Hawes

Gayle Lane, five minutes from the market place. The viewing gallery overlooks the vats and the curd being cut; go on a weekday morning before 11am or you will see a clean, empty floor. Museum and gallery entry is a few pounds, the shop and tasting counter are free and generous. Restaurant open through lunch.

A mile and a half north of Hawes via the Pennine Way. England's highest unbroken above-ground waterfall, a hundred-foot single drop into a wooded amphitheatre, reached only through the Green Dragon Inn, which charges around £3 to £4 at the bar. Open daylight hours. The Victorian bandstand in the gorge still hosts brass band contests.

Station Yard, at the eastern end of town in the old railway station and goods shed. Hand-knitting, lead mining, hay meadows and the story of the railway that closed in 1959, all told properly; around £5 and generally open daily 10am-5pm in season. There is a National Park information desk and the town's best indoor wet-day option.

Town Foot, at the western end of Main Street. W. R. Outhwaite & Son have been ropemakers here since 1905 and the twisting machinery runs in view of the shop floor most weekdays. Free to watch, closed Sundays out of season. They will make you a bannister rope, a dog lead or a church bell rope while you wait.

The road climbs north from Hawes to 1,726 feet and passes the Buttertubs themselves — deep fluted limestone shafts right beside the tarmac, with a lay-by to stop at. Twenty minutes over to Thwaite and Muker in Swaledale. Closed or dangerous in snow and ice; check conditions between November and March.

The path leaves Hawes via Hardraw and climbs steadily to 716 metres, the third highest point in the Yorkshire Dales, with views to Ingleborough, the Howgills and the Lake District fells on a clear day. Around five hours out and back, mostly flagged, but genuinely exposed — do not start in poor visibility.

Hawes is deliberately awkward, which is why it stays good. There is no station: Garsdale, on the Settle-Carlisle line, is six miles west and the community-run Little White Bus meets most trains there for the short run into town — this is the best car-free approach, and it puts Leeds within about two and a half hours. The 856 runs east down the dale to Leyburn, Bedale and Northallerton a few times a day. Northallerton is 34 miles by road, Skipton 40. In town everything is on one street; the Creamery and Gayle are five to ten minutes on foot. Park free where you can on the market place or use the Dales Countryside Museum car park.

Take the Settle-Carlisle line to Garsdale, six miles west, and use the Little White Bus community service that connects with trains for the run into Hawes — it is reliable, cheap and the reason a car-free stay works here. Alternatively, the 856 bus comes up the dale from Northallerton station via Leyburn, a few times a day. Confirm timings the week before, as both services change seasonally.

Yes, but time it. The viewing gallery over the production floor is only interesting when cheese is actually being made, which generally means weekday mornings, ideally before 11am. The shop and tasting counter are free and the staff let you try a dozen varieties. The restaurant is good for lunch and the whole thing takes about ninety minutes.

Easily — it is a mile and a half north on the Pennine Way, about half an hour each way over fields and a footbridge. The falls are on private land and the only access is through the Green Dragon Inn, where you pay around £3 to £4 at the bar. It is at its best after heavy rain, and the walk back with a pint inside you is half the pleasure.

Partly, yes. At 850 feet the weather bites, the Buttertubs and Fleet Moss roads close in snow, and a number of guesthouses, cafés and shops close for several weeks in January and February. The pubs, the museum and the Creamery generally keep going. If you come in deep winter, book ahead, ring to confirm opening, and have a plan that survives a road closure.