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Town and civil parish in West Yorkshire, England
Photo: Hugh Chappell, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Ilkley is a town in West Yorkshire, part of the metropolitan borough of Bradford, with a population in 2021 of 15,000. It had a 19th-century heyday as a spa town, but the main reason to visit today is to walk the nearby countryside, especially Ilkley Moor.
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Large collection of dolls, dolls houses and other toys from 350 BCE to modern times.
Exhibiting local history plus art gallery. The manor itself is a hotch-potch of Roman robbed stone, medieval, Tudorbethan and early modern.
Upscale French fine dining.
Efficient central hotel, dog-friendly.
Friendly pleasant place, cleaning erratic.
Comfy enough but often hosts functions with raucous guests.
Good comfortable inn, dog-friendly.
Good edge-of-town base for hill walkers.
By train
Ilkley station has trains from Leeds every 30 min, taking 30 min via Guiseley, Menston, Burley and Ben Rhydding.
By road
Ilkley is on A65 from Leeds, which drills right through town heading northwest to Otley, Skipton, the Dales and eventually the M6 and Kendal.
By bus
First Bus X84 runs every 45 min from Leeds, taking 75 min via Weetwood, Otley and Burley-in-Wharfedale.
Town is walkable, but you need a vehicle to explore the nearby hills and dales.
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Leeds, West Yorkshire · International · LBA
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