Leeds, Hidden Treasure of the UK

Video Overview & Insights

Leeds is a hidden treasure, an authentic UK city that's not overcrowded and has a beautiful waterfront .

00:00 intro

00:50 arrive in Leeds by train

01:10 begin walking tour in Leeds city center

02:07 Leeds & Liverpool Canal and Granary Wharf

03:40 last lock on Leeds & Liverpool Canal

04:10 water taxi on River Aire

04:52 Leeds Dock

05:21 map of Leeds to Liverpool Canal

05:57 City Square

06:13 map of downtown pedestrian zone

06:34 Commercial Street, Albion, Lands Lane

07:16 Briggate

08:36 Arcades: County, Victoria Quarter, Grand

09:38 The Light

10:34 Park Row restaurants

12:04 Granary Wharf

13:05 River Aire boat ride

14:40 Leeds Dock recreation and new developments

18:13 Royal Armouries Museum

20:00 daytrips by train

20:18 Knaresborough

20:48 Harrogate

21:31 Skipton

23:09 The Queens Hotel Leeds

23:40 ending

You are going to see it is a great place to visit, with a lively pedestrian zone featuring some classic old shopping arcades and lovely streets for walking lined with shops and restaurants with many people out enjoying a stroll or just sitting down for a drink. Classic architecture and one of the world's oldest museums add to the charms of Leeds.

Then we'll show three nearby towns to visit on day trips by train, Harrogate, Skipton, and Knaresborough.

It's easy to get to Leeds by train about an hour and a half from Liverpool or two hours by fast train from London. Arriving on spacious platforms at the large well-organized train station with the main lobby featuring the usual shops and dining, located right in the center of town. That puts you already into the pedestrian zone where you can begin your walking tour of the city.

Starting here at City Square with its landmark old post office now hosting a lovely restaurant. One of many outdoor eateries you'll find in the city center when the weather cooperates. The corn exchange opened in 1863 now has shops and restaurants beneath a 38 meter high dome of glass and cast iron.

A more spectacular roof is found at the Victoria Quarter, one of several arcades that we will be walking through. It's located on Briggate, the city's major pedestrian street, and the other main street Albion along with various funky little side lanes.

This is a very walkable city center with a compact size about half a square kilometer and things to see on every street. Just south of the train station you'll arrive at the dark arches below the tracks with restaurants in the arcades underneath the railroad. Next to that is the Canal and River with their delightful waterfront atmosphere at Granary Wharf with a fascinating history.

The Canal Basin is a place for people to gather and relax in these beautiful surroundings. There are benches around you can sit back and relax to enjoy the sights. Perhaps sit at one of the several outdoor restaurants and have a meal or just have a drink. The Leeds Canal Basin is a place where pleasure boats can tie up and dock for a while. Often these are boats that people can rent for a few days or weeks to travel along in the canals. You can wander and explore both sides of the canal basin with walkways that you can stroll on all around the different parts of these docks.

This is the very place that was the end location of England's longest and most important canal that ran from Liverpool to Leeds 127 miles using 91 locks. Construction began in Liverpool in the year 1770 and it reached Leeds just seven years later. We still see some cranes that were used as part of the canal operation of loading and unloading cargo, part of the impressive historic preservation of the area.

The last lock at the very end of the canal is still here and functioning 250 years after it was built. The stone building next to it called the Granary is just as old. It's all part of the complex called the Granary Wharf. Boats would leave this final lock of the canal and enter a river that would bring them all the way to the east coast of England completing the journey from one side of the country to the other.

Now we can just take a water taxi for a little cruise along the River Aire to Leeds Dock, another important place for cargo transfer in the old days. The water taxi is quite convenient. It saves you walking a mile and takes about 12 minutes. There's a boat coming every 12 minutes. It's a very pleasant calm boat ride along the river lined with old brick buildings that were used in the major cargo traffic in the old days. Now they're converted to apartments, offices and restaurants, some with a waterfront view. You can also walk the route on the pedestrian promenade.

You'll soon arrive at Leeds Dock that was the major harbor for all of the cargo trade where goods could be taken off the boats into storage or directly into the city or transferred to another boat to continue the journey. Now it's a pleasure center where people can sunbathe, have a picnic or travel on their canal boats.

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