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Kirkby Lonsdale

Kirkby Lonsdale is a lovely town on the southern edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, around thirty minutes' drive from Garsdale over the tops. It has some great shops - a bakery, clothes shops, craft and gift shops - and several good pubs and restaurants, including Spice Essence for an Indian meal and Water Lily for Chinese, both within a short walk of the square.

The elegant Georgian Market Square hosts the Thursday Charter Market, which has been running in one form or another since the town was granted its Market Charter in 1227. Below the town, Devils Bridge is a medieval stone bridge over the River Lune and one of the oldest in the country - now closed to traffic, popular with divers and with motorcycle meets on summer weekends. Tradition, inevitably, has it that the devil built the bridge in exchange for the first soul to cross it. A short walk above it, Ruskins View takes in a wide bend of the Lune; J.M.W. Turner sketched it, and John Ruskin called it one of the loveliest views in England.

If you are staying for longer than a day, Collinge Opticians on Market Street is the nearest independent optician of this kind to Garsdale, and the town's range of shops includes a bakery, clothes shops, craft and gift shops - enough to fill a slow afternoon between the bridge and the view.

The town sits on the boundary between the Dales and the Lake District, so it pairs well with a day over towards the lakes - the A684 route from Garsdale across to Kirkby Lonsdale and on into the national park is one of the more scenic drives in the area.

The Top Things to Do in Kirkby Lonsdale

By visitor reviews on Tripadvisor, Devils Bridge is the top thing to do in Kirkby Lonsdale, with hundreds of reviews for the medieval arch and the swimmers and motorcyclists it draws on summer weekends. The Kirkby Lonsdale Brewery ranks second - its tap room does tours and tastings - and St Mary's Church on the hill above the square is third, a Norman foundation worth a look inside. Chocolat, the chocolate shop on Market Street, and the Radical Steps - the steep stone steps down the riverbank to the Lune, the same route Turner took to sketch Ruskins View - complete the top five.

Holiday Cottages Near Kirkby Lonsdale

Our three self-catering holiday cottages sit in Garsdale, about half an hour north of Kirkby Lonsdale. Book direct with the owners for the best rates.

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