Swaleview Park

If you're a cyclist who likes a challenge, Swaleview Park lies close to the route of the 2014 Tour de France, while the long distance trails of the Coast to Coast Walk – a 192 mile-long route passing passes through the Lake District National Park, the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and the North York Moors National Park – and the Pennine Way are both minutes from the site. A number of cracking good walks and bike trails are start or pass through the nearby village of Reeth (10 minutes' drive), where Swaledale and Arkengarthdale, two of the county's most northerly dales join up. It's the same distance to Richmond, for visits to the Norman castle, the ruins of Easby Abbey and the Green Howards Regimental Museum, nosing round the ancient cobbled market for picnic treats to tuck into by the river or taking in the waterfalls. Further afield, there's the tiny cathedral city of Ripon (45 minutes), also worth a look for its Workhouse Museum, Prison and Police Museum and the birdwatching opportunities of Quarry Moor Nature Reserve. If you're feeling peckish after all that wandering, make your way over to the Wensleydale Creamery, also 45 minutes, to learn all about the legendary Yorkshire cheese... and then eat it.