Harrogate

Originally a spa town and renowned for the health-giving properties of its water, Harrogate is located on the age of the beautiful Yorkshire Dales, and the city has many open-air areas, such as The Stray for those who enjoy parkland walking. The RHS Harlow Carr gardens on the edge of the town are a more formal display.

For the gastronomically inclined visitor, Betty’s Tea Rooms are delightful - the company makes Yorkshire Tea, which is served with various mouthwatering cakes. The Great Yorkshire Show takes place every year, and it is worth timing a visit to coincide with this large event.

Nearby Menwith Hill is a more unusual sight, a military installation visible for miles, it resembles a collection of giant golfballs. The town has one of Europe’s largest exhibition and conference centres, and is always full of visitors from far afield. Royal Hall Theatre, the only surviving Kursaal in Britain, and the Mercer Art Gallery, are worth a visit for those visitors of a cultural persuasion. Harrogate is a very wealthy town, and many of its homes reflect this. High Harrogate, around The Stray, has some beautiful houses, and the town itself basks in a wonderful air of quiet gentility.

The Royal Pump Room Museum, Crown Place, Harrogate HG1 2RY (01423) 556188
Charles Dickens once described Harrogate as “the queerest place with the strangest people leading the oddest lives”. Whether they’d been affected by the strongest sulphur wells in Europe, science only knows.

The Royal Pump Room Museum houses the wells that are known as ‘the Queen of the Inland Spas’. The museum also houses an ever-growing collection of 19th Century costumes, household textiles and needlework tools.

The Mercer Art Gallery, 31 Swan Road, Harrogate HG1 2SA (01423) 556188
Located close to the Royal Pump Room Museum, the Mercer Art Gallery is home to a fantastic 2,000-piece collection of 19th and 20th Century fine art.
While housing works by the likes of William Powell Frith and Sir Edward Burne-Jones, the gallery also features a diverse range of temporary and nationally touring exhibitions.