York Holiday and Cycle Stop

York, of course: the York Cycle Stop owners reckon it'll take most folk 20 to 30 minutes to pedal the five miles to York station, either via the National Cycle Network 66 or an alternative direct route. Once there, secure your bike where you fancy (around 1,000 cycle parking spots are around the city, half of these safely at York station), then set off to sightsee: popular spots include fab York Minster, the Jorvik Viking Centre, the shops and market of the Shambles, York’s Chocolate Story and the National Railway Museum. If you're around in the evening (as you should be, York pubs are stellar), York ghost walks are a hoot. Outside York, drive for 20 minutes north to reach Castle Howard, the famed stately home of the Carlisle family for over 300 years and used as Brideshead in the UK production of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited.