Exams are finally over, and with no uni consuming our lives everyone tends to spend a lot of time lazing around in the Hyde Park sunshine drinking warm cans. But sometimes it’s nice to get out of Leeds and explore other sites in beautiful Yorkshire, and it really is beautiful! Post-exam time is the perfect time for a nice day trip; the sun is shining (mostly) and it’s the perfect opportunity to spend time with your friends before you part ways for summer (or if you’ve just graduated…forever). So to help out, we’ve compiled a few of our favourite day trips in Yorkshire.
- York
Obvious? Maybe a little, but York is a popular destination for a reason! On a sunny day way back in my first year a friend and I jumped on a train and headed to York for the day and it did not disappoint. With a rail card, you can get a ticket fairly cheap on the day and it only takes around 20 mins.
You can start by having a wander through the Shambles until you pop out at the foot of the beautiful minster. Once you’ve explored the city then my advice is head down to the canal; on a sunny day in the summer months you can hire a pedal boat and take your own food/drinks to enjoy with your friends. There are lots of bars and restaurants scattered along the water side, making it the perfect place to spend an evening watching the sun go down.
2. Harrogate
Again, it’s super easy to jump on the train from Leeds to Harrogate. Quaint and beautiful the town of Harrogate is great for a sunny day, a little more up market than Leeds; it is home to lots of cute tea rooms and lunch spots. It’s the perfect place to spend the day with your significant other or with a few friends. My favourite activity is grabbing an ice cream cone from one of the many shops and relaxing on the grassy Montpellier Hill. It’s right in the centre of the town and there is usually some kind of live music, so it’s the perfect place to catch a tan. Other than that, there are lots of cool vintage shops in Harrogate and they aren’t overpriced or targeted at edgy Leeds Uni students so you can actually nab a bargain or two. Try Elegant Era Vintage Boutique or SPACE and you’ll be sure to find something!
3. Haworth
Situated about an hour drive from Leeds, Haworth is a historic town and birth place of the Bronte sisters. If you’re an English lit nerd like me, then it’s definitely someplace you want to tick off your ‘Yorkshire bucket list’. If you’re not lucky enough to have a car, it’s a bit more of a faff to get to than York or Harrogate but you can get the train to Keighley and then hop on a bus to Howarth- it should still only take you an hour. When you do arrive in Haworth you can head to the Bronte museum or go on some nice scenic walks up to the Bronte waterfalls. There is also the Haworth Steam Train, which is a fab novelty.
4. Scarborough
Scarborough is a little further afield than the rest of these trips but if that’s what it takes for fish and chips on the pier- I’ll do it. Getting to Scarborough only takes around an hour and fifteen minutes on the train and can be fairly cheap if you book it in advance (£7?). I’d definitely recommend planning your Scarborough trip on a sunny day, who knows, you may even get your bikini on. There is a castle to visit if you enjoy yourself some history, but there is a seafront of traditional arcades, ice cream parlours and very insta worthy colourful beach huts. Yorkshire quite literally has it all, if its beaches were a little warmer, we’d never have to leave.
5. Ilkley
Get your walking boots on and spend a Sunday afternoon heading up to Ilkley’s Cow and Calf rocks. If you have a look online there are plenty of walking routes all varying in length and difficulty. If you’re just there for the views then you can have a short walk, take some photos and head down in to the typical Yorkshire town for a Sunday roast…can’t go wrong! I’d recommend getting the train though; if you drive you won’t be able to settle down in the beer garden for some drinks.
All images are authors own.