Yorkshire Dales: Local, characterful guides to Britain's special places (Bradt Slow Travel. Yorkshire Dales)

This new, thoroughly updated edition of the Yorkshire Dales, part of Bradt's series of distinctive ‘Slow' guides to local UK regions, remains the most comprehensive guide to the area and covers the whole of the recently extended Yorkshire Dales National Park, Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and some ‘slow' and historic towns and villages just outside the boundaries.

Each chapter covers, dale by dale, wildlife, folklore, history and local food and drink and suggests routes to follow to see the best of it all. Walking and cycling are included, as well as all the attractions and advice needed for a memorable visit.

The Yorkshire Dales is famous internationally for its caves, scenic rivers, waterfalls and limestone flora, but it is also known in the USA for a diverse range of connections, from the lead on the roofs of the White House and Capitol Building to Roosters brewery collaborating with Pretty Things Brewery in Massachusetts. Richmond, Virginia is the largest city bearing the name but Richmond, North Yorkshire is the oldest and the one that all others are named after, while Cravendale in North Carolina is named after a 17th-century son of the Lord Mayor of London who began life as a poor farmhand in Appletreewick, Wharfedale. Knitting, President Roosevelt, Ripon in Wisconsin and a square mile of Yorkshire that is officially American soil also link the region to the USA.

The Yorkshire Dales offer hundreds of square miles of open access land to explore, long-distance footpaths including the Pennine Way and Coast to Coast, medieval castles such as Skipton and Richmond, quaint stone villages and an exceptionally rich wildlife. Drop in to the Tan Hill Inn, the highest pub in Britain where sheep regularly find their way in to warm themselves by the roaring fire; journey into the depths of Gaping Gill, one of the largest underground chambers in Britain; or take a scenic rail trip on the famous Settle-Carlisle line, crossing en route the longest railway viaduct in the country at Ribblehead. Discover all this and more with Bradt's Yorkshire Dales, the perfect companion for a successful trip.