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Celebrate Yorkshire Day with some quintessentially Yorkshire Scenery, all accessible by bus, train and bike - or your own two feet.
27 July 2023
It’s Yorkshire Day on 1 August, a day dedicated to honouring the rich heritage, culture, and traditions of this beautiful region. As proud Yorkshire folk, we gather to celebrate the spirit of God's Own County and share our love for its landscapes and history. We have selected some of our favourite bus and train routes which showcase the scenic beauty of West Yorkshire and beyond, as well as the very best cycling and walking routes that will give you a great dose of happy Yorkshire vibes to leave you feeling proud of our region.
Scenic journeys in West Yorkshire, and slightly further afield.
Scenic bus journeys
Huddersfield – Holme via Holmfirth
Journey time: 46 minutes
The 314 bus service offers stunning views across the Holme Valley, Castle Hill and even gets you to the edge of the Peak District National Park. The route passes through several vibrant towns and villages. Most famous of all being Holmfirth, which was the filming location of Last of the Summer Wine – the world’s longest running sitcom. Several wonderful views line the journey, so make sure to keep your eyes peeled.
Journey time: 46 minutes
Head out to Hebden Bridge with its eclectic mix of friendly shops and cafes and take the 590 591 or 592 bus service to Halifax. Along the way you will rarely lose sight of the tranquil River Calder and Rochdale Canal.
Keighley – Hebden Bridge via Haworth
Journey time: 59 minutes
Hop on the aptly named Brontë Bus B3 and take a beautiful journey steeped in natural beauty and riveting history as you travel through the picturesque village of Haworth and the landscapes that inspired the novel Wuthering Heights all from the back of a bus. Make sure to sit on the right-hand side to fully appreciate the untamed landscapes that enriched us all with the brilliance of the sisters. If time is on your side, hop off the bus and check out the Brontë Parsonage museum where the sisters lived and the enchanting Brontë Waterfalls. A Yorkshire Day must!
Journey time: 1 hour 12 minutes
The X84 bus service has double-deckers which offer uninterrupted views of Washburn Valley in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Otley Chevin Forest. As you descend into Otley, keep an eye out for Red Kites. Once you arrive In Ilkley, the Cow and Calf viewpoint is only a short walk away and offers up one of the best views in the region, one not to miss. Ilkley is also home to a Bettys Café Tea Rooms where you can enjoy a traditional afternoon tea.
Journey time: 1 hour 10 minutes
You are guaranteed to see a wealth of scenic beauty on this route. Highlights of the 901 bus service start from Ripponden, which is well worth a stop, and include the heather soaked Norland Moor and its pockets of woodland and wildlife. Heading down the Cragg Vale, with its Cragg Vale Coiners history, to Mytholmroyd, the longest continuous gradient in England. The area plays host to a number of great walks which can be found on the Calderdale Council Weaver to Web website page.
Journey time: 25 minutes
The 184 bus service from Huddersfield to Marsden takes you to the very tops of Marsden Moor and the huge swathes of rugged moorland that stretch as far as the eye can see. The area offers an abundance of walks to explore this remote but beautiful landscape with more than 5000 acres to discover.
Scenic train Journeys:
Leeds – Shipley – Bingley - Keighley - Skipton - Settle – Ribblehead - Garsdale – Carlisle
Journey time: 2 hours and 30 minutes
One of the UK’s great rail journeys, which carves through the magnificent Yorkshire Dales and wild and undisturbed countryside. Characterful Victorian stations dot the line before the jewel in the crown in the form of the Ribblehead Viaduct. The Settle to Carlisle line was the last main railway in Britain to be constructed primarily with manual labour, with the Ribblehead Viaduct requiring 2,300 people alone to build it.
Huddersfield - Sheffield
Journey time: 1 hour 15 minutes
The Penistone Line offers charming rolling countryside as well as a doorway to a wide range of great walks. First built in 1850, the line includes spectacular viaducts and offers fantastic examples of Victorian engineering showcasing the South Pennines. Starting in Huddersfield, the line goes all the way to Sheffield passing through many rural communities along the way.
Leeds - Morecambe
Journey time: 2 hours 6 minutes
One of Britain’s earliest railway lines, this journey starts in West Yorkshire and spirals through the valleys passing a range of must-see sights including the World Heritage site of Saltaire Village and the Keighley and Worth Railway. As you get further along the line, glorious views of the Yorkshire Dales National Park await you.
If you want to go further afield and outside West Yorkshire why not try these routes on Yorkshire Day for as little as £2...
The best and most beautiful cross border Yorkshire bus journeys for just £2. Give it a go this Yorkshire Day.
The UK Government has followed our own £2 cap with their nationwide £2 single fare cap scheme (live until 30 October 2023). 130 operators are taking part in this nationwide scheme, including operators who run cross-border services. This means you can travel in and out of West Yorkshire on some routes and still only pay £2.
Leeds – Whitby
The 840 Coastliner service was crowned the “the most scenic” bus route in Britain in 2018 . Passing through the North York Moors National Park, the journey features incredible views of the eastern edge of the National Park and stunning sea views as the journey reaches the coast at Whitby where the breathtaking Abbey ruins overlook the bay.
Ilkley – Skipton
As you head over to Skipton see views of Beamsley Beacon and Lippersley Pike on your right and Ikley Moor on your left. Discover a wealth of independent shops, stunning landscapes, an iconic 900-year-old castle and charming markets in Skipton. It also serves as the gateway to the magnificent Dales.
Leeds – Ripon via Harrogate
A straight route leading up to Ripon, this service runs parallel to the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. A landscape of rich contrasts and beautiful pockets of wildlife. Rugged moorlands and rolling pastoral scenes are aplenty. As well as going through the medieval cathedral city of Ripon and Harrogate, Agatha Christie’s favourite spa town, the route is also only a stone throw away from Fountains Abbey, an ancient ruin and water garden which is a World Heritage Site.
A wealth of scenic bus services allows you to discover the beautiful scenery of the Yorkshire Dales National Parks with the DalesBus services. Good services run from West Yorkshire to several towns on the edge of the Dales from where daily buses run to the main towns, villages, and tourist attractions of the Dales.
These include the town of Malham which is a great place to get off and go see Malham Cove, a huge amphitheatre shaped cliff formation made famous by its appearance in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One.
If natural beauty is your thing, then Ingleton is also a stop not to miss. Aptly called ‘The Land of Caves and Waterfalls’ its highlights are the Waterfall Trails, White Scar Caves and Yorkshire Three Peaks.
Whichever route you choose, the beauty and character of the Dales will greet you as you hop between its many charming stone-built villages.
Scenic walking and cycling routes
For resources and top tips, to help you get out and about by foot or bike this Yorkshire Day visit CityConnect.
Landmarks along the Leeds & Liverpool Canal towpath
The Leeds & Liverpool Canal towpath, including the Aire Valley Towpath, is largely flat, helping make it an inclusive location for families or people with mobility impairments. Just a few miles along the towpath from Leeds city centre is Kirkstall Abbey, or further along is Rodley Nature Reserve. The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Saltaire is also easily accessible with the towpath running close to Salts Mill, as is the National Trust’s East Riddlesden Hall further along.
A walking tour through historical Huddersfield
The Huddersfield Local History society have some walking maps to help you explore on foot the town’s rich history, spanning Chartism, the Luddites, the women’s suffrage movement, and the first Gay Pride held outside London.
Discover Huddersfield have 3 routes around Huddersfield, a ‘Green Spaces’ walk, a ‘Culture’ walk, and a ‘Water’ walk, all of which take about 30 minutes.
On Ilkley Moor bar t’at
Once you arrive In Ilkley, the Cow and Calf viewpoint, also known as the Hangingstone Rocks, is only a short walk away from the town centre, and offers up one of the best views in the region, one not to miss. For those who fancy a longer walk “on Ilkley Moor bar t’at” (without a hat), the Friends of Ilkley Moor have route information on their website to help you explore the moor.
Take a stroll on the Greenway
The Castleford to Wakefield Greenway was created just before the Tour de France came to Yorkshire in 2014 and is a great traffic-free route for walkers and cyclists. The Greenway links Fairies Hill Locks by Whitwood Golf Course with Methley Bridge, and from the Greenway you can also link up with the towpath to the Aire and Calder Navigation towpath.
Walk the Wakefield Gate
Halifax Civic Trust have produced a great guide to the Wakefield Gate walk, known to the Romans as the Magna Via, which proceeds east from Halifax. Read their guide to the walk or take a virtual tour in this video.This route will be well known to fans of BBC series Gentleman Jack – Anne Lister’s estate of Shibden Hall is close by.