Yorkshire Dales Walking: Wensleydale

We loved the pastoral scenery, and the walking among the sheep , particularly at lambing time.   Highlights along the way included Jervaulx Abbey ruins, Bolton Castle and the Wensleydale cheee factory at Gayle.  Distances each day were very manageable, and the picnics worked well, although we seemed adept at finding the odd pub here and there, too. . 

Very nice walks in an idyllic countryside. Lots of interesting things to see and splendid views.

We enjoyed this holiday, the walking was great and 2 of the 3 hotels were absolutely impeccable. The welcome and service at The Priory and Stone House Hotel were outstanding in every respect.

Following and crossing the River Ure was terrific and the the various falls along the way were breathtaking. It was great to see and hear so many Lapwings and Curlews - our new binoculars were put to good use.

Seeing the racehorses being taken on their early morning trip to the gallops while having breakfast at the Priory was fascinating and then seeing them put through their paces high over Middleham on day 2 was invigorating to say the least. We can recommend taking a trip to Richmond after checking out of the last hotel. Lots to see, even on a Sunday. A visit to the Old Station very worthwhile.

Great scenery, lots of bird life and wild flowers. Plan and book trips ahead.

A fantastic walking holiday run and organised by a very professional and knowledgeable company. Will be looking to book another for next year !!

Despite Storm Babet curtailing our last two walks, we had a very enjoyable trip involving interesting and varied walks and excellent accommodation at The Priory and Stone House Hotel. The Aysgarth Hotel was also good but seemed to be temporarily suffering from staffing absences but it's position is perfect for exploring the Aysgarth falls and Bolton Castle, which were just two of the trip's highlights. The meal we had at the Blue Lion near Middleham was one of the foodie highlights along with the breakfasts at The Priory and all our meals at the Stone House Hotel. Overall, another memorable Inntravel holiday.

In Middleham, Sarah at the Priory was a delight to deal with. Best breakfast ever. And best flapjacks ever. We had a good meal at Richard III. 

The rooms at Asygarth Falls were great -- good charging ports, beautiful bathrooms, comfortable and large bed. However, the service was very disappointing as was the food at dinner. Breakfast was fine. 

The service at Stone House was welcoming.We paid extra for the conservatory rooms and although the conservatory part was very nice, the room attached to it was uncomfortably small. The food at dinner and breakfast was good.

We very much enjoyed all the walks in Yorkshire and recommend them highly. The Yorkshire landscape is beautiful. However, the notes were not that accurate. We relied signficantly on the GPX files uploaded to Gaia and they much improved the experience. 

We enjoyed the "green" of the countryside and also the very peaceful ambience of a number of places including Jervaulx Abbey and Bolton Castle. We enjoyed also the many quiet villages and hamlets with their stone buildings that were away from the main road. We found everyone very welcoming, both where we were staying and where we passed. We only experienced rain on the final day's walk, but the grass and our boots were wet on most days.

This was our first trip to Yorkshire and it didn't disappoint and thoroughly recommend the Heart of Yorkshire Dales trip. Our stay coincided with the week of September heatwave, all day sunshine and high temperatures, 25-28degrees every day. This certainly made for slower walks, but not unmanageable. As each walk was a mix of terrain, with open fields, riverside paths, waterfalls for paddling or woodland we welcomed the shade and need for more stops than usual. Middleham is very pretty and watching the horses going up and down the roads to train on The Gallops was added bonus. Our accommodation at The Priory and Stone House was really of a high standard, and it was an absolute pleasure to stay at both. We also chose to extend the holiday by one night. On reflection we would have preferred an extra night at The Priory in Middleham or Stone House in Sedbusk. Our extra night was at Aysgarth Falls hotel and we felt that there was less to see and less facilities available, eg alternative places to eat. We travelled from Kings Cross to Northallerton by train using Grand Central train company. On both journeys there were issues with their trains - broken down air conditioning on the outward journey and two of the five coaches being unusable due to the heat. On the return journey the booked train was cancelled and we had to make a rebooking on the spot and pay extra. Train travel is never predictable and it might have been simply bad luck on both occasions, but it did appear that GNER trains provide a better service for this area.

We really enjoyed this Inntravel holiday in Wensleydale, although the unseasonal temperature made the walking slightly more challenging. Accommodation and meals were very good - with outstanding service at the Priory and the Stone House Hotel. As we were in Middleham on Monday and Tuesday when many of the local eateries are closed, we went to the Blue Lion at East Witton and the Wensleydale Heifer at West Witton - both excellent, both need booking ahead.

Wensleydale is just beautiful, particularly when the sun shines, but the stretch of the Ure near Redmire Force is really special.

We loved both the tours, the Yorkshire Dales and The Lake District. Innkeepers Sara at The Priory in Middleham and Jason at the Cornlee Guest House in Aysgarth were especially nice and helpful. The Cornlee Guest House was small and a bit away from the larger place with a restaurant at Aysgarth Falls though. The Stone House Hotel near Sedbusk was a very nice larger place for ending the trip.

We have been on a number of Inntravel tours, and I felt the printed walk directions were a little below the usual standards. There were few distances noted from point to point that I have come to expect and that did lead to some confusion in places. The electronic gpx files downloaded to my iphone app were very useful though and saved us from taking the wrong path several times. The Inntravel maps and directions package came late to us, delivered to our hotel in London, so I didn't have a chance to do my usual copying of the OS map portions for each days walk which I can put in a rainproof pouch for use on the walks.

It also might be useful to say if a days walk or a portion of it is likely to be rocky. We were prepared for some mud on rainy days, but the rocks and slippery climbing can really slow you down. Waterproof socks (expensive) were a great investment. The town of Ambleside on Lake Windermere had many ourtdoor equipment shops.

The inns in Coniston and Windermere were in wonderful old houses that reminded me of the "Clue" board game. The Wordsworth museum in Grasmere was especially worthwhile. 

INNTRAVEL NOTE - these customers combined out Heart of the Yorkshire Dales and The Lake District walking holidays.

HIGHLIGHTS: In particular we loved the climb out of Settle to Victoria and Jubilee caves. Of the transfer walks the Aysgarth to Stone House was our favorite.

Wonderful hiking trip, the countryside, the people, the towns.

Seeing a red squirrel at Garsdale Station was definitely a highlight. We loved the views, although the weather curtailed these at times! We particularly enjoyed the 2 walks which took us up higher, offering wider views. The Settle walk had some different and dramatic landscape.

We absolutely loved our Inntravel experience! Sarah at the Priory was fabulous, as was Lynn at The Stone House. We loved walking through the countryside on our own, and the choices we had for walks were perfect. Bolton Castle was one of our favorite excursions (that and Wensleydale Creamery), and should be highly recommended. We really liked spending two nights in each inn, so we didn't have to move every day, and we lived waking through so many different ecosystems as well. We were enchanted by the countryside, and it was a perfect way to spend our 40th wedding anniversary! Great value for the money, and we can't wait to do another one!

An excellent holiday with wonderfully varied and interesting walks, and a good choice of circular walks. l've done many walking holidays with Inntravel and loved the 2 nights per location arrangement, as it gave the chance to explore around each town/village in turn.

This package of Yorkshire Dales, Scottish Borders and a taste of Edinburgh (including Fringe Festival and Tattoo) was a varied and memorable holiday.

The Priory guest house and the Stone House hotel were outstanding in all respects! 

We thought the loveliest views of Wensleydale were from the walk between Castle Bolton and Carperby and from Askrigg to Sedbusk. The challenge of the walk is the Wensleydale gated stiles - many have a very strong spring and awkward stone steps - and it is easy to lose count of them walking to Sedbusk!  Fortunately the path is never in doubt - we love this part of Wensleydale.  A word of caution could be that there is hardly any shade on that stretch and we've just had that really hot week.

For horse lovers a great opportunity to see the gallops at Middleham.

Excellent walking routes through beautiful countryside with additional benefit of nice villages and a particularly good visit to Bolton Castle.

Inntravel holidays allow us to truly relax and enjoy beautiful locations that we would be unlikely to find on our own. You've earned our trust and loyalty with consistently outstanding walking guides, choice of accommodation, and travel support. Can't wait for our next trip and will certainly recommend you to others in the meantime!

Walking in the Dales is spectacular - the undulations in the landscape, the greenery, the ubiquitous stone walls, the "scars", the animals (and their leavings!), the variety of stiles. The experience from walking and being up close and personal with nature is unlike anything one would get from driving or biking in the area. Of course the territory covered is much less. 

The trip is rated as "moderate," which is about right. The longest distances were about 10 miles, suitable for those of us in the upper age brackets. There were definitely some challenging ascents and descents, but nothing that was not doable. 

We also enjoyed our accomodations, particularly The Priory in Middleham and the Stone House Hotel in Sedbusk. The proprietor of The Priory - Sarah - was so nice and arranged everything to make us feel welcome and comfortable. Stone House is a different animal - a full-service country hotel - but equally as nice, with a lovely setting, excellent facilities, a fine restaurant and a very attentive staff. 

Hard to say how anything could have been improved.  Your wonderful routes made us fall in love with this part of the world, and the terrific accommodation allowed us to meet some of the nicest people!  Thank you - we will be back!

Excellent holiday in perfect weather in June, Yorkshire looking at its best. This was our first walk with Inntravel in UK though we have had many walking holidays with them in Europe (couldn't face airports this year). We found some eateries along the way opened reduced hours or closed altogether so carried some provisions. Booked extra day stay to do suggested walk from Stone House Hotel and then travel the train to Settle next day, train strike made us look for another walk!

If you like amazing scenery, rivers and waterfalls, all interspersed with attractive villages and places of historical interest then this is the one for you. The walks were relatively easy but with enough up and down to make them invigorating. Plenty of opportunity to see birds and other wildlife along the way. Accommodation very good throughout. Try giving the Tack Room in Middleham a go. We had an excellent meal, a bit pricey but well worth it.

Scenic walks, especially on the high paths, and pretty villages. Favourite walk was from Aysgarth to Bolton Abbey and back, with curlews, lapwings, plovers, skylarks etc. Beautiful meadows with grasses and wild flowers.

This was our first Inntravel holiday in the UK, after many abroad, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Although the walks were less demanding than we would normally choose, they were still very enjoyable and well chosen. We particularly liked the walk from Aysgarth to Castle Bolton, which was great to visit, and then back over the moors to Aysgarth. It was good to have walks which incorporated places to visit like Castle Bolton and Jervaulx Abbey. All the hotels were good with very friendly hoteliers and staff. I understand The Black Bull is your second choice of lodging in Middleham. We were very happy with it. Clearly it is a room in a pub and not a stay in a country house hotel but on the basis that 'you get what you pay for' and that I knew we were staying in a fairly basic pub we were very happy with it. The food was good although we found the 'Yorkshire portions' very generous, (not something to complain about)! We requested a taxi on the afternoon we arrived in Sedbusk to collect our car from Middleham and this worked very well as we had torrential rain the following day and on the day after that, (we had an extra night) we were able to drive to Reeth and walk from there thus avoiding another day of rain in Hawes. More level 2 walks in the UK would be good.