Leyburn

The path starts from the far end of the Market Place by Shawl Terrace and runs two miles along a limestone terrace with the whole of Wensleydale below. Free, open all year, generally firm underfoot. Local legend has Mary Queen of Scots dropping her shawl here fleeing Bolton Castle — the view is the real reason to go.

Two miles south-west; be on the gallops above the town by 7.30am and strings of thoroughbreds work past in the mist. Middleham has trained racehorses since the eighteenth century and there are still hundreds of horses in the village. Park by the castle and walk up Coronation Street to the moor edge.

Six miles west, a fourteenth-century fortress with four corner towers and a village street running to its gate. Around £10, generally open March to October, 10am-5pm. Mary Queen of Scots was held here in 1568; the medieval garden, the bowmen displays and the view down Wensleydale are what most people remember.

Harmby Road, ten minutes' walk east of the square. One of the biggest auction houses outside London, with free viewing days and sales of everything from Dales farm furniture to serious fine art. There is a café inside and a garden. Check the online calendar first — the building is quiet between sales.

Eight miles west on the A684. Three broad limestone step-falls on the Ure, linked by a mile of riverside path from the National Park Centre car park, which charges around £5 for the day. Upper Force is a two-minute walk; Middle and Lower need boots after rain. Best when the river is high.

Tupgill Park at Coverham, four miles south-west, is a walled folly-garden of tunnels, false doors and unnerving statues, built for one family and now open to the public. Tickets must be booked in advance and often sell out in school holidays. Allow two hours and expect children to run and adults to swear.

Northallerton, seventeen miles east, is the nearest East Coast Main Line station — around 20 minutes from York, 2h30 from London — and the 856 bus links it to Leyburn and on to Hawes, though only a few times a day and barely at all on Sundays. The 156 comes over from Richmond and the 159 up from Ripon via Masham; all stop on the Market Place itself. Darlington is 24 miles by road and the usual choice for a hire car. Leyburn is compact and level, so nothing in town needs a vehicle, but seeing Wensleydale properly does. Park free in the Market Place where you can find a space, or use the Commercial Square car park.

It is one of the better ones, but manage your expectations. Buses reach Richmond, Northallerton, Masham, Ripon and Hawes from the Market Place, and the DalesBus network adds summer Sunday services. Frequencies are low — often four to six a day — so build the day around the timetable rather than the other way round. The Shawl walk and Middleham are both reachable on foot from your bed.

Aysgarth is eight miles west on the A684, about fifteen minutes by car, and Bolton Castle is six miles up the north side of the dale. Both have their own pay-and-display car parks charging around £5 for the day. You can combine them in one morning easily. Buses along the A684 exist but are sparse, so most people drive or cycle.

No. It is a volunteer-run heritage line, currently working the stretch from Leeming Bar towards Leyburn, and it operates on selected days in season with almost nothing between January and Easter. Treat it as an attraction, never as transport to a train connection. Check the published timetable within a fortnight of your visit, because operating days change year to year.

Tennants on Harmby Road is the answer — a viewing day or a sale can absorb two hours indoors, with a café attached. Beyond that, drive to Bolton Castle's indoor rooms, the Wensleydale Creamery at Hawes, or the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes station yard. In town itself the choice is shops, tearooms and one very good deli, so a whole wet weekend needs a car.