Attractions in Yorkshire

National Media Museum, Bradford

Yorkshire's Cities offer not only great shopping, nightlife and restaurants; they also house some of the countries finest attractions and museums, so you can be assured of a great day out.

And whatever time of year you visit, you'll find a great exhibition or special event.  The city centres are easy to get to on public transport and compact enough to explore on foot.

 

 

 

 

Jump to
Sheffield  York  Leeds  Hull  Bradford 
 

Sheffield

  • Sheffield Millenium Galleries. One of Sheffield's modern landmark public spaces and home to the city's unique Ruskin and metalwork collections.
  • Sheffield Winter Garden. This impressive multi award-winning winter garden is one of the largest temperate glasshouses to be built in the UK and has created a stunning green oasis with more than 2,500 plants from around the world.
  • Sheffield Botanical Gardens cover 19 acres and were first opened in 1836. The site has fifteen different garden areas featuring collections of plants from all over the world, and also contains several listed buildings including the restored Grade II* listed curvilinear Glass Pavilions, some of the earliest ever built.

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York

  • National Railway Museum is a must visit, with a collection that includes over 100 locomotives and nearly 200 other items of rolling stock, telling the railway story from the early 19th century to the present day. With free entry, numerous family activities and changing exhibitions, it's not to be missed.
  • York Minster is northern Europe's greatest gothic cathedral. Discover the Minster's fascinating history in the Undercroft, Treasury and Crypt, and gaze from the top of the Central Tower looking out onto the medieval streets of historic York and to the countryside beyond.
  • JORVIK Viking Centre. Discover what life was really like over 1000 years ago in one of the most popular visitor attractions in the UK. Journey through the reconstruction of Viking-Age streets, as they would have been in the year AD975, explore three exciting exhibitions and come face to face with a 'Viking'. 
  • York Castle Museum, one of Britain's leading museums of everyday life, shows how people used to live by displaying thousands of household objects and by recreating rooms, shops, streets - and even prison cells.
  • Fairfax House is the finest Georgian townhouse in England. The house is owned by York Civic Trust who carried out major restoration work in the 1980s to return this magnificent building to its former glory.
  • The Quilt Museum and Gallery is Britain's first museum dedicated to quilt making and textile arts, and home to The Quilters' Guild of the British Isles and its world-famous Heritage Quilt Collection.

 

 

Leeds

  • Royal Armouries Museum has over 8,000 objects displayed in five galleries - War, Tournament, Oriental, Self Defence and Hunting. One of the most impressive items is the Elephant Armour, which is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest animal armour in the world.
  • The award-winning Thackray Museum is one of the UK's leading medical museums. With 10 exhibitions to experience, you can step back in time to 1842 to experience the sights and sounds of Victorian Leeds, find out how scientific discoveries helped us to understand disease and revolutionise medicine and get interactive in Life Zone! the interactive children's gallery.
  • The Henry Moore Institute boasts three beautiful gallery spaces hosting an ever-changing programme of exhibitions accompanied by tours, talks and events which explore sculpture from ancient to modern.
  • Leeds Art Gallery is home to one of the best collections of 20th century British art outside London. Offering exhibitions, displays, learning programmes, events and activities, Leeds Art Gallery is a great place for all ages.
  • Leeds City Museum. Come face-to-face with the Leeds Tiger, step into 'Ancient Worlds' and see the final resting place of the Leeds Mummy. You can even dig for fossils in the 'Life on Earth' gallery. Showcasing exhibitions, displays, interactive games and  video displays, the museum offers an exciting and fun day out for visitors of all ages.

     

     

 

Hull

  • The Deep is one of the most spectacular aquariums in the world. Dedicated to increasing enjoyment and understanding of the worlds oceans, this award-winning family attraction is home to 40 sharks and over 3,500 fish. A vast array of marine life can be seen in over thirty aquatic exhibits which range from the shallow tropical seas to the icy depths of the deep ocean.
  • Streetlife, Museum of Transport lets you step back in time with 200 years of transport history. Experience the sights, sounds and smells of the past, walk down a 1940s high street, board a goods train and enjoy a carriage ride on a thrilling journey back in time.
  • Come aboard Hull's last sidewinder trawler the Arctic Corsair and let the crew take you on a guided tour. You'll hear all about life at sea and the dangers deep sea trawlermen faced in the Icelandic fishing grounds. (Tour season - March to October).
  • The birthplace of slavery abolitionist William Wilberforce, Wilberforce House Museum explores the history of slavery, abolition and the legacy of slavery today. Recently re-opened after a multi-million-pound refurbishment and it now forms the centrepiece in the city's commemorations of the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire.
  • Visit the Hull and East Riding Museum to see the only dinosaur bones to have been found in East Yorkshire, mysterious Bronze Age warriors, and spectacular treasures from the Middle Ages. Stroll through an Iron Age village and visit a Roman bath house - from majestic mammoths to Saxon invaders, visitors can look forward to an experience that is unique, educational and fun.

Bradford

  • National Media Museum, Bradford – Take a voyage of discovery at the National Media Museum. Explore the five free interactive galleries and experience IMAX with a screen so huge you actually become part of the action.
  • Bradford's Industrial Museum has permanent displays of textile machinery, steam power, engineering and motor vehicles, along with an exciting exhibitions programme. Enjoy the splendour of the Mill Owner's House, or visit the more humble Mill-workers' terraces. Moorside Mills is also home to the museum's team of working horses - weather permitting, you can also enjoy a ride in a horse-drawn vehicle.