Yorkshire Dales Walking: Wensleydale

There are no restaurants open in Middleham on Mondays or Tuesdays and taxis are not available if Nobby is on holiday. Sarah is happy to talk to people about options (I had rung her anyway to see if we could arrive earlier).

The scenery and walks are lovely. 
The stiles were no problem for us but could be difficult for the very overweight or arthritic!!

We had an amazing experience with InnTravel and our trip to North Yorkshire to walk the Dales. The maps and GPS were great (use Alltrails also as backup) - the Hotels were lovely and the British people could not have been nicer. This was our first time working with InnTravel and not our last!! We averaged about 10 miles a day, we are in good shape and found the walks to be perfect for our level of fitness. It was great to return the different inns and rest and enjoy a great meal before setting out again for a walk thru the Dales. We were there in early May and lucked out that we had no rain but it was on the cool side, about 53 each day - so layer up. The Priory and Stone House Inn were lovely spots. Aysgarth Falls Inn was a bit spotty. All in all - we loved our trip.

This was our first travel experience with Inn Travel, and our first hike in England. The countryside and surroundings were majestic, while the directions, maps and guides were extremely helpful.  We were in Yorkshire during lambing season which was both memorable and beautiful.  Though cool and cloudy on two days, Mother Nature held off any rain for our hikes!!! No polls needed.  The hardest part was sidestepping sheep droppings in the fields, not to mention cows!  The hike by the Gallops in Middleham were so very interesting!  We would recommend this hike and especially Inn Travel to anyone!

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!