Millie and I had a little day trip to Harrogate last week. It brings back lovely memories of when I was a little girl and we lived in Knaresborough, but there are also lots of new things to discover. Reasons why it’s a great day trip:
1) Valley Gardens – beautiful gardens a short walk from the town centre. You can admire the trees & flowers, have a game of crazy golf or in the summer or even sail a boat on the miniature boating lake. Plus there’s a Ripley Ice Cream stall there… yum!
2) Farmer’s Market – it’s on the 2nd Thursday of the month, on Cambridge Street outside the Victoria Gardens shopping centre. Lots of food stalls, flowers and crafts – all local businesses. I got some lovely strawberries and carrot cake, and a handmade sign for Millie’s room.
3) Charity Shops – for some bargain hunting and finding materials for craft projects Harrogate’s charity shops are a gold mine. They are all clustered around 2 streets, and they usually have quite high quality goods. Plus the shop assistants will often offer you an item at a lower price without you even having to haggle. I managed to get an old LP for 50p because the assistant thought £1 was too much!
4) Bettys – For a treat, it’s nice to go there for tea & cake. I think the Harrogate branch is nicer than the York ones because it feels very spacious and grand, with big picture windows so you can people watch.
Those are just a few of many reasons to visit. Basically it’s only 30 miles away – an easy car journey or quite a scenic train journey and it’s a nice change from the bustle of Leeds.
