Although not considered a ‘traditional’ tourist destination, Leeds has plenty to occupy the visitor for a short break or a longer stay. As well as the main sights, Museums, galleries, shops, parks etc, wandering around the buzzing City Centre to take in the atmosphere and admire the fantastic blend of architectural styles from the past few hundred years is a pleasure in itself.
- * Kirkgate Market. (Kirkgate/Vicar Lane) This traditional British market is largest in Europe. Housed in an opulent late Victorian palace to commerce, it has both indoor and outdoor stalls.
- * Royal Armouries Museum. (Clarence Dock) National museum of all things from swords to guns to armoury, famous for its regular live jousting.
- Art Galleries. (The Headrow) A world of art is at your disposal in Leeds.
- Armley Mills industrial museum. (Armely, west of the City Centre) Excellent museum of industry and Leeds’ (major) role in the Industrial Revolution.
- Tropical World. (Princes Avenue, Roundhay) Great for a rainy day as it’s all indoors, this extensive menagerie has animals, birds, fish and insects from across the globe in thoughtfully themed zones.
- Award winning Thackray Medical Museum (Beckett Street, by St James’ Hospital in the Burmantofts, to the east of the City Centre) is the best of its kind in the country, with all manner of exhibits and the chance to experience the life of a Victorian child or mill-worker (and their often gruesome medical History). If you’ve got children, you’d be mad to miss it!
- Millenium Square (There is generally something going on! ) – a great public space home to some gorgeous civic architecture, concerts, exhibitions, ice rinks, christmas markets..
- Xscape (Near Castleford, south-west of Leeds) Indoor real snow skiing, Ice climbing wall, cinema and restaurants![1].
- Live Sport Football, Rugby League & Rugby Union, Cricket
- Harewood House [2]. (Harewood, north of the city on the A61 Harrogate Rd) This huge estate, comlete with extensive gardens, lake, lovely café and bird gardens, is owned by the Queen’s cousin. The opulent roccoco house itself is well worth a look around.
- Temple Newsam, (4 miles from Leeds City Centre off A63, 2 miles from M1 junction 46). Temple Newsam is one of the great historic estates in England. With over 1500 acres landscaped by Capability Brown in the 18th century, it is a large Tudor–Jacobean mansion housing a large collection of works of art. The garden has some excellent walks and houses a working Rare Breeds farm.
- Bramham Park is another such stately home to the north-east of Leeds with a long History and lovely gardens and grounds.
- Middleton Railway is the oldest working railway in the world. Situated in South Leeds between Middleton and Hunslet, it used to cary coal from the coal mines to the south of the city to the factories of Hunslet and central Leeds. You can now have a ride on the historic rolling stock.
- Leeds Christmas Illuminations the UK’s biggest display, are an annual display from Nov-Jan comprising both big show lights and the aubtle and beautiful across the city, and are even longer than the legendary Blackpool Illuminations (known as ‘The Leeds Lights’).
- Leeds Town Hall(The Headrow) is the city’s symbol and pride and joy, one of the world’s finest Victorian buildings, and home to a dazzling aray of concerts, particularly during the city’s popular and extensive International Concert Season. The recently restored interior is stunning.
- Park Square is a lovely Georgian square reminiscent of Dublin, and is often an overlooked haven of tranquility in the City Centre
- The Waterfront has been attractively restored with flats, offices, bars and restaurants now filling the 18th and 19th century warehouses and quaysides, whilst preserving their historic character. Dock Street is full of old world charm, and the soon-to-be-completed redevelopment of the Clarence Dock promises a vibrant selection of shops, bars, restaurants and waterside life
- hurches of Leeds: Leeds has a number of fine and historically interesting churches, most of which are tranquil little-visited (except of course for services) havens. Some highlights include:
- St Anne’s Cathedral (Cookridge Street) – small, but an extremely interesting example of an Arts and Crafts, Catholic Cathedral unique within the UK
- Leeds Parish Church (Kirkgate) – an attractive and fairly large neo-gothic church with a renowned choir and concerts from time to time
- Holy Trinity Church (Boar Lane)- an unassuming location and exterior hide an elegant baroque interior
- Salem Chapel (Bridge End) – across the river lies this interesting and unique unitarian chapel
- St John’s Church (New Briggate) – hidden away in peaceful gardens lies this true gem, built during the English Civil War, it has beautiful ornate woodwork in its charming interior
- Oxford Place Chapel – lovely red-brick baroque church
- St John the Baptist (Adel) – whilst a long way out of town (take a bus and then walk! this leafy and extremely affluent suburb has some lovely houses, and is a world a way from the bustle of the City Centre – nearby York Gate garden is beautiful and well worth a visit), this lovely and well-preserved Norman church set in verdant grounds is a hidden treasure
- And of course, don’t miss the beautiful Kirkstall Abbey, largest abbey in the North of England – see below
New Developments (of interest to the visitor): Leeds is a rapidly expanding and changing city, with many new developments in the pipeline or underway already, from soaring skyscrapers that will grace the skyline in years to come, to renovation of historic buildings and the redevelopment of abandoned and derelict sites. Here is a pick of the new developments that may be of interest to a visitor:
- The renovation of the Harewood and Eastgate Quarter will bring over a hundred new shops to the city as well as restaurants, bars, cultural facilities, a cinema, the renovation of historic buildings and a face-lift for the Eastgate into the grand boulevard it was intended to be
- Clarence Dock is nearing completion and will bring new life to Leeds’ long-derelict docklands. Centered on the Royal Armouries, the new area will have a casino, shops, restaurants, cafés, bars, a ‘discovery centre’ and a unique waterside atmosphere
- La Lumiere will, as well as being a dramatic addition to the city’s skyline (at 52 stories the tallest UK building outside London) that will no doubt grab the attention of visitor’s and residents alike, contain a winter garden, shops and restaurants
- The redevelopment of the waterfront area at Granary Wharf will contain large landscaped public space (which is planned to be used for a multitude of events), as well as a hotel, shops, restaurants, bars, etc
- Leeds City Museum will open in its new home in a beautiful building on Millennium Square in 2008 and promises all manner of new galleries and state of the art facilities
- Mentioned elsewhere, Seven is a new Theatre and arts centre due to open in 2007 in Chapel Allerton
- Holbeck Urban Village is the complete renovation and restoration of an entire city district. In the south-west of central Leeds, this historic area was key to the Industrial Revolution, and has many buildings and sites of interest, including the stunning Egyptian-style Temple Mill and Italianate Tower Works. The restoration and redevelopment has already begun with the Round Foundry, a new-age village of offices, flats, cafés and media centres complete with traditional paved streets and 200-year old buildings. A plethora of other developments promise that this area will become more and more of an exciting destination.
- Trinity Quarter, due to commence next year, will replace the shabby arcades that currently lie (mercifully hidden for the most part) between Commercial St and Boar Lane with a sleek ultra-modern shopping centre fanning out from a glass-roofed square behind the historic Holy Trinity church