Sedbergh

Sedbergh's accommodation is on a small, low-key scale that suits the town: a handful of traditional pubs with rooms and family-run bed and breakfasts sit within a short walk of Main Street's bookshops, cafes and the start of the footpaths up into the Howgill Fells. Staying centrally means you can spend an evening in one of the town's pubs or restaurants and still be on the fell paths within minutes the next morning, without needing a car for the day.

Beyond the town itself, options widen out into converted farmhouses, cottages and small guesthouses scattered across the surrounding countryside, from the lower slopes of the Howgills to the quieter valleys of Dentdale and Garsdale. These tend to suit visitors who want peace and a view over walkable convenience, and many make a comfortable base for day trips further into the Yorkshire Dales National Park or across to the Lake District, both within easy reach thanks to Sedbergh's position just off the M6 and the A684.

Because Sedbergh is a small town rather than a major tourist centre, choice can be more limited than in busier Dales or Lakeland towns, and rooms can book up around the town's book festivals and during peak summer walking season, so it is worth planning ahead if a particular pub or B&B has caught your eye.

Sedbergh's appeal is split fairly evenly between the town itself and the wall of hills that hems it in. A day or two here usually means some combination of browsing bookshops, walking up into the Howgills, and using the town as a base for the wider Dales.

• Browse England's Book Town — Sedbergh has been developing its identity as a book town since 2005, and Main Street and the surrounding lanes now hold a cluster of second-hand, antiquarian and specialist bookshops, among them the long-established Westwood Books, which spreads its stock across two floors of a former church.
• Walk up into the Howgill Fells — the smooth, grassy Howgills rise straight out of the town and are quite unlike the crags of the Lake District or the limestone scenery further into the Dales. The classic route climbs to The Calf, the range's highest point at 676m, with views stretching over the Eden Valley, the Lune Valley and, on a clear day, the Lakeland fells.
• Visit Farfield Mill — a couple of miles from town, this restored Victorian woollen mill now houses artists' studios and a heritage centre over several floors, with working looms, textile displays and a tea room, and it hosts regular exhibitions of local craft and art.
• See Sedbergh School — founded in 1525, the school's stone buildings and extensive playing fields shape the eastern side of the town and give Sedbergh much of its distinctive, slightly academic character.
• Explore the Norman church and Castlehaw — St Andrew's Church has twelfth-century origins, and a short walk out of town leads to Castlehaw, the grassy mound of an early Norman motte-and-bailey castle with views back over the rooftops.
• Follow the Dales Way — the long-distance footpath from Ilkley to Windermere passes within half a mile of Sedbergh, tracing the Rivers Dee and Rawthey, and makes for an easy riverside stroll even if you have no intention of walking the whole route.
• Day-trip into Dentdale — the neighbouring valley holds the postcard village of Dent, with whitewashed cottages and cobbled streets, and Dent railway station, the highest main-line station in England, on the dramatic Settle–Carlisle line. The nearby Dent Head Viaduct, completed in 1875, carries the railway high across the dale head.
• Explore the Dales' show caves — the limestone country further into the national park hides show caves with underground streams and huge chambers, an easy excursion for anyone based in Sedbergh for a few days.

Main Street holds most of Sedbergh's eating and drinking options within a few hundred yards of each other. The Three Hares Cafe & Bakery is well known for its sausage rolls, scones and pastries, while Mug Story serves coffee alongside bread from Lovingly Artisan and homemade cakes and pies. Al Forno Italian Kitchen offers a change of pace from the traditional tea rooms, and The Dalesman pub serves classic pub food alongside local ales. Out at Farfield Mill, the tea room does a simple lunch menu of soups, paninis and sandwiches, and Half and Half on Main Street stocks a wide range of wines, craft beers, gins and ciders for those wanting to take a drink back to their accommodation.

Camping around Sedbergh means pitching in the shadow of the Howgill Fells, with the gentler valleys of Dentdale and Garsdale opening out to the south and east. As with anywhere in England, wild camping on the open fell is not a legal right and requires the landowner's permission, so campers should stick to established campsites unless they have arranged access directly. Fortunately the area has a good spread of proper sites, from simple touring and tent pitches on farms just outside town to slightly larger caravan parks with better facilities, many of them geared towards walkers heading straight up into the Howgills or cyclists using Sedbergh as a stopover on longer Dales routes.

The terrain here is quite different from the crags and screes of the Lake District a few miles west: the Howgills are smooth, grassy and rounded, cut through by becks and narrow ghylls, which makes for gentler, more forgiving walking straight from a tent door, even if the climb to The Calf still gives a proper day out. Sites in Dentdale and along the Rawthey and Lune valleys tend to be more sheltered, tucked among drystone-walled meadows, and make a good base for gentler exploring, river swimming spots, and easy access to Dent village and its railway station.

May to September is the most comfortable stretch for camping here, when the fell paths are driest and evenings are long enough for a walk up into the hills after pitching. Spring and early summer bring the best chance of settled weather before the school holidays fill sites up, while autumn can still be pleasant, if cooler and wetter underfoot, with the added benefit of colour in the dale-bottom trees. Winter camping is really only for the well-equipped, given the exposure of the surrounding fells and the unfenced, weather-affected roads over to neighbouring valleys.

For those who would rather have a roof and a proper bed, glamping options in the area include shepherd's huts, safari tents and static pods on farms around Sedbergh and out towards Dentdale, giving something closer to a hotel stay while keeping the same fellside views and quiet, dark-sky nights that draw campers to this corner of the national park in the first place.