Grassington

With its stone cottages, rather grand town hall (the former Mechanics Institute) and busy square this former lead-mining village is a focal point of local and visitor activity, host to a splendid music and arts Grassington Festival in June, and the celebrated Dickensian Festival in December.

There’s a good choice of cafés and pubs, excellent shops, and plenty places to stay from comfortable country hotels to charming B&Bs.

There are some magnificent walks from the village itself, including the popular Dales Way alongside the River Wharfe, more energetic walks over Grassington and Barden Moors, or to charming nearby villages such as Burnsall, Thorpe, Linton and Hebden.

You can even stay in Grassington and walk the Dales Way in one-day stages between Ilkley, Bolton Abbey and Buckden by using Dalesbuses.

Grassington is also on the Yorkshire Dales Cycle Way.

The village has an excellent National Park Centre with an exhibition and a wide range of publications to help you get the most out of your stay and a small local folk museum.

Grassington has its own transport interchange with hourly bus services to Cracoe, Rylstone and Skipton, and regular services to Hebden; Burnsall, Barden Tower, Bolton Abbey and Ilkley, Kettlewell, Starbotton and Buckden.

On Summer Sundays and Bank Holidays you can take DalesBus 800 over the spectacular Kidstones Pass to Aysgarth and Hawes in Wensleydale - surely one of the most beautiful bus journeys in the North of England. There's also a Summer Sundays and Bank Holiday service to Grassington from York, Ripon and Pateley Bridge on route 812.

Bus times can be checked at the Transport Direct and Dalesbus websites.

Local services: accommodation, cafes, shops, pubs, toilets, tourist information centre