The Best Things To Do In Knaresborough, North Yorkshire

Last Updated on 14th September 2023

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Knaresborough is one of the most beautiful and scenic towns in Yorkshire, with its medieval castle, ruins, adorable tearooms and impressive viaduct, it makes for one of the best places to visit in North Yorkshire.

In my one-day itinerary below, I’m sharing my list of the best things to do in Knaresborough to help you plan the perfect itinerary.

Today’s post is a celebration of one of the cutest British towns and all the very best things to see and do in Knaresborough! From the Knaresborough boats to the iconic Knaresborough Viaduct to many more of the best things to do in Knaresborough, I’ve got you covered with my ultimate guide below!

How to get to Knaresborough – Knaresborough boat parking

Knaresborough is an adorable and quintessentially English town that resides in the Borough of Harrogate. Renowned for being a market and spa town, it epitomises everything quaint about English towns and villages.

It’s also pretty easy to get to, especially if you’re already in and around North Yorkshire. It’s less than 15 minutes drive from Harrogate, 35 minutes from York and 40 minutes from Leeds by car.

If you drive to Knaresborough, you’ll be delighted to know that parking there is some of the cheapest I’ve ever seen. I thought parking in Ripon was awesome at just 70p an hour, but almost every car park in Knaresborough is just 40p an hour and up to £1.60 for 24 hours! We parked at York Place Car Park, but Chapel Street Car Park also has the same rates and both car parks have free public toilets to use.

It also has its own train station so you can get there via railway from York (30 minutes), Harrogate (13 minutes) and Leeds (1 hour). The train station is right in the middle of the town, pretty much right next to the river so it’s incredibly convenient for getting around.

Where to stay in Knaresborough

As we only live a short drive away from Knaresborough, it didn’t make sense for us to stay there for the night so I can’t really recommend anywhere to stay. However, as always, I’ve included a search box below so you can find somewhere to stay in the town that suits your budget.

Booking.com

1. Wander around Knaresborough Castle

As soon as you arrive in Knaresborough, I’d recommend heading straight for the Castle.

The ruined fortress might not exactly be the grandest castle you’ll have ever seen, but it’s still a pretty cool sight to behold.

Unfortunately, our visit was timed when the Coronavirus pandemic was still going on, so the castle and the museum were closed, but be sure to keep an eye out on the Visit Harrogate website to see when it will be reopening.

2. Admire the views of the viaduct from the Castle

While the Castle itself is pretty cool to see, most people head up to the grounds of the fortress to check out the best views in town; the Viaduct.

Built all the way back in the 1850s, Knaresborough’s Viaduct carries the Harrogate train line over the River Nidd.

The UK certainly isn’t short of over-the-top impressive viaducts, but I reckon that Knaresborough’s offering has got to be amongst the most photogenic!

We were lucky that our visit to the town coincided with the “back to school” start of September after 6 months off due to Covid so everywhere was remarkably quiet and the whole town was so peaceful.

Views like this don’t come about every day, especially with glorious weather, so I counted myself very lucky to see this charming view on such a spectacular day!

Find the views: Castle Yard, Knaresborough HG5 8AS

3. Row a boat along the River Nidd – Knaresborough boat hire

One of the top things to do in Knaresborough is to hire a boat for an hour and take it on a cruise along the River Nidd. I’d heard mixed things about this activity (with some saying it was so romantic and peaceful, and others claiming that it was incredibly stressful to navigate the rowing boat in the wind!), but I’m delighted to say our experience was a success.

While I would have liked to have rowed the boat as well, as there was only room for two paddles for one person, I left the “driving” up to Matt! He did a pretty good job with very few incidents; we didn’t crash into anyone else or into the riverside so that’s a success in my eyes!

The views of the viaduct from the river are also utterly stunning, especially on a clear day. The Knaresborough rowing boats are the perfect activity to enjoy on a sunny afternoon in this tiny town and if you’ve got a partner with you who can do all the hard work of rowing the boat on Knaresborough’s River Nidd, you’re in for a real treat!

You can also admire the gorgeous little houses that reside on the riverside, as well as waving to all the passers-by who are either admiring your handiwork or giggling at you as you try and navigate the waters!

Knaresborough boats price list

Boat hire in Knaresborough starts at £8 per person (£6 for children aged 4-15 years old) for an hour from Marigold’s (the adorable little cafe at the side of the river) or £10 per person (£5 for children aged 6-15) for an hour from Knaresborough Blenkhorn’s boat hire.

If there are a few of you who want to hop in a boat, I’d recommend Blenkhorn’s as their boats can seat up to 6 people. As it was just the two of us, we opted for Marigold’s and I was more than happy with those guys.

You get up to an hour on the boat, but we only spent around half an hour cruising up and down the river as it’s pretty hard work after a while!

There’s no need to book before you go – just turn up and pay when you want to go! Taking a Knaresborough boat ride is undoubtedly one of the best things to do in Knaresborough, especially on a beautiful summer’s day!

Knaresborough boats opening times:

Marigold’s Cafe boating in Knaresborough is open daily from mid-March to the end of October (weather dependent) from 9.30 AM to 4.30 PM.
Blenkhorn’s Knaresborough boat hire is open daily from March to October (weather dependent) from 10 AM to 5 PM.

4. Admire the artwork on the Knaresborough Window Trail

As I mentioned in my One Day In Glasgow post, ever since we spent some time in George Town, Malaysia last year, I’ve become utterly obsessed with all things street art-related.

While I’m not really the biggest fan of art in general per se, there’s just something about street art that I find fascinating and really enjoy.

Thankfully, Knaresborough’s Window Trail was on hand to sate my needs for decorative buildings and while the “collection” isn’t particularly expansive, the paintings themselves are very cute.

The artwork came about many years ago when the windows were blocked to avoid window tax (when a property had too many windows), but the art project enabled the windows to appear realistic in order to bring some life and colour into the town; whatever the reason for their origin, I think they’re super cool!

It’s undoubtedly one of the best things to do in Knaresborough and it’s totally free, so you don’t have to spend a fortune to have a good time!

5. Enjoy a leisurely stroll along the river

The River Nidd runs right through the centre of Knaresborough, so chances are wherever you are in town, you’re likely to come across it.

On a nice, sunny day, it makes for the perfect place for a stroll, especially if you can indulge in a delicious treat afterwards!

It’s the perfect alternative activity to hiring a boat in Knaresborough if you don’t fancy taking to the water on a boat as you still get to enjoy the beautiful views of the river and the viaduct.

6. Tuck into some lunch at Marigold’s Cafe

Marigold’s Cafe and Boating in Knaresborough resides right next to the river (where we hired our boats from) and it’s the ideal spot in town for a bit of lunch.

Serving up a plethora of hot and cold sandwiches, heart-warming soups and scrumptious ice creams, all at incredibly reasonable prices, Marigold’s is a place not to be missed when visiting Knaresborough.

Find it: 16 Waterside, Knaresborough HG5 8DE

7. Admire the picturesque houses and streets

Knaresborough reminded me quite a bit of Ripon in that it’s such a small, yet utterly endearing place in North Yorkshire, especially thanks to its picturesque houses and streets.

There are plenty of adorable houses to admire in the town; keep your eyes peeled for plenty of uniquely shaped houses!

8. Visit the St. John the Baptist Church

Seeing a new town or city’s church or cathedral has developed into one of my favourite things to do whenever I travel somewhere new, despite not being a religious person at all.

The St. John the Baptist Church in Knaresborough is such a beautiful church with stunning grounds.

Church Lane on which St. John’s resides is also lovely and it’s a very cute place to snap an Instagram pic or two!

9. See the Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag and the House in the Rock

The Chapel of Our Lady of the Crag is another religious monument in Knaresborough, only this one is a chapel that’s cut out of the sandstone of the river gorge cliff face. It dates all the way back to the early 1400s, but it was unfortunately closed due to Coronavirus precautions when we visited so we didn’t manage to get up close and personal to it, hence the terrible picture above!

Speaking of pretty poor pictures, the House in the Rock is another fab thing to see in Knaresborough, but unfortunately, this was closed on our visit to Knaresborough due to the Covid pandemic so we didn’t get to explore it properly.

You can read more about the fascinating history of the House in the Rock here; some of the stories are immense!

10. Pick up some local produce from the market

We were quite lucky to time our visit to Knaresborough on a Wednesday as this is when the local town market is held.

Here you’ll find locals selling produce of all kinds; from meats and fish to sweet treats and clothing.

Held in Market Square, Knaresborough Market is a fab little place to pick up some souvenirs of your time in the town, or just to treat yourself to something sweet and support the locals!

11. Go antique shopping

While this particular activity isn’t quite to my taste, I can appreciate that there are plenty of opportunities to do a bit of antique shopping in Knaresborough.

From vintage clothes shops to ancient bookstores and traditional antique collections, the town is teeming with adorable little antique shops!

Bonus things to do in Knaresborough

There are a few things we didn’t do while in Knaresborough as we didn’t feel that those particular things fitted with our itinerary, but I’ve still included them below as I know many people will want to add them to their list.

Mother Shipton’s Cave is actually the top-rated thing to do in Knaresborough but Matt went when he was younger and wasn’t particularly fond of it so we omitted it from our trip!

Visit Mother Shipton’s Cave
Enjoy a meal at The Worlds End pub
Purchase some art from the many galleries

Is Knaresborough worth visiting?

Despite being a super small town in Yorkshire and one that you can easily see in a day, I’d still highly recommend visiting Knaresborough for a day trip.

The Knaresborough boats make for a fun couple of hours on the River Nidd and the views of the viaduct from the Knaresborough castle ruins are truly beautiful.

Our day trip to Knaresborough was so lovely and it’s a place that I definitely wish I’d visited much sooner! If you’re around the area, definitely add it to your UK travel list as it’s such a lush little town; perfect for having a mooch around for a few hours!

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