Holiday Homes in Yorkshire Dales

To the south-east of the Lake District lies a second great national park, the Yorkshire Dales, and since a major boundary extension in 2016 a sizeable slice of it now falls within Cumbria. Known as the Westmorland Dales, this Cumbrian corner takes in the rounded Howgill Fells, dramatic Wild Boar Fell and the wild valley of Mallerstang, offering a different but equally beautiful upland to the Lakes next door. It is a separate national park, not part of the Lake District, and all the better for the contrast.

This is limestone country, quite distinct from the Lakeland fells: green dales laced with dry-stone walls and field barns, white crags, tumbling waterfalls and hidden caves. The Howgills give wonderful, uncrowded walking, the book town of Sedbergh makes a charming base, and the famous Settle to Carlisle railway carries you through some of the finest scenery in England. Further into Yorkshire proper lie the Three Peaks and showpieces such as Malham Cove.

The Dales suit walkers and cyclists who love big, open country with fewer people than the central Lakes, and anyone wanting to combine two national parks in one trip. With the Lakes within touching distance near Tebay, you can have the best of both. Browse our holiday homes across the Yorkshire Dales and enjoy a quieter, limestone-edged corner of the north.