dossier

The Yorkshire Dales

Trail Facts

Total distance: 78 miles (125km)
Duration: 8 days/7 nights, 6 days walking
Minimum/maximum daily distances: 10 miles (16km)/17miles (27km)
Waymarking: The trail is waymarked with Dales Way symbols and is very easy to follow.

Itinerary

Day 1: Travel to Ilkley, where your first nights accommodation has been booked.

Day 2: Ilkley to Burnsall. 12 miles (19km)

Day 3: Burnsall to Buckden. 14 miles (22.5km).

Day 4: Buckden to Lea Yat. 17 miles (27km).

Day 5: Lea Yat to Sedbergh. 10 miles (16km).

Day 6: Sedbergh to Grayrigg. 12 miles (19km).

Day 7: Grayrigg to Windermere. 13 miles (21km).

Day 8: Depart from Windermere after breakfast.

Extra nights/Rest days

Burnsall has an idyllic setting; heather covered hills look down upon a village green complete with maypole bordering the River Wharfe, a sturdy bridge with massive breakwaters, an inn, church, school and ancient mullioned windowed cottages. St Wilfrid's church has many fascinating features; a tapsel gate - a lychgate with a revolving 'turnstile' entrance, a medieval Adoration of the Magi, a Norman inscribed font and Viking 'hog-backed' gravestones. The school next door was one of the countries earliest grammar schools. Buckden is another good choice for a rest day. It is an attractive jumble of stone cottages, with a shop and a lovely old inn, perched on the hillside overlooking the River Wharfe. Many people have an extra day in Sedbergh, it is a very pleasant market town. Windermere at the end of the trail is a good choice for an extra night if you would like to explore the southern Lake District.

What's included

• 7 nights accommodation in en-suite rooms with private bathrooms (where available) in selected hotels, inns and guesthouses and farmhouse B&B's.
• Full English breakfast.
• Door to door luggage transfer along the trail.
• A set of maps with the route marked on and a guidebook describing the trail.
• An information pack containing an itinerary, detailed instructions on how to find your accommodation each night, town plans, information about facilities and places of interest along the trail and a kit list.
• Detailed travel instructions on how to get to the start of your holiday and back from the end of it.
• Emergency assistance

Travel Information

Detailed instructions on how to get to the start of the holiday and back from the end of it are sent to you on booking. A summary is given below.

Most convenient major city and International airports: Manchester. There is a regular train service from Manchester Airport to Ilkley (2 hours 20 minutes).

Outward journey from London to Ilkley: There is a fast and frequent service from London Kings Cross to Ilkley (3 ½ hours).

Return journey to London at the end of the holiday: Train from Windermere to London Kings Cross (5 ½ hours).