4- and 5-star hotels in Northallerton

Northallerton is a county town with a broad market High Street, Bettys, and mainline trains — a practical, unglamorous base between Dales and Moors. The town at 9pm on a weekday is quiet: Bettys shut at half five, most High Street shops by four on a Saturday, and the pubs steady rather than busy. There is a decent cluster of eating around the top of the High Street and at Treadmills, the redevelopment of the old Victorian prison behind the Applegarth. On market days, particularly Saturday morning, the town has real energy from about eight until two, and then it drains away.

These hotels sit both in the town and in the villages around it. The Northallerton Inn The Inn Collection Group and Host & Stay The Cobbles are on or just off the High Street, and Host & Stay Graham House is on West End, all within the central grid. Porch House is on High Street too. Others are further out: The Cleveland Tontine at Staddlebridge, Woodlands Farm, Garden House and Webstone House at Thimbleby, Willowgarth House at Great Smeaton, The Byre at East Cowton, Old Reading Room and The Boiler House at Osmotherley, Lovesome Pod at Lovesome Hill, The Chalet at Welbury, and Black Horse Cottage at Swainby. The mix suits couples after a quiet weekend, families wanting space and kitchens, and business travellers who need parking and a straightforward run to the station.

Getting there and around

Northallerton has mainline trains, which makes it a straightforward base between the Dales and the Moors and an easy run to York and Durham. In town, the broad High Street holds the market stalls from about 8am to 3pm, bigger on Saturday, with the covered Applegarth market area behind. Most shops on the High Street close by four on a Saturday and Bettys at half five, so plan an evening around the top of the High Street or Treadmills. Free car parking appears at almost every hotel on this list, so a car is practical for the surrounding villages.

When to go

Market days give the town its energy: stalls run down the broad High Street from about 8am to 3pm, and Saturday is the bigger day, with the crowd draining away by two. Outside those hours Northallerton is quiet, and a weekday evening is quieter still. In general terms, spring and early autumn are the comfortable seasons for combining the town with the surrounding moorland villages and Cod Beck Reservoir.