York and Yorkshire Dales

Don't use Rome2Rio. It can be very inaccurate.

I would go straight to LNER, which is the railway that you will be buying tickets from. You will need to take the train to Skipton, and from there catch the bus to Grassington. https://www.lner.co.uk

On your return, you will again need to take a bus to Skipton, and from there, get a train into London (use LNER again). From there you will head to London to the King's Cross station. Frequent services run from Skipton to Leeds, where you can transfer to a high-speed LNER train to London Kings Cross. This is the most common route, with several departures per hour. Once at London Kings Cross, transfer to the Piccadilly Line (tube) and that will take you straight to Heathrow.

Of course, if you're planning a stay in London after your return, then you would go to your next destination once you get to the King's Cross Station in London.

We stayed overnight, and had dinner at, the Black Horse Hotel in August 2023 when we were walking Lady Anne's Way. I don't have any particular memories of it, so I'm sure it was fine.

pdo, have you checked into this b &b in Grassington?

https://craiglandsbnb.co.uk/

We were going to stay there when I was trying to choose our next UK trip destination. Lovely owners of their own small bed and breakfast that I corresponded with several times. I don’t know your dates, so I am not sure of availability, but I thought I would pass it on in case.

Note that there are at least 2 ways of getting from Bath to Yorkshire - one via London and the other by taking the 15 minute hop to Bristol and then a through Cross Country Train to Leeds (where you change for Skipton) or continue to York on the same train.

You might find this journey easier by going Bath > Skipton (via change at Bristol & Leeds); then Skipton > York and finally York straight down to London (Kings Cross).

Although you could buy the tickets for all these journeys via the LNER website - even though it uses different train companies - apart from York to Kings Cross, LNER won't tell you if splitting the ticket reduces total price paid for such a trip.

https://www.traintickets.com/?/ is a ticket selling site that will come up with split tickets reducing the price. It even has little diagrammatic maps to show the route(s). I suggest you test it out for say mid March and compare that same future March day with LNER and you will see what I mean.

https://trainsplit.com is another of these split ticket retailing sites to reduce the price of the overall journey - so check that out as well.

Note that both the above sites are officially approved & charge a commission of the amount saved whereas LNER and the other train companies do not.

Don't bother with RometoRio.

Thank you so much everyone. I have found the links and suggestions very helpful.

Hi pdoquietwood -

To answer your question about taking a tour of the Yorkshire Dales from York, yes, that’s probably the best way to do it. Grassington is tiny in comparison and people tend to head there rather than travel from there if that makes any sense. Check out BOBH (Bobs Holidays) and Mountain Goat websites who both run tours of the Dales from York. Be careful with your choices - they both also offer trips out to the North Yorkshire Moors, which while a favourite of mine, are not the Dales - the Dales are generally west of York and the NY Moors are east towards the coast.

You can travel under your own steam on regular service buses from Grassington to go further afield from there, specifically I’m thinking of The Little White Bus which heads into upper Wharfedale, but there are other services too. These all depart from the large car park (lot) near the foot of the Main Street. There’s a large Tourist information office/shop in the car park who I have found to be helpful if you need advice and info regarding your options.

As regards travel to Heathrow from Grassington, the route advice you’ve been given - bus to Skipton, train (probably Northern Rail) to Leeds, LNER train to London Kings Cross, Piccadilly Line tube from Kings Cross to Heathrow - is exactly the way I’d do it in your shoes.

Have a great trip - feel free to ask if you need any advice on Yorkshire based matters!

Ian

With regards to Castle Howard, it’s doable, but Castle Howard is huge. The castle is huge, the grounds are huge and if you really want to see it thoroughly, it will take you a long time. I would probably allot at least four hours if not

Keep in mind that I don’t know what the volunteers tour of York entails so it may be that is not as time-consuming.

In May 2024, we stayed in the cottage at Ashfield House in Grassington. I see I made the reservation in late Feb for the early May date. At that time, it was owned by a private family. Very spacious and right off the main town square.