Yorkshire is an excellent location for a summer walking holiday. Sprawling parkland, exemplified in the famous moors, means that there’s a lot of beautiful and diverse territory to conquer in a pair of hiking boots.
Within this land, there are a few key locations that are especially worth a visit. Let’s consider a few of them!
Malham Cove
Dominated by a seventy-metre limestone cliff, the beautiful Malham Cove forms a dramatic curved wall around the valley. Over more than a million years, this part of the countryside has been worn down by three distinct sheets of ice. The result is a sheer rock face where a massive waterfall once fell. It’s a great place for adventurous rock climbers, as well as those with an interest in geology.
Yorkshire Dales Three Peaks Challenge
If you’re looking for more of a physical challenge, then you might instead consider conquering the three highest peaks in the region – on a single long walk. This twenty-four-mile round trip will take you up Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough. You’ll need a decent level of fitness, a good pair of walking boots, and around twelve hours spare. If you don’t feel quite up to the whole route, then you might instead think about doing it in stages!
Whitby to Robin Hood’s Bay
Yorkshire offers a great mixture of inland countryside, and coastal splendor. If you’d like to see both in a single walk, it’s difficult to beat this one, which runs from Whitby Abbey all the way to Robin Hood’s Bay. Along the way, you’ll be able to see where the Admiral Von Tromp ran aground against the reef in Saltwick Bay. There are plenty of interesting things to see and do in both towns, which have been a paradise for smugglers and fishers alike over the centuries. Take a walk along this route, and you’ll be retracing their footsteps!
Ingleton Waterfalls Trail
If you’re looking to see a waterfall or two, then this four-and-a-half-mile trail might be exactly what’s required. It will take you through an assortment of woodland, which is occasionally broken up by a rocky gorge and a soaring waterfall. The trail is at its most spectacular after it’s been raining. The most impressive waterfall of the lot is probably Thornton Force, which descends around fourteen meters of limestone.
Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal
Here we have a UNESCO World Heritage Site, comprising not only an amazing ruin, but a garden, too. For centuries, this was a place where monks resided. The peaceful surroundings provided an excellent place to worship and study. It’s against this backdrop that John Aislabie designed his amazing water garden at Studley Royal. You’ll be able to spot deer here, as you enjoy a picnic.