A plan for Leeds

The stately home known as "Leeds Castle" is nowhere near the city of Leeds, but close to Maidstone in Kent.

Leeds (derived from the Celtic area Leodis) was voted the UK's favourite city in Condé Nast's Readers' Traveller Awards 2003. It was a market town that became an industrial powerhouse and grew and developed into a service-based city economy with an attractive, smart centre.

Roman Leeds was an important strategic fort, ford and small settlement on the York-Chester road. Recorded in the Domesday book of 1086, it became a thriving market town in the Middle Ages, gaining its town charter from the King in 1207. The medieval city was based around Briggate, Kirkgate, Swinegate and The Calls. (The ending "-gate" came from the old Norse for 'street'.) It was a trading centre in the West Riding of Yorkshire for cloth and wool; from Bradford, Halifax and Huddersfield to the port of Hull, east along the river Aire and the 1699 Aire & Calder Navigation canal. Whilst the town grew rapidly (population over 30,000 in the eighteenth century, when the gracious Georgian West End was built), it was for a long time economically overshadowed by nearby York.The Industrial Revolution brought about massive change as it became a huge manufacturing centre of wool and textiles and a major trading centre (with over half the country's export passing through for a period). Leeds became known as the city of a thousand trades and by the middle of the nineteenth century the population had passed 200,000.

City centre

Brewery Wharf

South across the river from The Call the area around Leeds Dock has some interesting development of cafés, restaurants, shops and apartments as wells as the Royal Armouries Museum and Salem Chapel.

Civic Quarter

Home to the Town Hall, the fantastic Art Gallery, Henry Moore Institute and Millennium Square, this grand corner of the city is where many of the main tourist draws are to be found. The Light with its shops, restaurants, bars, hotel, cinema etc. in a beautifully converted historic building is a major pull, but venture along the Headrow and experience some of the best cultural attractions on offer in the city. The Art Gallery has great rotating exhibitions and the best collection of 20th-century British art outside London. Adjoining it are the Henry Moore Institute and the Central Lending Library with its beautiful Victorian interior. Across the road is the Town Hall (see above), a breathtaking demonstration of civic pride.

On Great George St is a small selection of shops, the 19th-century entrance (with a lovely colonial-style entrance hallway and small gallery space up the stairs) of the Leeds General Infirmary, and the restored Electric Press which is now home to the Carriageworks Theatre and several bars and restaurants, providing a semi-al fresco eating environment for all weather conditions. Next door is the impressive and well-used public space of Millennium Square (see above) with its attractive Mandela Gardens (opened by Mandela himself, now a freeman of the city, they are a lovely spot especially in summer) abutting the Electric Press building. The square is crowned with the Portland Stone neo-classical Civic Hall and the City Museum. Down on Cookridge St is the city's small but unique Arts and Crafts St Anne's Cathedral.

Central Shopping District

The very centre of Leeds is a temple to consumerism. Bounded by the 'Public Transport Box', a rough half mile square between The Headrow, Vicar Lane, Boar Lane and Park Row gives Leeds one of the most compact, busy and diverse pedestrian shopping districts in the UK where the highest concentration of the city centre's stores are to be found.

There are four theatres in central Leeds providing a range of entertainment including opera, amateur dramatic and contemporary performance art.

Leeds is a great place to see up-and-coming live music talent, and has seen the formation of successful bands such as Corinne Bailey Rae, Kaiser Chiefs and Sunshine Underground. The city is home to many live performances from big-name stars, mostly at outdoor concerts. Millennium Square in the city centre regularly has gigs with a 7,000 capacity. Leeds has an indoor concert arena with around 14,000 seats. Concerts are also held at Roundhay Park, Temple Newsam and Harewood House. Also check out musical events at the Leeds Irish Centre, The Wardrobe and Leads University and Leeds Metropolitan University.

There are plenty of leisure centres, gyms and swimming pools across the city, though unfortunately there won't be a public swimming pool in the city centre until the University one is completed. Major city centre fitness/leisure centres are deluxe Esporta, LA fitness and the ubiquitous Virgin Active. Some hotels have great leisure facilities or agreements with local centres for free access for guests.

The international standard John Charles Centre for Sport is in South Leeds with facilities for indoor athletics particularly jumping disciplines.

Headingley Carnegie Stadium in North West Leeds is home to Yorkshire County Cricket Club, Rugby League (Leeds Rhinos) and Rugby Union (Leeds Tykes).

Elland Road in South Leeds is home to Leeds United Football Club .

Between January and March the Ice Cube outdoor ice skating ring is set up in Millennium Square.

Whilst hardly tropical, Leeds has an unusually mild and sunny climate for northern England, protected from the worst and wettest weather by the Pennine Hills to the west... this gives more than ample opportunity to explore the fantastic parks of one of Europe's greenest cities (Leeds has the most green space in its city limits of any European city other than Vienna).

1 The White Rose Way, Leeds City Square to Scarborough. Take several days, or spread each leg over a number of day walks to complete the 104 miles of the White Rose Way from Leeds to Scarborough

There are many restaurants in central Leeds that everyone can find something to their taste and budget. There are all the usual chains (many of which have several branches in the city) and a huge variety of one-off places, including many award-winners. Headingley, Chapel Allerton, Roundhay and various other districts outside the centre also have a range of quality eateries (whilst a few places in these areas are mentioned below, fuller selections can be found on their respective guides).

Café culture is thriving in Leeds, with a great number of places for a lunch or lighter meal, and there are also many fine curry houses in the city, due to the large South Asian population. Leeds has a successful annual food and drink festival, held at the end of August, with many free events bookable in advance.

Leeds' two large universities mean there is a vibrant, diverse and thumping nightlife scene including many clubs as well as a huge range of fine drinking establishments from traditional pubs to ultra chic concept bars. It is estimated that there are over 180 city centre bars and pubs, and around 29 nightclubs with late licenses. Railway arches are increasingly popular homes for bars and clubs across the city centre. All areas (indeed, most streets) of central Leeds offer something in the way of nightlife, but the main areas are:

Call Lane in the Exchange Quarter (one of the city's main nightlife districts), offering a range of bars (which many would argue are the best in the city) from chic to bohemian. The area around the Calls and the Parish Church has overspill from Call Lane and some great waterfront bars and restaurants.

The 'yards' off Briggate are home to both traditional pubs and modern bars and clubs.

Boar Lane is for the most part made up of standard chain bars and more downmarket drinking establishments, but a few buck the trend.

Architecturally lovely Assembly Street has a select number of swanky bars, clubs and restaurants.

Greek Street is expensive, but in between the high-end exclusivity are tackier bars attracting a less desirable crowd at weekends.

New York Street is becoming increasingly popular.

The Northern Quarter, centred on New Briggate and spreading north (and down Grand Arcade) is home to several older Leeds institutions but is now up-and-coming with many hot new venues.

The Civic Quarter has everything: flashy bars in the Electric Press, traditional pubs, and loud, trendy bars and clubs above Millennium Square

The financial district has a number of dispersed, chic watering holes. Park Row continues along the same lines as Greek Street

Brewery Wharf on the south bank is growing as a drinking destination

Lower Briggate is the centre of the gay community, and a variety of establishments in the area reflect this, though most are welcoming (and many are popular with) the straights.

Out of the city centre, the districts of Headingley and Chapel Allerton are extremely popular for bars and restaurants. Exclusive Street Lane in Roundhay is also becoming increasingly popular. (See their respective guides for details on specific drinking spots in these areas.)

On foot

If you're just visiting the city centre, you might as well walk, as much of it is surprisingly compact with most of the major attractions and shops being within walking distance of one another. Leeds has aspirations to have one of the largest traffic-free city centres in Europe and as of 2020 is gradually pedestrianising more and more streets. To orientate yourself, free maps (quite simple but good for basic orientation) are available at the tourist information and a number of visitor attractions. There are some street maps dotted around the city centre, and others can be found in guide books, street atlases, etc. Getting around central Leeds is fairly easy.

By bus

Public transport within Leeds is good - most major bus routes within the city are every 10 minutes or so. Information about busses can be obtained either from the Corn Exchange Bus Point, where the First Travel Centre is staffed M-F 9AM-5:30PM, and Sa 9AM-4:30PM, or from the Leeds City Bus Station whose Information Help Point has the same opening hours.

Metro (West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority) provides local bus and train information on its website, and has "Find your next bus" on its website.

For visitors wishing to explore Leeds city centre CityBus (Route no.5, operated by First) loops around much of the city centre every 6–7 minutes between 6:30AM and 7:30PM; one journey costs £1, or you can use a bus pass. If using this service at busy times of day it's best to catch the bus at either the Bus Station or Rail Station; if a bus is full, it will not stop to take on more passengers and you could be waiting in excess of an hour. This bus is no longer free.

First runs most of the bus services within Leeds. If you are making more than a couple of short bus trips, the best option is to buy a "FirstDay" day ticket for £4.30 (cheaper on mobile) , which allows unlimited travel on First Bus routes within Leeds or £4.90 (cheaper on mobile) for all First Bus routes within West Yorkshire.

By taxi

The black and white taxis can be flagged down, but you must phone first for the others. In the city centre, try Amber Taxis (advance booking only, +44 113 231-1366): you can get around the city centre for £3-7. In south Leeds, try Local Cars (advance booking only, +44 113 252-8258): a journey for less than a mile is £2.70.

Leeds is known as a friendly city, but as with any other city, the usual tips about exercising a degree of common caution apply: leave no valuables unattended, avoid going to badly lit/shady/unknown places by yourself or walk around alone at night etc. Leeds residents might have a healthy sense of humour but think twice before making harsh criticisms of their city which they are proud of.

There are some notorious areas of Leeds at night with seedy reputations, such as the unrejuvenated areas of Chapeltown , Holbeck and Mabgate. Whilst by and large these places are safe by day, it is best to proceed with caution after dark. Avoid displaying any memorabilia or clothing of Manchester United (the main rival of local football club Leeds United), as these worn at the wrong place could make you a target of violence, especially on match days.

If you do encounter any trouble, the emergency services (police, ambulance, fire) number is the same as for the rest of the country: 999, or the new European wide emergency number: 112. To contact the police in a non emergency, dial 101.

If you do get ill in Leeds, there are NHS and private medical practices. The Light complex houses an NHS walk-in centre. Leeds is home to two of Europe's largest hospitals : Leeds General Infirmary (in the Civic Quarter) and rapidly expanding St James's University Hospital (a couple of miles east of the City Centre and just south of Harehills), and many smaller hospital and PCTs across the wider city area. As with the rest of the UK, tap water is safe to drink, and you are unlikely to come across any major health risks .