Aislabeck Plantation

There’s no need to travel all too far to start appreciating Yorkshire. With jaunts into Richmond (a five-minute drive, roughly two miles), guests will have a castle to clamber about, Abbey ruins to explore, museums to visit, and scenic falls to photograph or gaze wistfully upon. Days in the great wide open are within easy reach too, even without trips into the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It’s about five minutes to the National Trust’s Hudswell Woods for birdwatching, woodland strolls and riverside picnics, and 20 minutes to the gardens at Constable Burton Hall. Within half an hour, guests can be strolling around the Thorp Perrow Victorian-style arboretum or the folly garden at Forbidden Corner. Chug into the past with a ride on the 22-mile heritage Wensleydale Railway – running between Northallerton and Redmire – which can be joined 20 minutes from base, then stick around in yesteryear on visits to Bolton Castle, Moreton Hall, Middleham Castle, Jervaulx Abbey and Braithwaite Hall, all within half an hour. When urban days beckon, it’s about 25 minutes to the ships, museums and restaurants of Darlington, and 45 minutes to the larger Middlesbrough. Prefer something more pastoral? It’s also 45 minutes from base to tours of the home of one of Yorkshire’s most well-known exports: Wensleydale cheese.