Railway Tracks and Walking in the Yorkshire Dales

Make your own way to our hotel in Skipton where you’ll meet an experienced Tour Manager. Enjoy a relaxing evening with dinner in the hotel.

The award-winning Embsay & Bolton Abbey Railway was once part of the former Midland Railway route from Skipton to Ilkley. This morning, we’ll relax in one of the beautifully restored Edwardian and Victorian carriages as we’re pulled by a vintage steam locomotive through some of Yorkshire’s finest countryside. We’ll alight at Bolton Abbey Station, which is the start of today’s walk.

The Bolton Abbey River Loop is part of the Dales Way, taking us along the River Wharf to Barden Bridge. This fantastic riverside walk through the Bolton Estate is a chance for us to see plenty of wildlife. Look out for a fascinating variety of birds, such as wagtails, oystercatchers, kingfishers, ducks and geese, as well as plenty of wild flowers. During the walk, we’ll see the river flow through a small gorge and have the chance to explore the Abbey ruins.

This is an easy 7-mile walk along mostly flat and well-marked paths, lasting approximately 3.5 hours. There is an option to shorten this – your Tour Manager and local guides will provide details if required.

We return to our hotel by coach and enjoy dinner this evening.

This morning, we board the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway for a fantastic one-way trip on this 5-mile branch line that was built to serve the mill trades in the late 19th century. Our journey starts in Keighley at the foot of the beautiful Worth Valley. In total, we’ll see six stations, including the tiny station at Damems which once served a small mill nearby, and the charming station at Oakworth that shot to fame in the Railway Children. We alight in the Pennine village of Oxenhope surrounded by rolling hills and windswept moorland.

Lower Laithe Reservoir is the start of our Brontë Moor Walk. We’ll pass the Brontë Bridge and waterfall as we walk to Top Withens before returning via the Pennine Way to the reservoir. The world of Wuthering Heights is brought to life in Haworth, home of the Brontë sisters.

This is a moderate 5.5-mile walk along country roads and well-marked paths with some hills, lasting approximately 3.5 hours. There is an option to shorten this – your Tour Manager and local guides will provide details if required.

We’ll have time to enjoy this delightfully quaint town before returning to Skipton, where dinner will be served in our hotel.

After breakfast, we’ll take a leisurely stroll along the Leeds and Liverpool canal path to Skipton Railway Station, where we board the train and travel on a section of the Settle to Carlisle Railway. Here, we begin our walk up onto the Pennine Bridleway to enjoy the beautiful views that stretch far and wide across the Dales. Along our route, we’ll pass a number of caves carved from limestone synonymous with this area. They include the famous Victoria Cave, which was discovered by chance in 1837, the year of Queen Victoria’s coronation. Archaeological finds from the cave include bones of long extinct animals dating back 130,000 years.

This is a moderate 6.5-mile walk along well-marked paths, some hills and bridleways, lasting approximately 3.5 hours. There is an option to shorten this – your Tour Manager and local guides will provide details if required.

There are also 1.5 mile walks each way between the hotel and Skipton station.

At the end of our walk, there is time to stop for coffee in the market town of Settle before we take the train back to Skipton.

After a leisurely breakfast and checking out of our hotel, it is time to make your own way home.