North Yorkshire Moors and Castle Howard Day Tour From York

We leave York heading east to the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors. Our first stop is the quaint town of Pickering. Here you can explore the historic Church of St Peter and St Paul and discover the amazing medieval murals adorning the Nave of the Church. Pickering is the southern terminus of the North York Moors Railway, England’s busiest heritage line where you might find a steam train waiting in the station.

From here we head into the moorland landscape, forged by nature and shaped by humans. We make a brief stop for photos at the famed Hole of Horcum, local legend tells us it was formed by Wade the Giant following an argument with his wife Bell.

We take a looped route around the Moors landscape, There will be plenty of photo stops along the way as we discover why this landscape was designated a national park. High heather moorland is interspersed with deep cut valleys carved out during the Ice ages thousands of years ago, standing stones, burial mounds and stone crosses erected by the people of the moors over thousands of years.

Lunch will be in Helmsley, a beautiful market town on the edges of the park. Known as a foodie town there are no shortage of cafes, tearooms or pubs to choose from as well as some award winning deli’s serving fantastic local produce.

It is just a short drive after lunch to Castle Howard. We stop for approximately 2 hours to explore the house and gardens. This magnificent estate was completed in 1799 and took over 100 years to complete. It is still home the Howard family who reside in one half of the house the remaining part is open to the public along with 1000 acres of landscaped gardens.

From Castle Howard we head along the back roads through gently rolling scenery and pretty villages, if the weather is good we may spot York Mister on the horizon and the remains of Sheriff Hutton Castle before arriving back into York.