5-star hotels in Leyburn

Leyburn is a plain, practical Wensleydale town built around a huge market square, with a limestone terrace walk that runs two miles above the dale and the racehorses of Middleham two miles away. Friday is market day and the square fills with stalls by 8am; the Sandpiper Inn, Campbells of Leyburn and Tennants Auctioneers on Harmby Road give the town its eating, shopping and browsing. It is not a pretty town in the Richmond sense, but on a June evening with the light going long over Penhill it is one of the best addresses in the Dales.

The hotels on this list sit in the town itself and in the villages around it: Leyburn, West Witton, Middleham, East Witton, Aysgarth, Reeth and Redmire all appear in the addresses. Several are cottages and farmhouses with kitchens, gardens and parking, so they suit families and longer stays; the two inns, The Wensleydale Heifer and The Burgoyne Hotel, with restaurants, bars and room service, suit couples and short breaks. Business travellers are few here, and the auction calendar and the gallops are the closest thing to a reason to come midweek.

Getting there and around

Northallerton, seventeen miles east, is the nearest East Coast Main Line station — around 20 minutes from York and 2h30 from London — and the 856 bus links it to Leyburn and on to Hawes, though only a few times a day and barely at all on Sundays. The 156 comes over from Richmond and the 159 up from Ripon via Masham; all stop on the Market Place itself. Darlington is 24 miles by road and the usual choice for a hire car. Leyburn is compact, so once you are in the town you walk it; the Wensleydale Railway station on Harmby Road is a heritage line running a handful of days a week in season and very little in winter, so check the timetable before you build a day around it.

When to go

Friday is market day, with the square full of stalls by 8am. The site is blunt about the rest: on a Tuesday in February it can feel bleak, while on a June evening with the light going long over Penhill it is one of the best addresses in the Dales. The limestone terrace walk is free and open all year, generally firm underfoot. Tupgill Park at Coverham must be booked in advance and often sells out in school holidays, so plan summer and half-term visits around that.