Kettlewell

Kettlewell's accommodation matches its village scale: characterful rather than corporate, and geared towards walkers exploring Upper Wharfedale. The Racehorses Hotel, Bluebell Inn and King's Head all offer rooms above their bars, putting you a few steps from a pint and a meal at the end of a day on Great Whernside or the Dales Way. Beyond the pubs, expect a scattering of stone-built bed and breakfasts and self-catering cottages tucked along the beck and up the lanes towards the church, many run by locals who know the best routes up onto the fells. A YHA youth hostel sits just outside the village, a popular and affordable option for walkers tackling the Dales Way or the wider Wharfedale circuit, while further afield in Grassington and Skipton you will find a wider spread of hotels and larger guesthouses if Kettlewell itself is booked up, particularly around the August Scarecrow Festival when the village fills quickly. Whatever you choose, Kettlewell's compact layout means nothing is ever more than a short walk from the river, the church or the start of a fell path, making it an easy base for a short Dales break without needing a car once you have arrived.

Kettlewell rewards slow exploration more than any single big attraction. Its appeal is the walking, the river, and the sense of stepping into a working Dales village that has barely changed its footprint in centuries.

• Great Whernside — the tough but rewarding climb east out of the village to one of the Yorkshire Dales' best-known summits, with views back over Wharfedale and across to Buckden Pike.
• The Dales Way — Kettlewell sits directly on this 78-mile riverside trail, with gentle sections north to Buckden and south to Kilnsey and Grassington ideal for a shorter day out.
• St Mary's Church — a parish church with origins reaching back to around 1120, rebuilt in the 19th century but still holding traces of its medieval past.
• Upper Wharfedale — the wider dale around Kettlewell, with drystone-walled meadows, hay barns and the River Wharfe itself offering some of the classic scenery the national park is known for.
• Kettlewell Scarecrow Festival — a much-loved community event held every August, when the village fills with home-made scarecrows tied to a different theme each year, drawing visitors from across the Dales for a weekend.
• Kilnsey Crag — a dramatic limestone overhang a short drive or walk down the dale, popular with climbers and a well-known Wharfedale landmark.
• Buckden Pike — another substantial fell walk accessible from the village, with a war memorial cross near the summit commemorating a wartime plane crash.
• Scargill House — a Christian conference and retreat centre just outside the village, set in its own grounds above the river.

For its size, Kettlewell punches well above its weight for pubs, with three to choose from: the Racehorses Hotel, the Bluebell Inn and the King's Head, all serving proper Dales pub food and local ales after a day on the fells. There are also village cafes and a shop for picnic supplies and walkers' essentials, making Kettlewell an easy place to refuel whether you have just come down off Great Whernside or are breaking a longer Dales Way itinerary.

Wild camping without the landowner's permission is against the law in England, Kettlewell included, so pitching up on the open fellside around Great Whernside or Buckden Pike is not an option here without first asking. Fortunately Upper Wharfedale has a good spread of proper campsites within a short distance of the village, ranging from simple farm fields with basic facilities to larger sites with showers, hook-ups and space for tourers, tents and campervans alike. The terrain around Kettlewell is classic Dales limestone country: steep-sided valleys, drystone-walled pastures and open moorland tops, so pitches tend to sit on the flatter valley floor near the Wharfe rather than up on the fells themselves, and even summer nights can turn cool once the sun drops behind the dale sides, so a good sleeping bag is worth packing whatever the season.

Late spring through early autumn is the most comfortable window for camping here, when the ground has dried out after winter and the long daylight hours leave plenty of time for walking Great Whernside, following the Dales Way, or simply sitting out with a view of the fells. The August Scarecrow Festival brings a lively atmosphere to the village and its campsites but also its busiest weekend of the year, so booking ahead is wise if you want to combine the two. Outside that window, autumn camping can be beautiful and much quieter, with bracken turning gold on the fellsides, though nights draw in fast and a decent tent and layers matter more than they do in July.

For those who want the Dales scenery without pitching a tent themselves, glamping has taken hold across Upper Wharfedale in recent years, with shepherd's huts, pods and safari-style tents offering a warmer, more sheltered alternative that still puts you right in the landscape. Many of these sit on working farms in the dale, giving a genuine sense of rural Yorkshire life alongside easy access to Kettlewell's pubs, shop and the walking routes that fan out from the village in every direction.