Five free days out in Yorkshire: Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Hull, and Wakefield

Leeds

Starting with the fastest-growing city in the UK, Leeds.

You can easily travel by bus or train to the city centre, or you can park and ride if travelling by car. There are also extensive cycle paths too.

In the city centre, head to Leeds Art Gallery and the Henry Moore Institute for some culture. Both are free to enter.

In the art gallery, Tiled Hall Cafe is a real hidden gem where you can buy sandwiches, pastries, and drinks. On the ground floor is a child-friendly play and creative space. Outside the gallery are plenty of benches for a picnic too.

Just up the road is Millennium Square, where you’ll find Leeds City Museum. This is also free to enter with a range of visiting exhibitions as well as a Toddler Town all year round.

Then, if you’ve any time, walk through the Victorian Arcades towards Victoria Leeds. To the right, you can pop into Leeds Kirkgate Market and the Corn Exchange.

At the bottom, where Leeds Bus Station is, it’s worth visiting Leeds Playhouse if you need a pit stop and Leeds Minster for its stunning architecture.

If you’re making your way back to the station make sure you walk along the Leeds Liverpool canal path.

There’s also a £1 Leeds City Bus as well.

If you fancy a simpler day out. Get off the train at Leeds city station, where you can head down to Granary Wharf. Here you can board a Leeds water taxi to the Royal Armouries, which is free to enter.

Sheffield

Sheffield is known as the UK’s greenest city and one of the greenest cities in Europe due to having the highest number of trees per person than any other city in Europe.

A great way to enjoy all this for free is to go on the Sheffield Round Walk. It’s a 15-mile walk which starts and ends at Endcliffe Park.

If you want to head into Sheffield city centre for a day out you can do this by foot, train, bus, bike, car, or supertram.

Start at Millennium Galleries, where you can explore its exhibitions and walk through to reach the Winter Gardens.

From the Winter Gardens, you can easily access Sheffield’s Peace Gardens or Sheffield Library, depending on the weather.

Next, head up to Cambridge Street where you’ll find Leah’s Yard, a hidden gem of a place with independent businesses next to Cambridge Street Collective Food Hall.

When the weather’s nice, there’s also Pounds Park.

Bradford

Bradford may have finished off its year as UK City of Culture, but it’s definitely still worth a visit.

Starting off at Bradford Cathedral, take a look inside and wander around the area, which is called Little Germany.

German immigrants who were wool merchants settled here and set up warehouses.

At the bottom of Little Germany is Broadway Shopping Centre, an undercover walkway into the city centre.

Wander through the city centre towards the Wool Exchange, which is home to a stunning Waterstones bookstore where you can sit and browse books. There’s a great interactive children’s section too.

Just a short walk away is Centenary Square, with stunning fountains, called the Mirror Pool. This is the largest urban water feature in the UK.

From here, you can walk past Bradford Live and the Bradford Alhambra theatre to find Bradford’s National Science and Media Museum.

Here you can explore the science and culture of light and sound technologies and their impact on our lives, all for free.

It’s also a great way to discover more about Bradford’s heritage as the UNESCO City of Film.

Wakefield

Wakefield has a wide range of free country parks, including Pugney’s, Angler’s Country Park and Newmillerdam Country Park.

Each one has its own family-friendly trail as well as hiking and cycling routes. Angler’s and Pugney’s also have a free play area. Pugney’s also has its own miniature railway, and watersports are sometimes available.

If you fancy cycling the district, there’s a fairly traffic-free 21-mile Wonders of Wakefield cycle ride around the edge of the city.

For an urban day out in Wakefield, arrive at Wakefield Kirkgate, where you can explore The Hepworth Wakefield’s gardens, and there’s a free picnic area inside. Access to the upstairs gallery, however, is only free for residents.

You can walk or catch the free city bus in the city centre. If by foot, pop into West Yorkshire Archives, which has a small exhibition at the front.

The Free City Bus can also drop you at Wakefield One, where the Wakefield Museum and Library are located. Both are free to enter, with plenty of seating available in the library, as well as a children’s section.

From here, you can head to The Arthouse Wakefield, which features regular exhibitions and a stunning coffee shop.

You can jump on a train at Wakefield Westgate here, or if you’ve more time, it’s a short walk uphill to Wakefield Cathedral, which has a fascinating sculpture outside, and The Ridings Centre is adjacent.

Inside The Ridings Centre, there’s also a free children’s play area.

Hull

When heading to Hull, start your day at Hull Marina, where you can then venture into the Museum Quarter in Hull’s Old Town.

Here you’ll find a range of free museums, including Hull and East Riding Museum, the Streetlife Museum of Transport, and Wilberforce House, as well as the Peace Gardens.

Then head to Trinity Market for a pit stop, and it's also in the shadow of the Hull Minster, which is free to enter.