water garden next door, and together they are a World Heritage Site. Follow the canals and ponds to the Surprise View, and walk the deer park to St Mary's church. In Nidderdale, walk among the gritstone tors of Brimham Rocks, watch for waterbirds on Gouthwaite Reservoir and take the gorge path at How Stean, above Lofthouse.

Editor's note

Two nights in the Dales near Malham. Walk up to Malham Cove, an 80m limestone cliff, and across the pavement of clints and grikes on top, then on to Gordale Scar to look up at the falls in its throat, passing Janet's Foss on the way. Skipton Castle is one of the best-preserved medieval castles in England. Up Wharfedale at Bolton Abbey, cross the stepping stones by the priory and walk up Strid Wood to the Strid, where the whole Wharfe is forced through a rock channel a few feet wide. The Dales are a Dark Sky Reserve, darkest on clear nights from October to March.

Editor's note

One night in Wensleydale. Watch cheese being made at the Wensleydale Creamery in Hawes, where it has been made since 1897, and visit the Dales Countryside Museum in the old station. Walk to Hardraw Force, a single 100ft drop claimed as England's highest unbroken waterfall above ground. The road north to Thwaite climbs past the Buttertubs, limestone potholes 20m deep beside the tarmac. At Aysgarth, walk between the Upper, Middle and Lower Falls, then tour Bolton Castle, where Mary, Queen of Scots was held after fleeing to England.