Discover 35 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Leeds (United Kingdom). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Harewood House, Leeds Corn Exchange, and Tropical World. Also, be sure to include Briggate in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Leeds (England).
Table of Contents
Harewood House
Art-filled country house and bird garden. Harewood House is a country house in Harewood, West Yorkshire, England. Designed by architects John Carr and Robert Adam, it was built, between 1759 and 1771, for Edwin Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood, a wealthy West Indian plantation and slave-owner. The landscape was designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown and spans 1,000 acres at Harewood.
Still home to the Lascelles family, Harewood House is a member of the Treasure Houses of England, a marketing consortium for ten of the foremost historic homes in the country. The house is a Grade I listed building and a number of features in the grounds and courtyard have been listed as Grade I, II* and II.[1]
Leeds Corn Exchange
Building in Leeds, England. The Leeds Corn Exchange is a Victorian building and former corn exchange in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which was completed in 1863. It is a grade I listed building.[2]
Address: Call Ln, LS1 7BR Leeds (City and Holbeck)
Tropical World
Tropical World is a butterfly house and animal attraction located in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is a licensed zoo with membership of BIAZA and also features the largest collection of tropical plants outside Kew Gardens.[3]
Address: Canal Gardens, LS8 1DE Leeds
Briggate
Street in Leeds, England. Briggate is a pedestrianised principal shopping street in Leeds city centre, England. Historically it was the main street, leading north from Leeds Bridge, and housed markets, merchant's houses and other business premises. It contains many historic buildings, including the oldest in the city, and others from the 19th and early-20th century, including two theatres. It is noted for the yards between some older buildings with alleyways giving access and Victorian shopping arcades, which were restored in late 20th century. The street was pedestrianised in the early-21st century.[4]
Address: Central Rd, LS1 6DE Leeds (City and Holbeck)
Leeds Kirkgate Market
Market in Leeds, England. Kirkgate Market is a market complex on Vicar Lane in the city centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest covered market in Europe and a Grade I listed building. There are currently 800 stalls which attract over 100,000 visitors a week.[5]
Address: 28-34 George Street, LS2 7HY Leeds (City and Holbeck)
The Tetley
Art gallery in Leeds, England. The Tetley, is a contemporary art gallery based to the south of the centre of Leeds, England, on the site for the former Tetley's Brewery. The gallery was opened on Friday 28 November 2013.
Aire Park, a 2 hectares (4.9 acres) new public open space and redevelopment, is now being planned for the site surrounding the Tetley as part of the regeneration of the South Bank of Leeds.[6]
Address: Hunslet Road, LS10 1JQ Leeds (Hunslet)
Temple Newsam
Tudor/Jacobean stately home, farm and cafe. Temple Newsam, is a Tudor-Jacobean house in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with grounds landscaped by Capability Brown.
The estate lends its name to the Temple Newsam ward of Leeds City Council, in which it is situated, and lies to the east of the city, just south of Halton Moor, Halton, Whitkirk and Colton. It is one of nine sites in the Leeds Museums & Galleries group.
The house is a Grade I listed building, defined as a "building of outstanding or national architectural or historic interest". The stables are Grade II* listed ("particularly significant buildings of more than local interest"), and ten separate features of the estate are Grade II listed ("buildings of special architectural or historic interest"), including the Sphinx Gates and the Barn. Temple Newsam House is one of Leeds Museums and Galleries sites. It is also part of the research group, Yorkshire Country House Partnership.[7]
Address: Temple Newsam Rd, LS15 0AE Leeds (Halton)
Kirkstall Abbey
Riverside Cistercian abbey ruins. Kirkstall Abbey is a ruined Cistercian monastery in Kirkstall, north-west of Leeds city centre in West Yorkshire, England. It is set in a public park on the north bank of the River Aire. It was founded c. 1152. It was disestablished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII.
The picturesque ruins have been drawn and painted by artists such as J. M. W. Turner, Thomas Girtin and John Sell Cotman.
Kirkstall Abbey was acquired by the Leeds Corporation as a gift from Colonel North and opened to the public in the late 19th century. The gatehouse became a museum, which is now part of the Leeds Museums & Galleries group.[8]
Address: Abbey Rd, LS5 3EH Leeds (Kirkstall)
Roundhay Park
Green space with lakes and playgrounds. Roundhay Park in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is one of the biggest city parks in Europe. It covers more than 700 acres of parkland, lakes, woodland and gardens which are owned by Leeds City Council. The park is one of the most popular attractions in Leeds; nearly a million people visit each year. It is situated on the north-east edge of the city, bordered by the suburb of Roundhay to the west, Oakwood to the south and the A6120 outer ring road to the north.[9]
Royal Armouries
Museum. The Royal Armouries is the United Kingdom's national collection of arms and armour. Originally an important part of England's military organization, it became the United Kingdom's oldest museum, originally housed in the Tower of London from the 15th century, and one of the oldest museums in the world. It is also one of the oldest and largest collections of arms and armour in the world, comprising the UK's National Collection of Arms and Armour, National Artillery Collection, and National Firearms Collection. Its historic base is in the Tower of London, but today the collection is split across three sites: the Tower, the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, and Fort Nelson near Portsmouth
From 2004 to 2015, a limited selection of items was also on display in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States, in cooperation with the Frazier History Museum.[10]
Address: Armouries Drive, Leeds Dock, LS10 1LE Leeds (Hunslet)
Lotherton Hall
Estate with nature trails and bird gardens. Lotherton Hall is a country house near Aberford, West Yorkshire, England. It lies a short distance from the A1 motorway, 200 miles equidistant between London and Edinburgh. It is one of nine sites in the Leeds Museums & Galleries group.
There has been a manor house on the site of the current Hall from at least 1775, where it appears on Thomas Jeffery's map of Yorkshire. The house at this time was owned by Thomas Maude, who had brought it from George Rhodes in 1753 for £4,115. Ownership then passed to Wollen and then to John Raper. In 1824 John Raper died and his son and heir, John Lamplugh Raper, sold the property to Richard Oliver Gascoigne in 1825. Following Richard Oliver Gascoigne's death in 1842, Lotherton was inherited by his then unmarried daughters, Elizabeth and Mary Isabella. Richard Trench Gascoigne took up ownership of the house following the death of his aunt Elizabeth, wife of Lord Ashtown, in 1893. It became the main residence of the Gascoigne family after the death of Richard's father Frederick at Parlington Hall in 1905. Between 1914 and 1918, the Hall was used as a V.A.D. hospital. There is a twelfth century Norman chapel in the grounds which was in use until 1830 and renovated between 1913 and 1917 and was also used as part of the V.A.D. hospital.
The Hall is sited on part of the Gascoigne estate, and was presented to the City of Leeds in 1968 by Sir Alvary Gascoigne and his wife, last of the Gascoigne family, whose roots were at Parlington Hall. The Hall and parkland were opened for public access by its new owners on 6 August 1969, exactly 25 years after Sir Alvary Gascoigne's only son and heir, Douglas Gascoigne, was killed in a tank battle in Normandy. The estate is home to an extensive collection of endangered bird species and a herd of red deer. There is a large expanse of grassland in front of the bird garden, typically used during the summer months for ball games and picnics. A further field is often used to host shows, such as an annual motorcycle show.
The Hall, which was extensively rebuilt during the Victorian and Edwardian eras, holds an art collection. This includes the Gascoigne Gift, given to the City of Leeds along with the Hall, which sits alongside Designated collections of fine art and decorative arts added to Hall since becoming a museum in 1968.
The Hall is licensed to hold wedding and civil partnership ceremonies[11]
Address: Lotherton Hall, LS25 3EB Hook Moor (Barwick and Kippax)
Woodhouse Moor
Green space with skate park and woodland. Woodhouse Moor is an open space approximately one mile from Leeds city centre, West Yorkshire, England. Today it consists of 3 parts: a formal park, Woodhouse Moor, of around 26 hectares in area on the west of Woodhouse Lane, and two other open areas on the east of it. These are known as the Monument and Cinder Moors which are used for events such as circuses and sporting matches, and sometimes car parking. Woodhouse Moor is north-west of Leeds city centre and is bounded by Woodhouse, the University of Leeds, Burley, Hyde Park, and Headingley.
As of 2005 the park had just under 3 million visits a year and is the second most popular urban park in Leeds. The park has five main paths which meet in the centre, each is tree-lined and they divide the park into different areas of usage.
In the New Year Honours 2009, Head Gardener John Egan was awarded an MBE for services to the community.[12]
Address: Hyde Park Rd, LS 6 1 Leeds (University)
Hyde Park Picture House
Building in Leeds, England. The Hyde Park Picture House is a cinema and Grade II listed building in the Hyde Park area of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Built by Thomas Winn & Sons, it opened on 7 November 1914. It features many original features, such as an ornate balcony and external box office, and is the only remaining gaslit cinema in the United Kingdom. Following the installation of "comfier seating", the Picture House has a capacity of 275, down from around 587 on opening.
After being threatened with closure in 1989, the cinema was taken over by Leeds City Council, who created the Grand Theatre and Opera House Limited, an independent company within the council which looks after the Picture House along with the Grand Theatre and Opera House and the City Varieties. An initial National Lottery grant was awarded in 2016 to partly fund a restoration of the building, build a cafe, improve accessibility and add a second screen in the basement. Planning permission was approved in June 2018 and a £2.3 million National Lottery grant was awarded in January 2019 to pay for the project. Following delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, work is now scheduled to begin in April 2021.
A varied programme plays at the cinema, from arthouse movies to big new releases. This bill attracts a varied crowd of local residents and students. The Leeds International Film Festival began at the venue in 1987.
As well as showing movies, the cinema hosts occasional musical performances and has been used as both a backdrop for films and TV programmes and as a wedding venue.[13]
Address: 73 Brudenell Rd, LS6 1JD Leeds (University)
Thackray Museum of Medicine
The history of medicine and healthcare. The Thackray Museum of Medicine in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is a museum of the history of medicine adjacent to St James's University Hospital. It opened in March 1997 as the Thackray Medical Museum. In 1998 it won "Museum of the Year" and has other awards including in 2004 both the "Excellence in England Small Tourist Attraction of the Year" and "Sandford Award for Heritage Education".
As of 17 May 2021, the museum reopened its doors. The museum closed temporarily in 2019 for a £4 million refurbishment, while the museum conference centre and car park remained open, and remained closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In October 2020 it was announced that the museum was to receive £370,000 from the Culture Recovery Fund to help it to re-open safely. In December 2020 the museum's conference centre was used as a COVID-19 vaccination hub. The redeveloped museum has since been shortlisted for Art Fund's Museum of the Year award 2021.[14]
Address: Beckett St., LS9 7LN Leeds (Burmantofts)
Leeds War Memorial
Leeds War Memorial stands on Victoria Square on the Headrow, to the east of Town Hall and to the south of Leeds City Art Gallery in Leeds, England. It was erected as a memorial to those who had fallen in the First World War. The memorial was designed by Henry Charles Fehr and unveiled on 14 October 1922 by Viscount Lascelles.[15]
Oakwell Hall
Living museum furnished as 1690s home. Oakwell Hall is an Elizabethan manor house in Birstall, West Yorkshire, England. The Grade I listed hall is set in period gardens surrounded by 110 acres of country park.
The house was built for John Batt. A recarved stone dated 1583 probably indicates the date of construction. The estate had been purchased by Batt's Halifax-born father, a receiver of rents to the Savile family, who resided at Howley Hall in Batley.
Oakwell Hall was immortalised in literature as "Fieldhead" by Charlotte Brontë, in her novel Shirley.
It is used in many TV productions, most recently the ITV drama Victoria (UK TV series)[16]
Address: Nutter Ln, WF17 9LF Batley (Birstall and Birkenshaw)
Leeds Town Hall
Council chambers in Leeds, England. Leeds Town Hall is a 19th-century municipal building on The Headrow, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Planned to include law courts, a council chamber, offices, a public hall, and a suite of ceremonial rooms, it was built between 1853 and 1858 to a design by the architect Cuthbert Brodrick. With the building of the Civic Hall in 1933, some of these functions were relocated, and after the construction of the Leeds Crown Court in 1993, the Town Hall now serves mainly as a concert, conference and wedding venue, its offices still used by some council departments. It was designated a Grade I listed building in 1951.
Imagined as a municipal palace to demonstrate the power and success of Victorian Leeds, and opened by Queen Victoria in a lavish ceremony in 1858, it is one of the largest town halls in the United Kingdom. With a height of 225 feet (68.6 m) it was the tallest building in Leeds for 108 years from 1858 until 1966, when it lost the title to the Park Plaza Hotel, which stands 26 feet (8 m) taller at 253 feet (77 m). The distinctive baroque clock tower, which serves as a landmark and a symbol of Leeds, was not part of the initial design but was added by Brodrick in 1856 as the civic leaders sought to make an even grander statement.
The project to build the Town Hall came about as Leeds underwent rapid growth and industrialisation during the 19th century, helped by a desire to compete with Bradford and symbolise Leeds's dominance within the region. Proceedings began in July 1850, carried through by a dedicated committee of the Town Council, which held a competition selecting the relatively unknown Brodrick to prepare a design, with construction underway by July 1853. The building cost much more than the original estimates due to rising prices and constant additions to its design throughout construction.
The form of Leeds Town Hall has been used as a model for civic buildings across Britain and the British Empire, being one of the largest and earliest. As a key heritage asset for the city, its history as a court and prison is demonstrated in guided tours for the public. Several recurring cultural events use the Town Hall as a performance space, such as the Leeds International Piano Competition.[17]
Address: The Headrow, Leeds (City and Holbeck)
City Square
Tourist attraction in Leeds, England. City Square is a paved area north of Leeds railway station at the junction of Park Row to the east and Wellington Street to the south. It is a triangular area where six roads meet: Infirmary Street and Park Row to the north, Boar Lane and Bishopsgate Street to the south-east, and Quebec Street and Wellington Street to the south-west. The only building with a direct frontage is the former General Post Office, on the north-west side.[18]
Discovery Centre
Leeds Discovery Centre is the purpose-built display storage facility built for Leeds Museums & Galleries in 2007. It was funded by Leeds City Council and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. The facility stores over one million objects in climate-controlled conditions and hosts regular tours.
Collections stored here include: natural science specimens, social history (including historic board games), textiles, world cultures and archaeology (including Anglo-Saxon sculpture). Objects from different collections areas are displayed alongside each other to maximize visual impact. In 2018, the learning team was awarded The Sandford Award for Excellence in Heritage Learning. The Discovery Centre runs events including art classes.[19]
Address: Carlisle Rd, LS10 1LB Leeds (Hunslet)
Leeds City Museum
Museum with diverse civic collection. Leeds City Museum, originally established in 1819, reopened in 2008 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is housed in the former Mechanics' Institute built by Cuthbert Brodrick, in Cookridge Street. It is one of nine sites in the Leeds Museums & Galleries group.
Admission to the museum is free of charge. Special exhibitions are hosted alongside a collection of displays from the Leeds Archive.[20]
Address: Cookridge St, LS2 8BH Leeds (City and Holbeck)
Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills
Industrial history in former woolen mill. The Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills is a museum of industrial heritage located in Armley, near Leeds, in West Yorkshire, Northern England. The museum includes collections of textile machinery, railway equipment and heavy engineering amongst others.
The Grade II* listed building housing the museum was once the world's largest woollen mill. The current structures were built in 1805 by Benjamin Gott and closed as a commercial mill in 1969. They were taken over by Leeds City Council and reopened as a museum of industrial heritage in 1982. It is located between the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the River Aire and accessed from Canal Road or Milford Place. It is part of Leeds Museums & Galleries, which also includes Leeds Art Gallery, Leeds City Museum, Leeds Discovery Centre, Thwaite Mills, Lotherton Hall, Temple Newsam, Abbey House Museum and Kirkstall Abbey.[21]
Address: Canal Rd, LS12 2QF Leeds (Armley)
Royal Armouries Museum
Museum. The Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, is a national museum which displays the National Collection of Arms and Armour. It is part of the Royal Armouries family of museums, the other sites being the Tower of London, its traditional home, Fort Nelson, Hampshire, for the display of its National Collection of Artillery, and permanent galleries within the Frazier History Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. The Royal Armouries is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The Royal Armouries Museum is a £42.5 million purpose-built museum located in Leeds Dock that opened in 1996. Its collection was previously on display or in storage at the Tower of London where the Royal Armouries still maintains a presence and displays in the White Tower.
As at all UK National Museums, entry is free, though certain extra attractions are charged for.[22]
Address: Armouries Dr, LS10 1LT Leeds (Hunslet)
O2 Academy Leeds
Music venue in Leeds, England. The O2 Academy Leeds is a music venue situated in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is run by the Academy Music Group, which has other music venues around the UK. The Academy was nominated for the TPi Awards 2010 for the country's favourite venue.[23]
Address: Leeds, 55 Cookridge St, Leeds LS2 3AW, England
Golden Acre Park
Park in Leeds, England. Golden Acre Park is a public park in Bramhope, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, administered by Leeds City Council. It is on the A660 Otley Road and covers an area of 137 acres.[24]
Address: Otley Rd., LS16 8BQ Leeds (Otley and Wharfedale)
Thwaite Mills
Museum in the United Kingdom. Thwaite Mills is an industrial museum in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is a fully restored working water-powered mill built in 1823-25, harnessing the power of the River Aire, and claims to be "one of the best last remaining examples of a water-powered mill in Britain". It is administered by Leeds City Council through Leeds Museums & Galleries. The mill, the manager's house and three associated buildings are all grade II listed buildings.[25]
Address: Thwaite Ln, LS10 1RP Leeds (Hunslet)
Leeds Dock
Coworking space in Leeds, England. Leeds Dock is a mixed development with retail, office and leisure presence by the River Aire in central Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It has a large residential population in waterside apartments.[26]
Address: Clarence Dock, Leeds (Hunslet)
The Chevin
Ridge in England. The Chevin is the name given to the ridge on the south side of Wharfedale in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, overlooking the market town of Otley, and often known as Otley Chevin.[27]
Address: York Gate, LS2 1 3 Leeds (Otley and Wharfedale)
Black Bull
Building in Wetherby, England. Wetherby Town Hall is a community building in Wetherby, West Yorkshire, England. The town hall no longer plays a major civic function but provides an office which is used by Wetherby Town Council and facilities for local groups and events. It is a Grade II listed building.[28]
Address: 53 Market Pl, LS22 6LN Wetherby (Wetherby)
Abbey House Museum
Fun representation of Victorian life. Abbey House Museum in Kirkstall, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England is housed in the gatehouse of the ruined 12th-century Kirkstall Abbey, and is a Grade II* listed building. The house is 3 miles north west of Leeds city centre on the A65 road. It is part of the Leeds Museums & Galleries group.[29]
Address: Abbey Walk, LS5 3EH Leeds (Kirkstall)
Springhead Park
Park in Rothwell, England. Springhead Park is the premier park in Rothwell, West Yorkshire, England.[30]
Address: Springhead Park House, Park Lane, Rothwell, Leeds (Rothwell)
Millennium Square
Millennium Square is a city square in the Civic Quarter of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was Leeds's flagship project to mark the year 2000, and was jointly funded by Leeds City Council and the Millennium Commission. Total cost of production was £12 million.[31]
Address: Calverley Street, LS1 3AA Leeds (City and Holbeck)
Pudsey Park
Park in Pudsey, England. Pudsey Park is a public park in Pudsey, West Yorkshire, England, approximately 5 miles west of Leeds city centre. The park is the second most popular in Leeds after Roundhay Park.
Facilities include a children's playground, a skate park, bowling green and a café.
The park did have a visitor centre, which hosted local wildlife displays. This centre has now closed, as from April 2021 due to council funding cuts.
A road roller vehicle was gifted to the park in 1959 after it was no longer required by the West Riding County Council. It was used by children to play on until it was removed in 1990 due to fears of asbestos flaking off the vehicle. A campaign is underway to restore the road roller to working condition.[32]
Address: 48-54 Church Ln, Pudsey, Leeds
Leeds City Varieties
Music hall in Leeds, England. The Leeds City Varieties is a Grade II* listed music hall in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.[33]
Address: Swan St, LS1 6LW Leeds (City and Holbeck)
St Mary's Church
Anglican church in Leeds, England. St Mary's Church in Whitkirk, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England is an active Anglican parish church in the archdeaconry of Leeds and the Diocese of Leeds.[34]
Address: Selby Rd, LS15 0AA Leeds (Halton)
Leeds Cathedral
Neo-Gothic cathedral with sculptures. Leeds Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Anne, commonly known as Saint Anne's Cathedral, is the Cathedral of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds, and is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Leeds. It is in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. The city of Leeds does not have a Church of England cathedral, because though it is in the Anglican Diocese of Leeds, that diocese's cathedrals are in Ripon, Wakefield and Bradford.
The original cathedral was located in St Anne's Church in 1878, but that building was demolished around 1900. The current cathedral building on Cookridge Street was completed in 1904, and was restored in 2006. The reredos of the old cathedral's high altar was designed by Pugin in 1842 and moved to the lady chapel of the new cathedral. The cathedral is a Grade II* listed building.[35]
Address: Great George St, LS2 8BE Leeds (City and Holbeck)