5-star hotels in Richmond

Richmond is the best-looking market town in the north of England and it rather knows it. The Norman keep rises a hundred feet on a bluff above the River Swale, the cobbled market place is one of the largest in the country, and Holy Trinity church sits marooned in the middle of it. Streets run downhill from the square — Finkle Street, Frenchgate, Bargate, Newbiggin — and most of it is cobbled somewhere. Start at The Batts below the castle, follow the Swale past the falls and the old railway path, and reach the ruined Premonstratensian abbey in about 25 minutes; the neighbouring church of St Agatha has thirteenth-century wall paintings. Swaledale begins where the houses end.

These 5-star properties sit in two bands. In the town itself are Swaledale Old School Rooms and Wensleydale Old School Rooms on Dundas Street, The Chambers on Queens Road and Frenchgate Mews on Frenchgate, all within walking distance of the castle, theatre, museum and The Station. The rest are in the villages and countryside around it — Middleton Tyas, Catterick, West Layton, Whashton, Dalton, Newsham, Hargill Lane, High Green and Langthwaite. That split shapes who each one suits: couples and small groups for the town apartments, families and longer stays for the cottages with gardens and kitchens, and business or celebration trips for the serviced lodge.

Getting there and around

Richmond has no railway station — the line closed in 1969 and the station is now a cinema and food hall. Darlington is your railhead, twelve miles away on the East Coast Main Line, with the 34 bus running into Richmond market place in about 35 minutes; Northallerton is a further alternative if you are coming from Leeds. Book a taxi in advance for late arrivals, as evening buses thin out badly after 7pm. On foot you can reach the castle, theatre, museum, The Station and Easby Abbey, but beyond that you are relying on the 34 to Darlington and the sparse 30 up Swaledale, so check the last departure times before you commit to a day out.

When to go

Come for the castle at opening time before the coach parties, and for the falls when the Swale is in spate after rain. Richmond is steep, and the cobbled climbs of Cornforth Hill and Bargate are hard work in winter ice, while the riverside path to Easby Abbey is at its best in dry weather. Most kitchens stop around 8.30pm midweek, and by half eleven the town is silent, so plan late evenings elsewhere.