BUG - Backpackers Guide to budget travel in Leeds, Bradford, Haworth and Saltaire, West Yorkshire, England

National Express (tel 0870 580 8080; website www.nationalexpress.co.uk) runs buses from Leeds to most major British destinations including Birmingham, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York.

Megabus (website www.megabus.com) have cheap buses from Leeds to London and Manchester with fares starting at £1 (plus 50p booking fee). The Leeds Megabus stop is at bus stand S1 on Wellington Street near the Queens Hotel.

TRAIN

Leeds is well served by trains with services run by Arriva Trains Northern (website www.arrivatrainsnorthern.co.uk) going to Manchester (Victoria) and destinations throughout Yorkshire including Harrogate, Hull and York. Arriva Trains Northern also runs trains from Leeds on the scenic Settle-Carlisle Railway. GNER (website www.gner.co.uk) going to London (Kings Cross) and TransPennine Express (website www.tpexpress.co.uk) trains go to Hull, Manchester (Piccadilly), Newcastle and Scarborough. Local trains on the West Yorkshire Metro system have frequent services to nearby cities including Bradford.

Local Transport

West Yorkshire's Metro transport network (tel (0113) 245 7676; website www.wymetro.com) is comprised of buses and trains and is an efficient way to get around Leeds and to other destinations in West Yorkshire such as Bradford and Haworth.

The excellent DayRover pass gives you unlimited bus travel in West Yorkshire for £3.80, unlimited train travel for £3.80 or unlimited bus and train travel for £4.50. It is only valid after 9.30am on weekdays or all day on weekends.

Accommodation

There are no hostels – not even cheap Formule 1-style hotels – in Leeds and the closest affordable accommodation is in Haworth or York. If you want to stay in Leeds, try the B&Bs on Cardigan Road in Headingly (a 20-minute bus ride into the suburbs).

Sights

Armley Mills – Leeds Industrial Museum

This industrial museum is housed inside what was once the world's largest woollen mill. The museum has exhibits on the city's industrial heritage with displays on engineering and the textile and clothing industries.

Canal Road, Leeds

Tel (0113) 263 7861

Admission £2

Henry Moore Institute

The Henry Moore Institute is one of the country's leading art museums devoted to sculpture. It contains four galleries that host a programme of temporary exhibitions.

74 The Headrow, Leeds

Tel (0113) 246 7467

Website www.henry-moore.ac.uk

Admission free

Open Mon-Tue 10am-5.30pm, Wed 10am-9pm, Thu-Sun 10am-5.30pm

Leeds City Art Gallery

This art gallery displays a large collection of British artworks from the 19th and 20th centuries.

The Headrow, Leeds

Tel (0113) 247 8248

Admission free

Open Mon-Tue 10am-5pm, Wed 10am-8pm, Thu-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 1pm-5pm

Royal Armouries Museum

Leeds' top attraction is this excellent museum that houses an unsurpassed collection of arms and armour and also features demonstrations that include jousting tournaments.

Armouries Drive, Leeds

Tel (0113) 220 1999

Website www.armouries.org.uk

Admission free

Open 10am-5pm daily

Thackray Museum

This excellent museum has interesting displays focusing on the history of medicine.

Beckett Street, Leeds

Bus 11, 41, 42, 50

Tel (0113) 244 4343

Website www.thackraymuseum.org

Admission £4.90

Open 10am-3pm daily

Bradford

Birthplace of the Brontë sisters and artist David Hockney, Bradford is part of the sprawling Bradford-Leeds metropolitan area. However it is a vibrant city in its own right and is home to several top attractions including National Museum of Photography, Film & Television and the Saltaire World Heritage Site is nearby.

Practical Information

Bradford Tourist Information Centre

City Hall, Bradford

Tel (01274) 433678

Website www.visitbradford.com

Open Mon 10am-5pm, Tue-Wed 9.30am-5pm, Thu 8.30am-5pm, Fri-Sat 9.30am-5pm

Coming & Going

Bradford has two main train stations, Forster Square and Interchange. Trains depart Forster Square for Carlisle, Settle and Keighley (where you can change for a bus to Haworth). The busier Interchange station has mainline and Metro services to Manchester, Leeds and York.

Local Transport

West Yorkshire's Metro transport network (tel (0113) 245 7676; website www.wymetro.com) is comprised of buses and trains and is an efficient way to get around Bradford and to other destinations in West Yorkshire such as Haworth and Leeds.

Accommodation

There is no cheap accommodation in Bradford and the nearest hostel is in Haworth, which is a 20-minute train trip followed by a 15-minute bus ride away.

YHA Haworth

Longlands Drive, Lees Lane, Haworth, Keighley, West Yorkshire BD22 8RT

Bus 663, 664, 665 (from Keighley)

Tel (01535) 642234 or 0870 770 5858

Sights

Bradford Cathedral

Bradford's ancient cathedral is one of the city centre's main landmarks. Highlights include embroidery by Ernest Sichel and William Morris windows.

1 Stott Hill, Bradford

Tel (01274) 777 720

Admission free

Open Mon-Fri 8.30am-4.30pm

Bradford Industrial Museum

Housed in a 19th century spinning mill, the Bradford Industrial Museum has exhibits that include stables with working horses. Spinning and weaving demonstrations take place daily and steam engines run on Wednesdays.

Moorside Mills, Moorside Road, Bradford

Tel (01274) 435 900

Admission free

Open Tue-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun noon-5pm

Brontë Birthplace

Anne, Branwell, Charlotte and Emily Brontë were born in this house, which has been restored with furnishings from the period when the Brontë sisters grew up in the house.

72-74 Market Street, Thornton, Bradford

Tel (01274) 830 849

Website www.brontebirthplace.org.uk

Admission £3

Open Apr-Sep Tue-Sun noon-4pm

Cartwright Hall Art Gallery

This Baroque-style art gallery houses mostly 19th and 20th century British art, although it also has a notable South Asian collection.

Lister Park, Bradford

Tel (01274) 431 212

Admission free

Open Tue-Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 1pm-5pm

The Colour Museum

Run by the Society of Dyers and Colourists, this unique museum is dedicated to the history and technology of colour and it features a gallery with exhibits about Textiles and Colour.

Pekin House, Providence Street, Bradford

Tel (01274) 390 955

Website www.sdc.org.uk

Admission £2

Open Tue-Sat 10am-4pm

National Museum of Photography, Film & Television

This museum has 10 galleries depicting various aspects of the history, art and science of photography, film and television.

Bradford

Tel 0870 701 0200

Website www.nmpft.org.uk

Admission free

Open Tue-Sun 10am-6pm

Saltaire

This World Heritage Site north of Bradford was an important site during the Industrial Revolution.

Practical Information

Saltaire Tourist Information Centre

2 Victoria Road, Saltaire

Tel (01274) 774993

Website www.visitsaltaire.com

Open 10am-5pm daily

Coming & Going

Saltaire is served by West Yorkshire's Metro transport network (tel (0113) 245 7676; website www.wymetro.com) with frequent trains from Bradford.

Sights

1853 Gallery & Salts Mill

This is a popular art museum that houses three galleries devoted to the work of Bradford-born artist, David Hockney.

Salts Mill, Victoria Road, Saltaire

Tel (01274) 531 163

Admission free

Open Mon-Fri 10am-6pm

Saltaire United Reformed Church

Open in 1859, this Classical-style church was the first public building in the village.

7 Highfield Mews, Saltaire

Tel (01274) 597894

Website www.saltaireurc.info

Admission free

Open Jan-Mar Sun 2pm-4pm; Apr-Sep 2pm-4pm daily; Oct-Dec Sun 2pm-4pm

Haworth

Haworth is best known for its literary connection with the works of the Brontë sisters. Although it can get touristy, it is a pleasant town and home to the closest youth hostel to Bradford and Leeds.

Practical Information

Haworth Tourist Information Centre

2/4 West Lane, Haworth

Tel (01535) 642329

Website www.visitbrontecountry.com

Open May-Aug Mon-Tue 9.30am-5.30pm, Wed 10am-5.30pm, Thu-Sun 9.30am-5.30pm

Coming & Going

Haworth's proximity to Bradford and Keighley means that it enjoys good public transport connections. There are frequent buses between Haworth and Keighley, where there is a train station with good connections to Bradford and Leeds.

Alternatively there is the pricy but popular Keighley and Worth Valley Railway (website www.kwvr.co.uk) that operates steam trains between Haworth and Keighley. A return ticket on this delightful railway costs £7 or £10 for a day rover pass, which also entitles you to entry to the Museum of Rail Travel at Ingrow West.

Accommodation

Sights

Brontë Parsonage Museum

The Brontë family lived in this Georgian Parsonage between 1820 and 1861 and both Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights were written here.

Haworth

Tel (01535) 642 323

Admission £4.80

Open Feb-Mar 11am-4.30pm daily; Apr-Sep 10am-5pm daily; Oct-Dec 11am-4.30pm daily

Museum of Rail Travel

This museum at Ingrow train station – on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway – has a collection of vintage train carriages from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Ingrow

Train Ingrow Bus 500, 502, 663, 664, 665, 696, 697

Tel (01535) 680 425

Website www.vintagecarriagestrust.org

Admission £1.50

Open 11am-4.30pm daily