Leeds, Shipley or Harrogate to Bowness-on-Windemere 205km/128 miles total

A charming walk that finds a beautifully but relatively undemanding route through some of England's best known uplands, linking the Yorkshire Dales and Lake District national parks through beautiful countryside with much riverside walking. The "classic" section runs from Ilkley, a distance of 126km/79 miles, and signed links connect with major urban areas in the south of the Dales.

Members of West Riding Ramblers first proposed the route in the late 1960s, and it was finally opened in the 1980s with the support of the then Countryside Commission, the national park authorities and the various local councils. A separate Dales Way Association now promotes the route.

Connects with Ebor Way, Lune Valley Walk, Pennine Bridleway, Pennine Way (E2), Ribble Way

Highway Authorities Bradford, Cumbria, Leeds,  North Yorkshire

Parks and countryside Lake District National Park, Yorkshire Dales National Park

Tourist Information Centres

• Bowness, Kendal, Killington Lake, Sedbergh, Windermere - see Cumbria TICs
• Grassington (seasonal) 01756 752774
• Hawes 01969 667450
• Horton in Ribblesdale 01729 860333
• Ilkley 01943 436200
• Settle 01729 825192

Accommodation Booking and Luggage Carriers

• Brigantes
• Sherpa Van

Click here to find bed & breakfast accommodation on this path.

Holiday providers include Contours, Discovery, Explore Britain, Footpath, Mickledore, Sherpa, UK Exploratory

Public Transport

• Rail services connect with the Way at Ilkley (Arriva Northern to Leeds and Bradford, with onward connections to London, Manchester, Scotland, Birmingham and southwest England) and Dent (on the picturesque Settle and Carlisle Line from Leeds and Skipton to Carlisle, connecting services to London, Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow). Burneside and Staveley are served by First North Western trains to Windermere, Kendal, Oxenholme and Lancaster (connections for Skipton, Manchester, Birmingham, London, Glasgow). Regular daily buses connect Bowness with Windermere station. The line between Burneside and Windermere can be reached from Leeds and Skipton by changing at Lancaster, and special off-peak day return fares are available, useful for walkers at the western end of the route.
• Buses connect Addingham to Skipton, Ilkley and Keighley; Bolton Abbeyto Skipton; Grassington to Harrogate (trains to Leeds and York), Ilkley and Skipton; Buckden to Grassington and Skipton; Cowgill, Dent and Sedbergh to Kendal; Staveley to Kendal and Windermere; and Burneside and Staveley to Kendal. The Dalesbus leisure bus network serves some points on the route. Some services are infrequent or run on certain days of the week only.
• More details on public transport, including timetable extracts, are included in the Dales Way Handbook (see below). For more on Dalesbus and services in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, see under Public transport for walkers: Yorkshire. For details of how to find timetable and fares information, see Public transport for walkers: National information.

Explorer maps OL2, OL7, OL19, 297 plus 288 (Shipley), 289 (Leeds)
Landranger maps 97, 98, 104
The Way is marked on the most recent editions of these maps.
Strip map Dales Way, including all three links at 1:40 000 scale, with additional information, waterproof, ISBN 1 85137 369 1. Harvey, £9.95 + p&p. Order here!

Publications

• Dales Way Route Guide by Arthur Gemmell & Colin Speakman, ISBN 0 906886 72 4. Stile Publications £5.99 + 40p p&p
  Guide with detailed strip maps including all three links and numerous circular walks, fully revised 2006. Also available from Dales Way Association (see below). [09/06]
• The Dales Way by Terry Marsh, ISBN 1 85284 464 7. Cicerone £10.
  This fully revised edition describes only the classic route from Ilkley, but in both directions, with useful background and practical information, colour photos, and OS 1:50 000 mapping. [07/05]
• The Dales Way by Anthony Burton, ISBN 1 85410 314 8.  Aurum £12.99
  Recreational Route guide with extracts from OS 1:25,000 maps, describing the route from Leeds but excluding the Harrogate and Shipley links.
• The Dales Way Handbook by West Riding Ramblers. Order here!
  Accommodation and facilities along the route

Contacts

• Dales Way Association 3 Moorfield Road, Ilkley LS29 8BL
  www.dalesway.org.uk