From Ilkley to the dramatic Lake District through the beautiful Yorkshire Dales with its plethora of tiny villages, this walk straddles attractive Wharfedale, crossing the Pennine watershed in sight of Yorkshire’s ‘Three Peaks. Take in Dentdale and Sedbergh, walking the banks of rivers, through ancient woods and pastureland into the Lake District.
At times isolated, but always utterly beautiful, enjoy a landscape much unchanged for centuries, but with remnants of the cotton and wool mills of the industrial revolution and non-conformist chapels that once dotted this land. Admire wonderful dry stonewalls, churches and monuments, manor houses, Roman monuments, suspension bridges and viaducts set in a stunning and rugged landscape. To all this we have added 2 night stays in characterful and small, luxury hotels that represent the charm of the Dales we love so much.
Holiday details
Price
- Luxury
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from £3,695 per person
For a Sunday start. Other start days maybe possible
Based on two people sharing a room
Duration
9 nights
Start & Finish
Starts Sundays from Ilkley. Trains run from London Kings Cross to Ilkley via Leeds, we will meet you at Ilkley station and transfer you to your first hotel. Tour finishes at Bowness-on-Windermere with an onward transfer to Oxenholme station.
Hotels
- Luxury
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3 and 4 star country house hotels and one inn
Holiday type
Self-guided so you are free to explore at your own pace. More info...
Activity level
Not so gentle walking. More info...
Mileage
7 days of walking 7 - 13 miles (11-21 km)
Terrain
Some gentle hills
What’s included?
Ensuite accommodation every night with breakfast. The services of our friendly local Hosts. Luggage transfers between hotels. 24/7 phone contact number. Adventure Handbook with our local tips. GPS Routes on an App with waterproof phone holder. Guidebook or OS maps. Protection of your funds. Advice, help and guidance planning your trip.
The luxury tour includes transfers at the beginning and end of each day to and from your hotel. Read About Our Trips for further details
Options
- add an extra day of 13 miles between Day 7 and day 8 to walk the full Dales Way
- walk the Dales High Way as an option on some days
- take a tour of the Lake District on Day 9 with a private driver guide or join a groiup
- hire a classic car for a half day to visit Herriot Country
- extend your walking through the Lake District by including some of our Quintessential Lake District tour
- hop on a train at the end of the trip and include a walk or tour in Scotland just 64 miles northwards
Itinerary day-by-day
Luxury
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1. Day one
Arrive in the Yorkshire Dales
We will transfer you from the local station to your hotel, where you will spend the next two nights. Your friendly local host will meet you and brief you on your walk, answering any questions that you may have. Breathe in that clear Yorkshire air, hire a classic car for the afternoon to explore and prepare yourself for a stunning week’s walking.
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2. Day two
Ilkley to Bolton Abbey
Transfer to Ilkley for the start of the walk at The Old Bridge. Dominated by Ilkley Moor, the village of Ilkley, an important centre since the Bronze Age, is a fitting start for your walk of the Dales Way. Spend a moment exploring attractive Ilkley before following the River Wharf past old mills and Quaker houses to the remains of Bolton Priory, closed by Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. Spend time exploring the ruins before walking back to your hotel.
6 miles (9 km)
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3. Day three
Bolton Abbey to Grassington
Walking on via Strid Wood, a naturalists paradise, sixty-two different species of bird are thought to nest here. Burnsall itself is attractive and an excellent example of a Dales village with a five-arched bridge, church and village green; a perfect place for lunch. Follow the banks of the river through Loup Scar, onto Grassington and Buckden with excellent views of the Upper Dales from the summit of Conistone Pie. The path you’re walking is ancient and over a thousand years old. Admire the cascading Wharfe at Linton passing through Grassington with its attractive cobbled market square, once a centre for textiles and lead mining, where we will meet you at the end of the day.
11 miles (18 km)
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4. Day four
Grassington to Buckden
Start the day with a transfer back to Grassington, to walk through the jumbled up and sheltered village of Kettlewell heading for Starbotton with its seventeenth and eighteenth century houses which are lead-mining dominated. Head on to Buckden, the valley of the bucks with Wharfe Bridge, once named ‘Election Bridge’ as local politicians always promised to widen it come election time. We will meet you here at the Buck Inn to take you to your hotel for the next two nights.
10 miles (16 km)
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5. Day five
Buckden to Ribblehead
Returning to Buckden, you will need a picnic today as you walk on to Hubberholme where you can admire the oak rood loft in the Church of Saint Michael and All Angels. It is one of the few that have survived through the Reformation. You'll love the unique limestone beds at Beckermonds before walking on towards Oughtershaw and Cam Fell -a land untouched for hundreds of years comprising pastures and meadowlands. Pass over the highest point of the Dales Way, 1,705ft (520m), taking the Cam High Road, a prehistoric route developed by the Romans to attack the local Brigantes. Finish the day in sight of the jaw dropping 24 span Ribblehead Viaduct which stands out against the stark moorland.
13 miles (21 km)
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6. Day six
Ribblehead to Dent
Today is pretty again with fine views through the valleys of the beautiful Fells, the Vikings having cleared and settled this way. Enjoy a picnic once more today as refreshment stops are few along this delightfully isolated section of the route. Walking beside rivers into Dent, admire beautiful stone houses in this village, often described as a ‘terrestrial paradise.’ In the seventeenth and eighteenth century Dent was well known for its hand-knitting and we will meet you here.
9 miles (14 km)
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7. Day seven
Dent to Sedbergh
We will take you back to Dent this morning to continue your walk through charming meadows alongside the River Dee with high fells on your left and woodland creeping up to the banks dotted with wagtails and chaffinches. Stiles abound and some lovely views of Dentdale as you approach the pretty village of Millthrop. Now following the Rawthey River find buildings and hamlets, remnants of the cotton and linen industry and a charming rural scene. We meet you and transfer you to Sedbergh, an attractive historic town with Saxon remains of a motte and bailey castle, its prosperity largely due to the woollen industry.
9 miles (15 km)
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8. Day eight
Burneside to Bowness
We transfer you across the M6 motorway to Burneside today for your walk to Staveley, settled between the River Gowan and the River Kent, the area surrounding the village settled over 6,000 years ago and a centre for the manufacture of bobbins in the nineteenth century. It’s a dramatic last day as you walk into the Lake District, sweet green pastureland and grassy knolls giving way to the magical beauty of the lakes. Congratulations you have walked the Dales Way!
9 miles (14 km)
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9. Day nine
Bowness on Windermere
Spend today in the Lake District celebrating your Dales Way walk, taking a boat on Lake Windermere and visiting Beatrix Potter’s home. There is so much to do here, and you are surrounded by the beauty of the mountains and lakes.
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10. Day ten
Depart
Depart with a transfer to Oxenholme, your nearest railway station.