Ilkley is the genteel spa town that gave the world its most famous folk song and sits at the southern edge of the Yorkshire Dales where Wharfedale opens onto the Airedale plain. Ilkley Moor rises directly above the town, and the Dales Way begins here heading north.

A comfortable, well-heeled town with good restaurants and a direct train from Leeds and Bradford, Ilkley is an excellent gateway to the southern Yorkshire Dales and offers superb moorland walking of its own above the town.