When I was growing up, Harrogate in North Yorkshire was always referred to as the place where ‘posh’ people lived. I grew up in a rather deprived town on the outskirts of Bradford, and by comparison, Harrogate was as posh as it could get.
Even now that I live in London, where property prices are among the highest in the world and where millionaires are ten a penny, I still look at Harrogate as the poshest place on earth. I guess old habits die hard.
On my latest trip back to Yorkshire to see my parents, the weather was shining, and I figured it was time to pay an overdue visit to Harrogate. It’s not a big place but there’s a lot to see within a thirty minutes’ drive to ensure I wouldn’t get bored while I based myself there for the weekend. I hadn’t stepped foot in the town since I moved down to London thirteen years ago (I can’t believe it’s been that long).
I’m happy to report back that I had a wonderful time. Very little had changed, and in some ways I liked it more now than when I was younger. Now that I live in a big city, I tend to crave those quaint small places that sit on nature’s doorstep. It’s a time to unwind, potter around, and escape to the countryside. Also, the only queue you will find here is the one at Bettys on a Sunday afternoon.
When the weather is good, this part of England is beyond gorgeous. Yes, maybe I’m a bit biased, and maybe there’s a bit of nostalgia at play, but Yorkshire isn’t called God’s own country for nuffin’! (Well, some people say God’s own county, so the phrase is up for debate).
So why is Harrogate called posh? There’s something in the water…
Harrogate is considered ‘posh’ for a few good reasons – not just because the tea comes in silver pots and the lawns are suspiciously perfect.
Harrogate made its name in the 18th and 19th centuries as a fashionable spa retreat. Aristocrats, the well-to-do, and visiting royals flocked there to bathe in the therapeutic properties of the natural spring water. Some folk used to actually take to drinking rotten-egg-smelling sulphur because it was believed to cure just about everything. That brought money, prestige, and a certain air of refinement that has stuck to this very day.
So it’s a mix of spa-town history, wealth, architecture, and a deep-rooted sense of genteel pride that gives it that polished reputation. Harrogate isn’t flashy or hip, but rather has that old money vibe. It’s the kind of place where older ladies still wear their Sunday best, where a pot of tea is a religious act, and where the ghosts of Edwardian high society still swirl around the pump rooms.
You don’t come to Harrogate to party. You come to slow down, breathe deep, and maybe smell something faintly rotten wafting from the Turkish Baths. Harrogate, quite simply, is an idyllic North Yorkshire retreat.
Discover the best things to do in Harrogate
1. Start your day with a full English Breakfast
We Brits know a thing or two about the most important meal of the day. I think everyone can agree on the yumminess of a full English breakfast. Just like a Sunday Roast, it’s something every visitor to the UK needs to try at least once. While English cuisine might not rank among famous world cuisine, we might at least be able to compete in the best breakfast category.
Make a bee-line for Crema Coffee who do a top-notch fry up that will leave you fuelled up and ready to start the day. This place is popular for a reason. They prioritise quality of ingredients above everything else. The sausages are the sort you can usually only find at a fancy butchers – juicy, meaty and infused with herbs. It’s been nearly two weeks since my boyfriend wolfed down a fry-up from this place and he’s still banging on about it.
They also offer a vegetarian fry up and their avocado on toast is beyond delicious. They deserve nothing less than a 10/10 for taste and presentation.
2. Visit Fountain’s Abbey
After you’re fuelled up, it’s time to drive just twenty minutes out of Harrogate to explore one of Yorkshire’s most spectacular historical attractions: Fountain’s Abbey. The drive will take you past clipped hedges, stone villages, and the rolling postcard hills of North Yorkshire before arriving at something older.
It’s not just a ruin. It’s a cathedral’s skeleton, laid bare in pristine rolling nature, with moss growing in the cracks where God used to live. Founded in 1132 by monks who got kicked out of York for being too hardcore – imagine that – this place was a full-throttle Cistercian power complex. Silence, prayer, work, repeat. No frills. No distractions.
Then Henry VIII did what Henry VIII does: shut it down, stripped it clean, and sold the lead off the roof. The result is haunting – a roofless church, half-swallowed by time, and somehow more mesmerising now than it probably ever was with incense and Latin chants.
Walk through it and you feel it: scale, stillness, and centuries of crumbling walls. There’s a footbridge, a deer park, manicured water gardens down the way at Studley Royal if you’re up for a big walk.
3. Potter around Knaresborough
Just a ten-minute drive from Harrogate or thirty-minutes from Fountain’s Abbey is the gorgeous town of Knaresborough. The highlight of the town is the view of Knaesborough Viaduct from Bebra Gardens. It’s a scenic spot to relax any time of the day, but particularly during golden hour.
If you have more time to spare, there’s plenty more to do. You can visit the quirky Mother Shipton’s Cave, rent a boat and explore the castle ruins.
4. Dine in one of Harrogate’s many restaurants
In the evening it’s time to treat your tastebuds and the options in Harrogate are suprisingly wide for a town this size. My favourite place is Illam, a restaurant that specialises in South Indian cuisine. The result is authentic, aromatic and utterly delicious.
If you’re looking to indulge in proper British grub, the Sunday Roast isn’t a meal: it’s a ritual. Go local and hearty at William & Victoria. Expect towering Yorkshire puddings, proper gravy, and roast potatoes cooked so they’re crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside – exactly how they’re meant to be!
5. Take the waters at the Turkish Baths
If you’re in Harrogate for the weekend, how does a pampering session sound? Harrogate Turkish Baths isn’t some faux-luxury spa experience with eucalyptus mist and mood music. No, this place is different – a restored Victorian bathhouse where you move between steam rooms and plunge pools under Islamic arches and tiled mosaics like something out of a colonial fever dream. Smell that faint tang in the air? That’s the sulphur spring. It stinks. It heals. It’s glorious.
6. Stroll the Valley Gardens
This is England at its most immaculately landscaped. A 17-acre public garden where Edwardians once promenaded, the Valley Gardens still feel like a Jane Austen set just waiting for scandal.
The paths wind through sulphur springs, flower beds, tennis courts, and a vintage games pavilion. The flowers and plants are beautiful, particularly in summer when they appear unusually bright and large. It must be all the special water. It’s the perfect setting for a picnic or leisurely stroll.
7. Drink proper tea at Bettys Café Tea Rooms
Is it touristy? Yes. Is it still worth it? Yes. Bettys, founded in 1919, isn’t just a tea room – it’s an institution. It’s the most famous tearoom in Yorkshire. And in order to keep a tight lock on their heritage brand, you won’t find a single Bettys one outside of the county either. It really is Yorkshire born and bred and the Harrogate location is the first one they ever opened.
Wait in line, go upstairs, and order the afternoon tea with silver service and enough dainty pastries to sedate a cavalry officer. And if you don’t walk out slightly high on caffeine, sugar, and quiet elegance, you’ve done it wrong.
Tip: If you’re out and about through the day, and running low on time, it closes at 9pm on Saturdays so the best time to visit might be in the evening for tea and dessert.
8. Brimham Rocks
Just twenty minutes’ from Harrogate by car, on the edge of the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, there’s a place that looks like it was dreamt up by Salvador Dalí during a long walk through Yorkshire. Welcome to Brimham Rocks – a surreal landscape of 300-million-year-old sandstone formations, sculpted not by humans, but by ice, wind, and rain over geological ages.
The National Trust keeps it open and wild. Entry is free (parking fee applies), and you can scramble, wander, and marvel at stone shapes with names like the Dancing Bear, the Smartie Tube, or the Idol Rock, a seemingly impossible balancing act. Some of these formations stand 30 feet tall, as if nature once had a whimsical fling with architecture.
9. Explore the Montpellier Quarter
Wander through Montpellier Hill, and you’ll find Harrogate at its most picturesque – antique shops, art galleries, and old-school bars tucked between boutiques and wine merchants. It’s where locals go when they want something decent without shouting about it. You’ll find over 50 independent shops all within short walking distance from each other. Highlights include Haus Antiques, Imagined Things Bookshops, and Farrah’s Olde Sweet Shop. All of these places are full of character and bring to life the charm of Harrogate’s local community.
While in the local bookshops, ask the staff what they’re reading – they’ll actually tell you. And they’ll probably be right.
10. Visit the Royal Pump Room Museum
This is where people used to come to drink actual sulphur water. For their health. And they paid to do it. Today, it’s a museum that celebrates Harrogate’s spa heritage. Sadly (or maybe not) drinking the famed water is no longer permitted but inside you will find lots of interesting information, preserved relics from the past, and quirky tidbits. The museum is small so it doesn’t take very long to visit.
11. Admire the art at Mercer Art Gallery
Just to manage your expections, Harrogate’s Mercer Art Gallery isn’t the Tate Modern or anything comparable – it’s a local gallery but a decent one. It doesn’t try to snag you with trendy self‑ie spots or minimalist white boxes.
Instead, it lives in the old Promenade Rooms – built in 1806 so spa-goers could ‘take the waters’ in comfort. The building later served as a theatre (Oscar Wilde once stood on its stage), a town hall, and even a dusty rates office before volunteer passion and the Mercer family’s donation turned it into a gallery in 1991.
Step inside and you’re in a salon of British art: 2,000 works from Victorian heavyweights like William Powell Frith (a Yorkshire painter, no less!) and Edward Burne‑Jones, through early 20th‑century originals like Laura Knight and Alan Davie. The collection evolves too – there’s photography by Tacita Dean, paintings from Eileen Agar, and bold works by women artists like Sarah Pickstone and Caroline Walker, all woven into sharp temporary exhibitions that stretch your understanding of style and social history.
12. Have more time? Visit York or Leeds
If you’re based in Harrogate for longer than a weekend, the medieval city of York is easy to reach by train or car. It’s one of my favourite cities in the whole of the UK. Historical, beautiful, and full of charm and quirkiness. I’ve written up a guide of the best things to do in York that will help you see all the highlights in a single day.
Alternatively, Leeds, one of the biggest cities in the country offers a range of attractions. Where York is old, Leeds is modern. Take your pick.
Leeds is a student city with an international vision that’s reflected in the diversity of people, restaurants, and things to do. If you want to treat yourself to some shopping, Leeds has the best shops in the North. At the very least, window shopping inside one of the many Victorian arcades is a must. The architecture of these buildings is simply stunning.
How to get to Harrogate
Harrogate sits in North Yorkshire, roughly halfway between London and Edinburgh, with excellent rail links and easy road access.
By Train
- From London: Direct services run from King’s Cross to Harrogate in about 2h 50m, or you can change at York or Leeds for more frequent trains. For long distance journeys such as the London – Harrogate route, booking in advance via The Trainline is required to ensure availability, best prices etc.
- From York: Just 35 minutes, departing every half an hour.
- From Leeds: It’s around 35 minutes by train. Trains depart very regularly.
The station is right in the town centre, walking distance to most hotels, tea rooms, and the Turkish Baths.
By Car
- From the South: Take the A1(M) northbound, exit at junction 47, and follow signs to Harrogate (about 8 miles).
- From Leeds: Around 16 miles north via the A61.
- From York: About 20 miles west via the A59.
Parking in town can be tight – multi-storey car parks and pay-and-display spots are available, but during weekends you might need to circle a bit. For car-hire I recommend checking out Rentalcars.com.
By Bus/Coach
- National Express runs services from London and other UK cities, often connecting via Leeds.
- Local buses link Harrogate with Leeds, Ripon, and Knaresborough.
By Air
- Leeds Bradford Airport is just 13 miles away. From there, you can grab a taxi (about 25 minutes) or a bus-train combo via Leeds or Harrogate.
