Understand

Harrogate is a beautiful Victorian spa town in the English county of North Yorkshire. Home to the famous Betty's tea rooms, Harlow Carr Gardens and Harrogate Spa Water. In addition to being a charming floral town Harrogate is a popular convention town (the center of town includes a large convention center). As a result it has many good restaurants and hotels and a pleasant, walkable center of town. Also, it can be difficult to get hotel reservations during the summer. Northwest of Harrogate is "Herriott country", the area where James Herriott lived and wrote the books All things Great and Small/Bright and beautiful, etc. This remains a picturesque, relatively untouched area (unlike the nearby commercialized 'Lake District') that makes for several pleasant daylong drive.

'''Harrogate was voted as the 3rd and 5th 'Best Places to Live in the UK' in 2005 and 2006 respectively.'''

Get in

By plane

The closest airport is '''Leeds-Bradford International Airport''' (LBA), offering direct flights daily to London and Amsterdam. Major airlines include '''BMI''',''' KLM''' and '''Jet2.com''' (based at Leeds-Bradford Airport). ''' Bus2Jet''' [http://getdown.org.uk/bus/bus/767.htm] run a bus every 90 minutes from the Airport to Harrogate.

By train

North Yorkshire is served by both '''Virgin''' [http://www.virgintrains.co.uk/default.aspx] and '''National Express East Coast''' [http://www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com/] lines. The closest major rail stations are in Leeds and York. The Harrogate train station provides direct links to York and Leeds.

By car

Easily accessed from the '''A1'''. Top tip: If travelling north on the A1 take the exit to Wetherby rather than waiting for the Harrogate exit. You'll get there quicker and go through the lovely town of Wetherby.

By bus

The main bus service to Harrogate is '''the Harrogate & District 36''' [http://getdown.org.uk/bus/bus/36.htm] from Leeds, which runs every 20 minutes (every 30 minutes on Sunday), and continues to Ripon. The bus and train stations are conveniently located next to each other.

Get around

There are frequent bus services [http://getdown.org.uk/bus/search/harrogate.htm] around Harrogate and Knaresborough and to neighbouring towns and villages, most of them operated by '''Harrogate & District''' [http://www.harrogateanddistrict.co.uk/] using modern low-floor buses. The main road from Harrogate to Knaresborough sees a bus every 8 minutes during the daytime.

'''Northern Rail''' [http://www.northernrail.org] run a half-hourly train service from Harrogate to local stations at Knaresborough, Starbeck, Hornbeam Park and Pannal, continuing to Leeds in one direction and York in the other.

The town is reasonably compact, so '''walking''' and '''cycling''' are great ways to get around and see the town at its best.

As the town is crossed by two main roads, the A61 and A59, it can suffer badly from congestion at peak times, so driving is not recommended if you can find another way of getting around.

See

Do

Visit the famous '''Betty's tearooms''' a favourite of the Queen when she visits the area. Due to its popularity there are long queues to eat in the cafe at weekends however if you don't want to wait you can get everything for a picnic from the onsite bakery.

Also don't miss a visit to the historical '''Valley Gardens''', a short walk from the town centre, or '''Harlow Carr Gardens''' (which also now has its own Betty's). '''Harrogate''' is also famous for its floral displays having won many awards and these displays can be seen throughout the town.

  • Take a '''hot air balloon''' [http://www.virginballoonflights.co.uk/balloon-rides-yorkshire-harrogate.asp]
  • Learn

    Work

    Buy

    Eat

    A very good place to eat for vegetarians, vegans (or non vegetarians), is Wild Ginger on Station Parade. Behind the 'Green House' health food shop.

    Budget

    Mid-range

    Splurge

    Drink

    Sleep

    Budget

    Mid-range

  • '''Swallow St George''' [http://www.swallow-hotels.com/hotels/swallow-st-george]. <sleep name="" alt="" address="1 Ripon Road, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG1 2SY" directions="" phone="01423 561431" email="gm.stgeorge@crerarmgmt.com" fax="" checkin="" checkout="" price=""> An Edwardian Hotel in the city centre offering restaurant and leisure facilities.</sleep>
  • Splurge

    Contact

    Stay safe

    Harrogate is mostly a very safe town, and even at night you are unlikely to encounter more than the odd scuffle between people leaving the pubs and clubs in the early hours of the morning. The binge drinking culture is present, but probably less pronounced than in mosdt towns of comparable size.

    Of course, as with any town, caution is advised when alone, especially in low-lit areas and at night. The town has a very low crime rate, even in the suburbs, but it is advisable to be cautious at night if staying in the suburbs. It is also advisable to avoid visiting or passing through the Valley Gardens after dark due to the relatively high crime rate after dark in that area. Though very safe and very popular for families and tourists during the day, like any town park it has its share of undesireables late at night.

    Cope

    Get out