Bed and breakfast availability
Harrogate b&b, guesthouse and hotel accommodation

Visit Harrogate and the surrounding villages and stay in bed & breakfast accommodation:

Harrogate, West Riding. The demand for spa cures may be dwindling but the appetite for conferences is not, and Harrogate adapts to modern ways more easily than some towns. Attractive in itself and handy for some of the best scenery of Yorkshire and the North, Harrogate is becoming Britain's convention centre. It is a stately place, with numerous dignified hotels and houses built of dark stone in the late 19^th century when respectability was taken seriously. But the effect is softened by the high, airy location, spacious parks, great abundance of trees and lavish flower-beds. Famous for its toffee, it is a town for fine shopping and rich teas, and is also a dormitory town for Leeds and Bradford.

Harrogate's mineral springs were discovered by William Slingsby in 1571. He was a travelled man and he knew the water from Tewit (local name for lapwing) Well tasted like waters he had drunk abroad. A temple has since been erected over this well on the wide Stray.

In the early spa days, people bathed in or drank waters brought to their lodgings in barrels. The first public baths went up in 1842, the Royal Pump Room, now a museum. The town became very popular in the 18th and especially the 19^th centuries when London society came for relaxation and treatment for gout, rheumatism, lumbago, the liver or jangled nerves. In 1840, the Duchy of Lancaster began to develop the town in earnest. In 1949, the cure was nationalized and patients were treated under the National Health Service.

In 1969, however, the Royal Municipal Baths were closed.

To look at Harrogate properly, you should climb the observatory tower, built in 1829 on Harlow Hill in Otley Road. The tower overlooks Harlow Moor and a lot of Yorkshire.

Three miles South East of Harrogate is Rudding Park. A fine example of Regency building, it was designed by James Wyatt.

Nearby cities: Bradford, Leeds

Nearby towns: Knaresborough, Ilkley, Otley, Pateley Bridge, Ripon, Skipton, Tadcaster, Wetherby

Nearby villages: Allerton Mauleverer, Arthington, Bardsey, Birstwith, Bishop Monkton, Boroughbridge, Bramhope, Burton Leonard, Copgrove, Dacre, Darley, East Keswick, Ferrensby, Fewston, Goldsborough, Hampsthwaite, Huby, Ingerthorpe, Killinghall, Kirkby Overblow, Knaresborough, Leathley, Little Ribston, Nidd, Pannal, Ripley, Roecliffe, Sicklinghall, Spofforth, Stainburn, Stainley, Starbeck, Summer Bridge

Have you decided to visit Harrogate or the surrounding villages? Please look above for somewhere to stay in:

• a Harrogate bed and breakfast (a Harrogate B&B or Harrogate b and b)
• a Harrogate guesthouse
• a Harrogate hotel (or motel)
• a Harrogate self-catering establishment, or
• other Harrogate accommodation