After the Leeds Marathon: Ilkley and the Dales Edge

The Route: Leeds → Ilkley Logistics: Direct Northern train from Leeds station, taking around 40 minutes. A single, uncomplicated leg. Marathon Month: May Duration: 1 night

Leeds Station ──(40 min direct train)──> Ilkley
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                              Leeds Station ◄──(40 min direct train)──┘

The Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon's outer loop passes within a few miles of Ilkley on its way through Otley, and a night here after the race extends that same Wharfedale landscape rather than doubling back into the city. May on Ilkley Moor: the moor's heather has not yet come into its late-summer bloom, but the lower paths are dry and firm underfoot after a typically wet Yorkshire spring, and the town's gardens are at their best. A direct Northern train from Leeds takes around 40 minutes.

Night One: Ilkley

Ilkley grew as a Victorian and Edwardian spa town on the strength of its "cold water cure" reputation, and that era's architecture, the White Wells bathhouse above the town and the grand villas along its main streets, still defines the place. The River Wharfe, running along the town's southern edge, has a flat riverside path, the Riverside Gardens, running for a comfortable stretch with benches and paddling areas, an easy walk on recovering legs.

For anything more ambitious, the lower slopes of Ilkley Moor rise directly from the town; the path to the Cow and Calf Rocks, a well-known local landmark, is a genuine incline and not a post-marathon-legs undertaking, but the view from below at the moor's edge, reached via a shorter, gentler section of path, still gives a sense of the open moorland the "On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at" song made famous, without the full climb.

Where to stay: The Craiglands Hotel, set in its own grounds above the town with moor views, offers a quieter, more traditional base a short walk from the centre. The Box Tree, better known as a restaurant, also has a small number of rooms directly on the main shopping street for a more central stay.

Where to eat: The Box Tree, a long-established fine-dining restaurant on Church Street, is Ilkley's best-known dining destination and a genuine reason to choose this base over a generic hotel dinner. For a simpler night, Bettys, the same Yorkshire tea-room chain found in Harrogate, has an Ilkley branch on The Grove serving its standard afternoon tea and Fat Rascal menu.

Getting Home

Direct Northern trains run from Ilkley back to Leeds station throughout the day, taking around 40 minutes, with onward mainline connections from Leeds to Leeds Bradford Airport by taxi or bus, or further afield by rail. Check current times at thetrainline.com or northernrailway.co.uk before booking.