Yorkshire Cities

Bright lights, big cities

What is it about Yorkshire cities that makes them so appealing to you – our visitor? T

hey’ve got fantastic shops, award-winning attractions, lively art, music and drama scenes, plus some of the country’s best restaurants, shops, clubs and bars. But it’s more than that... it’s the special character of cities like Leeds, York, Sheffield, Bradford and Hull that sets them apart.

York and Leeds have both been voted the best city break destinations in Britain in separate surveys. York has just received Best UK City Award 2007 at the Telegraph Awards!

Yorkshire cities are warm and welcoming places. Whether you’re stepping into one of the 365 pubs in York or sampling beverages in the foyer of an opera in Leeds, you’ll get a friendly, sincere greeting.

Yorkshire’s cities have a perfect blend of old and new. You’ll find it when you sip a cappuccino at a pavement café while gazing at York’s amazing Minster, or indulge in a cream cake and a cup of tea in the most famous Betty’s tea shop. Sitting in York watching the world go by is the perfect way to spend an afternoon, recharging your batteries before sampling the tiny shops of the Shambles or exploring the riverside walks.

Maybe you fancy browsing the modern masterpieces in a Bradford mill village, designated a World Heritage site. A city steeped in history, Bradford will give an afternoon of shopping a whole new meaning.

You’ll sense it too as you shop for the latest fashions in stylish boutiques at Leeds’ Victorian Quarter. You’ll adore the shops and bars where steel and glass complements old polished brass and mahogany. Shopping in Leeds is truly inspirational as you move from trendy high street to exclusive designer wear in a flash.

Sheffield mixes wonderful Victorian Turkish baths and Botanical Gardens with the buzz of contemporary culture and nightlife. Sheffield is home to the Winter Garden, the largets temperate glasshouse in any Europena city, it is an oasis of calm in a busy city centre with over 2,500 plants to admire.

Even Yorkshire’s historic attractions are bang up-to-date thanks to high-tech interactive displays. At sites like Jorvik Viking Centre in York and the Royal Armouries in Leeds, history has never felt so alive, so close, so real.

And sea life has never felt so close and magical as in The Deep, revitalised Hull’s amazing new waterfront submarium.

And within these Yorkshire cities you’ll find both contemporary and historic accommodation. Search for city accommodation here. It could be a stylish modern hotel inside a listed building or an elegant town house boutique hotel. There are purpose built modern hotels with every facility and cosy B&Bs in charming old Victorian houses. Old or new? -Yorkshire gives you the best of both.