Richmond, North Yorkshire

Richmond's accommodation is concentrated around two very walkable parts of town: the cobbled Market Place, where Georgian coaching inns and boutique bed and breakfasts look out over the square towards the castle, and Frenchgate, the steep Georgian street on the south side of the old town where several of Richmond's best-regarded guest houses make the most of views over the River Swale and Easby Abbey. Both put the castle, the Georgian Theatre Royal and the town's independent shops within a few minutes on foot, so a car is useful for exploring Swaledale but not essential for the stay itself.

At the upper end, Richmond has a handful of properties that go well beyond a standard overnight stop: a storied Georgian coaching inn right on the Market Place, and boutique bed and breakfasts in listed townhouses with the kind of individually decorated rooms, roll-top baths and locally sourced breakfasts that reward a longer stay. Mid-range options include a long-standing hotel with a restaurant and bar built around Yorkshire produce, and a well-regarded country inn out in the dale for those who want a drive into the fells to be part of the stay. For a simpler, better-value base, Richmond's guest houses and B&Bs are generally family-run, often in period buildings, and consistently well reviewed for breakfasts and local knowledge of walking routes.

Booking ahead matters more than the size of the town suggests: rooms fill quickly around the Georgian Theatre Royal's summer season, the Swaledale Festival in late spring, and any weekend with good walking weather, since Richmond draws heavily from both the Coast to Coast crowd and shorter-break visitors from Leeds, York and the North East. Whichever part of town you choose, nothing in Richmond itself is more than a fifteen-minute walk from anything else, which keeps evenings simple even without a car.

Richmond rewards a slow wander, but these are the sights and experiences that anchor a visit.

• Richmond Castle is one of the earliest and most complete Norman castles in the country, and the climb to the top of the 100-foot keep gives sweeping views over the town, the Swale and the Dales beyond.
• The Georgian Theatre Royal, built in 1788, is among the oldest working theatres in Britain and still stages a full programme of drama, comedy and music in its intimate, beautifully restored auditorium; the small museum behind the box office is worth a look even if you are not seeing a show.
• Easby Abbey, a mile's riverside walk from the town centre, is a ruined Premonstratensian abbey set in water meadows beside the Swale, with a working parish church, St Agatha's, tucked beside it.
• Richmond's Market Place is one of the largest cobbled market squares in England, hosting a Saturday market and overlooked by Holy Trinity Church, whose tower now houses the Green Howards Museum.
• The Green Howards Museum tells the story of the Yorkshire regiment through uniforms, medals and personal artefacts spanning more than 300 years of service.
• Culloden Tower, a striking octagonal Georgian folly built to celebrate the defeat of the Jacobite rising, stands in woodland above the town and can be booked as a holiday let, but is also visible on walks around the castle grounds.
• Richmond Falls, the broad weir on the Swale directly below the castle, is best seen from the Batts riverside path or from the old road bridge, especially after rain when the river is running full.
• Swaledale itself, reached in minutes by car, offers some of the finest drystone-walled valley scenery in the Dales, with Reeth as an obvious first stop for tearooms, a village green and access to high moorland walking.

Richmond's food scene leans on the produce of the dale around it: Swaledale and Wensleydale cheeses, Yorkshire lamb and beef, and game in season all turn up on local menus, often not far from where they were reared. The Saturday market in the cobbled square is the place to pick up local cheese, bread and other producers' stalls, alongside the general market traders.

The town's pubs range from traditional coaching inns serving Yorkshire ales to smaller, food-focused spots doing modern British cooking with a strong local-sourcing ethos; several sit right on the Market Place and make a natural stop after the castle or theatre. Coffee shops and tearooms are dotted around Frenchgate and the square, useful for a break between sights, while Richmond Station - the handsome former railway building near the river, now repurposed as a small complex of independent food producers, a cinema and a brasserie - is worth the short walk from the centre for a browse and a coffee. Further out in Swaledale, village pubs in Reeth and beyond serve as good lunch stops for anyone walking or driving out from Richmond for the day.

Richmond's camping and touring options sit just outside the town rather than in it, spread along the Swale valley and up into Swaledale, which suits the area well: most people pitching a tent or parking a caravan here are doing it as a base for walking, cycling or exploring the dale rather than for the town itself. The closest sites are a couple of miles out on the edge of Richmond, keeping the castle, theatre and shops within easy reach by bike or a short drive, while others sit further up the valley towards Leyburn and Reeth, trading a little distance from Richmond for a quieter, more rural setting closer to the fells.

Facilities across the area tend towards family-run, long-established parks rather than large commercial holiday centres: expect serviced touring pitches with electric hook-up, well-kept shower blocks, and in some cases fishing lakes, glamping pods or static caravans alongside the tent and touring pitches. Wi-fi is increasingly standard but patchy in the more rural sites, which suits the area's appeal as a place to switch off. Dogs are welcome at all three sites below, reflecting Swaledale's status as prime walking country.

The camping season generally runs from March to October or early November, in line with most Dales sites, and it is worth booking ahead for peak summer weekends and for the Swaledale Festival period in late May and early June, when accommodation of every kind in the area fills up quickly. Whichever site you choose, Richmond, Leyburn and Reeth are all within a short drive, giving easy access to shops, pubs and the wider run of Dales attractions without needing to move your pitch.