Leeds

Leeds is compact enough that where you stay matters less for logistics than it might elsewhere, but it still shapes the character of a visit. Basing yourself in the city centre, around City Square, the Headrow or Trinity Leeds, puts the arcades, Kirkgate Market and the main nightlife strip within easy walking distance, and suits anyone without a car who wants to fit in a lot over a short stay. It is also the best choice for business trips, with the railway station and most of the office district within a few minutes on foot.

For a slightly quieter feel without sacrificing convenience, the Calls and Granary Wharf area south of the station has become the city's boutique hotel quarter, with converted Victorian mills and warehouses along the River Aire and the canal towpath offering a more design-conscious alternative to the big chain hotels clustered around the centre. It is still an easy stroll to everything, but feels calmer on weekend nights when the main nightlife streets get busy.

Visitors combining a city break with a Test match, a Leeds Rhinos fixture or simply wanting a more residential, student-town atmosphere should look at Headingley, a couple of miles north with its own concentration of pubs, cafes and guest houses, well served by frequent buses into the centre. Families or anyone prioritising green space over nightlife might prefer Chapel Allerton or Roundhay further out, trading a slightly longer commute into town for proximity to Roundhay Park and a strong local restaurant scene.

Prices in Leeds are generally lower than in London or Edinburgh for equivalent standards, though rooms sell out and rates spike around major matches, graduation weekends and festivals such as Leeds Festival in late August, so it pays to book ahead for those dates. Business travellers will find the widest choice of large chain hotels clustered directly around the station and Wellington Street, while couples and leisure visitors are generally better served by the smaller, independent and boutique properties in the Calls, the Victorian quarter and Headingley, several of which occupy genuinely historic buildings with a stronger sense of place than the newer chain developments.

Leeds rewards a mix of culture, shopping and green space, and most of the highlights sit within a short walk or bus ride of the centre.

• Leeds City Museum and Art Gallery stand side by side near the Headrow, with the gallery holding one of the best collections of British twentieth-century art outside London and the museum covering the city's natural and social history.
• Kirkgate Market is one of the largest indoor markets in Europe and the birthplace of Marks & Spencer, with hundreds of stalls selling everything from Yorkshire cheese to tailoring.
• The Royal Armouries, relocated from the Tower of London, occupies a striking waterside building at Leeds Dock and displays thousands of arms and armour across five themed galleries, most of it free to enter.
• Victoria Quarter and County Arcade combine glazed Victorian arcades, mosaic floors and stained-glass domes with upmarket independent and designer shops, and are worth a wander even without buying anything.
• Roundhay Park covers more than seven hundred acres of woodland, lakes and formal gardens on the city's northern edge, and includes the walled Tropical World glasshouse with butterflies, reptiles and a small aquarium.
• Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills, housed in a former woollen mill, traces the city's engineering and textile past with working machinery and a good sense of how Leeds actually made its money.
• Granary Wharf and the canal towpath make for an easy riverside stroll from the station past converted warehouses, with markets and events held under the railway arches at weekends.
• Headingley, home to Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Leeds Rhinos, is worth a visit on a match day for the atmosphere alone, and doubles as a lively student neighbourhood of pubs and independent cafes.

Leeds has built a genuinely strong reputation for food that goes well beyond the traditional Yorkshire pudding and gravy, though both remain easy to find done properly in the city's traditional pubs. Kirkgate Market is the place to start, with stalls selling Yorkshire cheeses, local bakery and a long-standing fishmonger's counter, while the food hall at Trinity Leeds and the street-food stalls of Trinity Kitchen give a fast introduction to the city's more contemporary tastes.

The city has one of the best curry scenes outside London, a legacy of its South Asian communities, with long-standing favourites clustered around the Kirkstall Road and university areas serving Kashmiri and Punjabi cooking alongside newer, more experimental restaurants in the centre. Leeds is also a serious beer city: Northern Monk, Ossett Brewery and North Brewing Co all have taprooms within the city, building on a brewing heritage that stretches back to the old Tetley's brewery on the riverside.

For something more formal, the Calls and the city centre hold a growing number of chef-led restaurants alongside long-established institutions, while Belgrave Music Hall's rooftop and ground-floor food stalls sum up the city's relaxed, sociable approach to eating out. A visit is a good excuse to try a proper Yorkshire high tea in one of the grander hotel lounges, followed by a night out in one of the many independent bars tucked into the arches beneath the railway station.

Leeds itself is a dense, largely built-up city, so there is no camping within the urban core, but the surrounding countryside starts remarkably quickly. Within around fifteen miles of the centre, the terrain shifts from the flat, converted-mill valleys of the Aire and Wharfe into the first rolling hills of Wharfedale and the fringes of the Yorkshire Dales, giving campers a genuine change of scenery without a long drive. Sites around Horsforth, Esholt and towards Harrogate combine easy access to the city with proper rural surroundings, useful for anyone wanting to explore Leeds by day and return to a quieter pitch each evening.

Weather in this part of West Yorkshire follows a fairly typical northern English pattern: changeable and often damp, with rain possible in any month, so a well-pitched tent and decent waterproofs matter more than a sunny forecast. Spring and early summer, from April through June, tend to bring the most reliable stretches of dry weather alongside long daylight hours, while late summer into September remains warm enough for comfortable camping and coincides with the region's main festival season. Winter camping is possible at some of the more sheltered, facility-rich sites but is a minority pursuit here, and several of the smaller touring parks close for the coldest months.

Wild camping has no general legal protection in England outside a small part of Dartmoor, and West Yorkshire's land is almost entirely farmed, tenanted or otherwise in private hands, so pitching up without the landowner's permission is not legal here even on open moorland. Anyone wanting a wilder experience is better served heading further into the Yorkshire Dales National Park, where a longer tradition of informal, low-impact camping exists in specific areas by local custom, and asking permission locally before pitching. Around Leeds itself, the established caravan and camping parks are the practical and legal option, most offering both touring pitches and static or glamping alternatives, with electric hook-ups and showers standard at the larger sites.