Location: Leeds
Top Things to do in Leeds
10 Things to do in Leeds That You Shouldn't Miss
Leeds, a city in West Yorkshire, England, was one of the leading centers of industry in Victorian England. The Leeds City Museum is a great place to brush up on local history, and many TripAdvisor travelers say no visit to town is complete without exploring the Royal Armouries. You’ll also find lovely parks and a lively restaurant scene, with many eateries specializing in international cuisine.
Restaurants in Leeds
1. Royal Armouries Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 4,530 reviews
Home for the national collection of arms and armour that features five theme-galleries: War, Tournament, Self-Defense, Hunting, and arms and armour of the Orient.
Reviewed By Jodiedonny
This was a great interesting place with loads of different things to see & do really big place with five floors loads of war weapons and different sections to see, a lot of armour & plenty of places to listen to stories from over time, the museum has many places to sit in the glass front edge to look over the river which was lovely. Great enjoyable day, cafe staff downstairs very friendly & biscuit & cuppa lovely.
2. Kirkstall Abbey
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,177 reviews
Uncover the history of one of the best preserved medieval Cistercian abbeys in Britain. With its beautiful and iconic ruins, award-winning Park and interactive visitor centre Kirkstall Abbey is a place that visitors of all ages can enjoy. The ruins are a unique example of early Christian architecture. From the majesty of the church to the peace of the cloisters enjoy exploring this iconic Leeds landmark. The story of the abbey and its community is explored in the Visitor Centre. Founded over 800 years ago in 1152 discover more about what life was like for the Cistercian monks who lived here for nearly 400 years. Enjoy the abbey's parkland setting next to the River Aire. Take a walk along the river or enjoy a picnic in our spacious grounds. There is also a small playground near to the car park for the little ones to enjoy. The ruins of the abbey provide a breath-taking background to your wedding photography, blessings, vow renewals and baby naming ceremonies.
Reviewed By davidbJ9604PD - Leeds, United Kingdom
This is a definite must-see place but chose a fine day. We picked a sunny day with blue skies and the abbey looked magnificent. The site is extensive and there are large parts of the abbey walls quite intact. Great place to take the children and an added plus is free entry (thanks to Leeds City Council). Some of the paths were slightly muddy so wear sensible shoes.
3. Thackray Museum of Medicine
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 823 reviews
After completing our exciting four-million-pound redevelopment, we can’t wait for visitors to explore our new galleries. Follow the story of medicine as you wander through the grimy streets of Victorian Leeds, watch gruesome operations taking place in our 19th-century operating theatre, visit a 70s-style sexual health clinic, chart how well the world responds to crisis, and discover the medical innovations that changed the world. We’ll be operating a timed entry system so booking is essential.
Reviewed By JTJD
This is a really fascinating museum adjacent to St James’s Hospital, Leeds. The car park isn’t huge & is used by people attending the hospital but didn’t have a problem finding a space. The museum is fascinating for all ages from school children & students up to adults adults & especially anyone employed in health care. There is also a small cafe & gift shop.
4. Bramham Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 34 reviews
"Bramham Park is a grand and unusual house, but its gardens are grander and even more unusual" wrote Prof. Nikolaus Pevsner. The Gardens and grounds are open all year-round on weekdays only. Please ensure that you call prior to visiting to ensure that we are open. During some large events we are unable to accommodate visitors. House tours are available for groups of 10 people or more. For more information please telephone the Estate Office. Garden entry prices: HHA members - free of charge General admission - £4 Concessions £2
Reviewed By tammies721
Excellent walk. No difficult obstacles. Magnificent views & scenery. Would definitely do this walk again. Bramham Park Estates – THANK YOU
5. Temple Newsam
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 1,140 reviews
One of the great country houses of England set within a Capability Brown landscape surrounded by beautiful parkland which includes a working rare breeds farm, Temple Newsam has so much to offer visitors.Famous as the birth place of Lord Darnley, notorious husband of Mary Queen of Scots, Temple Newsam House is a truly impressive Tudor-Jacobean mansion. Described as the Hampton Court of the North with over 40 lovingly restored rooms to view, it is now home to one of the most important collections of decorative arts. Explore the treasures of silver, ceramics, fine art, Chippendale furniture, and wallpaper all housed within the Tudor Jacobean Mansion. Discover the stories of the people who lived at Temple Newsam by joining one of our regular weekly tours or picking up the FREE audio guide. Look out for holiday activities and craft fun for all ages and the changing programme of talks, concerts and theatre. Visit our special, changing programme of exhibitions. Take time to visit the gift shop offering a range of products inspired by the collections within the House followed by lunch or tea in the Stables Tea room. Explore the lakeside walks and gardens of delphiniums, rhododendrons, flocks and asters. See a variety of rare breed animals in Home Farm. Enjoy some leisure time and book our football pitches, enjoy a round of golf, walk in the woods and discover the folly or explore the bridle paths.
Reviewed By tonypr33c3 - Leeds, United Kingdom
My favourite of Leeds' parks, Temple Newsam has it all: extensive grassed areas for playing or relaxing, woodland walks, a large children's play area, a rare breed farm, a stately home to look around, Capability Brown designed formal gardens and a golf course. Coming soon is a Go Ape treetop adventure area too. It's about a 15 minute drive east from the city centre but well worth a visit for the whole family. Look out for activity days in school holidays when lots of additional activities are put on to keep the little people entertained.
6. Roundhay Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 2,517 reviews
Reviewed By passingtrade2018 - Leeds, United Kingdom
Roundhay park is the second largest park in Europe, it has two lakes. The large lake is prefect to walk, or jog, some time people ride their bikes around the big lake which can be a little off putting. There is a nice café for Lunch, or just coffee, a children’s safe pay ground is next to the café. Prefect for a nice walk. There is a car park, and swans and duck to feed.
7. RSPB St Aidan's nature park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 184 reviews
St Aidan's is a perfect place to get close to nature and relax, unwind or exercise in a stress-free environment. Just outside Leeds on the banks of the River Aire, it's a big new space to walk, run, cycle, or ride your horse and enjoy the wildlife that surrounds you. It has a wide range of wild plants and animals, and is home to thousands of birds, brown hares, roe deer, wild flowers and insects - all living in a stunning landscape of vast reedbeds, grassland, woodland, lakes, ponds and islands. With a variety of circular paths of varying lengths and large areas of open grassland, St Aidan's is a great place for families to enjoy the outdoors, share a picnic and play together. Over 7.5 Miles (12 km) of footpaths, bridleways and cycle routes connect the surrounding communities, with links to national footpath and cycle networks. St Aidan's is a fantastic place for locals wishing to explore the wider countryside or as a destination for people who love nature.
Reviewed By beeeeeeb2015 - North Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Visited here with my fella on our way home after staying nearby First time visit. The RSPB worker in the car park was helpful and informative Loads of various birds to spot and such a peaceful walk. Keep an eye out for some of the cyclists as they expect you to get out of there way as they don’t like to get their wheels wet.... Otherwise I fully reccommend a visit here and the old mining gear is a great site to see also.
8. Wetherby Racecourse
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 124 reviews
Reviewed By OfftheirP - Manchester, United Kingdom
This is a regular venue for us and the reason is because it is so good. Other racecourses could learn a lot from this place and how it looks after its customers. At £16 the entry to Tattersalls is good value and the viewing is fabulous. There is a nice mainly glass stand close to the winning post that gives great viewing should the weather be very cold. Access to the parade ring and winners enclosure is easy and there are plenty of bookmakers to have a bet with. The bar facilities are excellent and it must be the easiest racecourse in the country to buy a drink at. The big bar man from Middlesbrough is a great bloke and his service isoutstanding. The racing itself is usually good quality and we actually walk it from the town centre. This perhaps is one area for potential improvements as there are you are no taxis after racing when we were there. A shuttle bus from the town centre would be a great addition as well.
9. Harewood House
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 1,341 reviews
From the moment you arrive, Harewood captures your imagination and feeds your curiosity. It's a place filled with art, culture and heritage which continues to develop and thrive today. One of the Treasure Houses of England, the historic Georgian property sits within "Capability" Brown designed landscape with remarkable views from the award winning Terraces. Come inside and you'll be blown away by rare Chippendale furniture and jaw-dropping interior designs in the State Rooms. Make sure you leave time to explore the well-trodden corridors of Below Stairs. A place where young kitchen hands can get hands on with history, dress up and discover life a servant or you can enjoy a changing programme of contemporary art exhibitions in the Terrace Gallery. With bags of space to run around, a massive adventure playground, penguins, flamingos and parrots there's no shortage of adventure for kids of all ages
Reviewed By singhasam - Weymouth, United Kingdom
A VISIT to Harewood House offers a feast of history, lovely walks and beautiful landscaping. There is also a host of attractions from parrot aviaries, penguins and an adventure playground to a little ferry, a Farm Experience and even a Buddhist stupa, stepping stones and a walled garden. The difficult part when we arrived – it cost £33 entry for two -- was deciding where to start, so we began with coffees in the Courtyard Cafe, one of four sites at Harewood to have public toilets. The others were the main house the car park and the walled garden. All the ones we used were very well kept. Refreshed, we strolled out to explore, enjoying colourful macaws, enthusiastic penguins shooting through the water at feeding time, an ice house, an arboretum and a flock of flamingoes next to the little chain ferry which took us across a lake to a productive walled garden full of flowers and vegetables. The ferry was disabled friendly as was much of the site. Some of the greenhouses which were in the walled garden were disused and down to their bare frames. They were taped off and seemed to be destined for some future project, hopefully restoration. We even saw a pheasant pecking off raspberries and swallowing them with evident enjoyment! Then we just followed the shoreline along to the Himalayan Garden, passing a cascade to a Buddhist stupa before carefully picking our way across stepping stones in a water feature before returning to the Courtyard Cafe for lunch. There we enjoyed, soup, sausage rolls, quiche and jacket potatoes all washed down with ginger beer, tea or water. The bill was less than £20. Very reasonable. In the afternoon we tackled Harewood House itself where we began with the lovely gardens with their tight hedges, floral decorations and hidden away fountains. Then it was inside where visitors find a very well run operation with lots of knowledgeable staff on hand in every state room and every nook and cranny right down to the below stairs areas where servants used to work daily miracles to keep the house running and fed. We saw library areas, music room areas, formal dining areas, bedrooms and a superb kitchen area where displays included original copper jelly moulds and a gleaming array of copper pots and pans. This year also sees the launch of Harewood Biennial celebrating craft and craftsmanship with displays in every room on the State Floor and Below Stairs. I’m sure some people must have enjoyed the modern displays, but we didn’t because we felt they were an unwelcome clash with the historic surroundings, lovely paintings and furniture. It made the place feel a bit cramped and destroyed some of the atmosphere of this historic house.This is a personal opinion but we met others who felt the same way Pretty soon it was time to go but there was just time to drop in to the second hand bookshop on site and do a bit of browsing. We bought four books. As we walked to the car we wondered where more than five hours had gone because we had enjoyed ourselves so much that time had just flown by. Don’t miss a chance to come and enjoy this wonderful historic site. It is a lovely day out and we really recommend it.
10. first direct arena
Overall Ratings
4.0 based on 2,362 reviews
The first direct arena is a 13,000 capacity super-theatre that opened in the summer of 2013.
Reviewed By AggieMcKenzie - Scarborough, United Kingdom
First Direct Arena is ideally located in the Leeds city centre, easily accessible by foot, car or public transport. It is medium size and is not daunting like some bigger arenas.Leeds arena offers good visibility from every sector and is it my favourite concert venue.
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