Yorkshire Tourist Guide - Articles
Leeds Guide
Recently Leeds has received accolades in the field of tourism; including being voted by Conde Nast Traveller magazine Readers' Awards as the "UK's favourite city" and also "Visitor city of the year" by The Good Britain Guide. Leeds has excellent transport links with the rest of Yorkshire and the UK.
Tourism is big business in Leeds, and supports more than 20,000 full time equivalent jobs. On average Leeds attracts 1.4m people annually who stay overnight, plus a further 18.4m who visit on day trips. Visitors to the city bring in nearly £735m into the local economy each year and Leeds' vibrant and cultural scenes are some of the key reasons that visitors from across the UK and Europe come to Leeds. Major national and regional attractions include the Royal Armouries, Henry Moore Sculpture Centre, West Yorkshire Playhouse and the award winning Harewood House, which was voted one of the best large visitor attractions in the Excellence in England Awards for Tourism 2003.
Additionally, in the Good Hotel Guide 2004, four Leeds hotels were named as top choices for places to stay in the UK.
Leeds Bradford International Airport has flights connecting to Europe, and the rest of the world via London Heathrow Airport, Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.
Leeds City railway station is one of the busiest in the UK outside of central London, with over 900 trains and 50,000 passengers per day. Its modern interior provides connections to London, Southampton and the south, Birmingham and the Midlands, Bristol and the West Country, Newcastle, Edinburgh and the north, and Manchester and Liverpool and the west, as well as to local and regional destinations. The station itself has 17 platforms, making it the largest in England outside London.
Leeds also has excellent road links via the A1, M1, M62 and M621 motorways. Leeds also has a large modern bus station served by National Express and local bus services. It is also possible to travel to Rotterdam and Zeebrugge by ferry from Hull, only an hour away.
Leeds has a wealth of sports facilities including the 40,000 capacity Elland Road football stadium, a host stadium during the 1996 European Football Championship, the Headingley Carnegie Stadiums, world famous for both cricket and rugby league, Leeds International Pool (50m), South Leeds Stadium used for rugby league (Hunslet RLFC), athletics, bowls, football and tennis. Other facilities include the Leeds Wall (climbing), Yeadon Tarn sailing centre. Nearby, in Castleford, is Xscape (real snow indoor ski and snowboard slope with ice climbing wall).
Leeds has become known as the Knightsbridge of the North. The diverse range of shopping, from individual one-off boutiques to large department stores, including Harvey Nichols and Louis Vuitton, has greatly expanded the Leeds retail base. The Victoria Quarter, several existing arcades connected by roofing the entirety of Queen Victoria Street with stained glass, is the jewel in Leeds' shopping crown, located off Briggate, Leeds' main shopping street. Other popular shopping attractions include the Corn Exchange, Leeds Kirkgate Market, Granary Wharf, Leeds Shopping Plaza, Headrow Shopping Centre, The Light, The St John's Centre, The Merrion Centre Leeds, Crown Point, Birstall Retail Park and the White Rose Centre.
Tourism is big business in Leeds, and supports more than 20,000 full time equivalent jobs. On average Leeds attracts 1.4m people annually who stay overnight, plus a further 18.4m who visit on day trips. Visitors to the city bring in nearly £735m into the local economy each year and Leeds' vibrant and cultural scenes are some of the key reasons that visitors from across the UK and Europe come to Leeds. Major national and regional attractions include the Royal Armouries, Henry Moore Sculpture Centre, West Yorkshire Playhouse and the award winning Harewood House, which was voted one of the best large visitor attractions in the Excellence in England Awards for Tourism 2003.
Additionally, in the Good Hotel Guide 2004, four Leeds hotels were named as top choices for places to stay in the UK.
Leeds Bradford International Airport has flights connecting to Europe, and the rest of the world via London Heathrow Airport, Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport and Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.
Leeds City railway station is one of the busiest in the UK outside of central London, with over 900 trains and 50,000 passengers per day. Its modern interior provides connections to London, Southampton and the south, Birmingham and the Midlands, Bristol and the West Country, Newcastle, Edinburgh and the north, and Manchester and Liverpool and the west, as well as to local and regional destinations. The station itself has 17 platforms, making it the largest in England outside London.
Leeds also has excellent road links via the A1, M1, M62 and M621 motorways. Leeds also has a large modern bus station served by National Express and local bus services. It is also possible to travel to Rotterdam and Zeebrugge by ferry from Hull, only an hour away.
Leeds has a wealth of sports facilities including the 40,000 capacity Elland Road football stadium, a host stadium during the 1996 European Football Championship, the Headingley Carnegie Stadiums, world famous for both cricket and rugby league, Leeds International Pool (50m), South Leeds Stadium used for rugby league (Hunslet RLFC), athletics, bowls, football and tennis. Other facilities include the Leeds Wall (climbing), Yeadon Tarn sailing centre. Nearby, in Castleford, is Xscape (real snow indoor ski and snowboard slope with ice climbing wall).
Leeds has become known as the Knightsbridge of the North. The diverse range of shopping, from individual one-off boutiques to large department stores, including Harvey Nichols and Louis Vuitton, has greatly expanded the Leeds retail base. The Victoria Quarter, several existing arcades connected by roofing the entirety of Queen Victoria Street with stained glass, is the jewel in Leeds' shopping crown, located off Briggate, Leeds' main shopping street. Other popular shopping attractions include the Corn Exchange, Leeds Kirkgate Market, Granary Wharf, Leeds Shopping Plaza, Headrow Shopping Centre, The Light, The St John's Centre, The Merrion Centre Leeds, Crown Point, Birstall Retail Park and the White Rose Centre.
