Leeds

Shop

Get even more with a Lonely Planet guide.

Pocket London

$14.99

Shop Book

Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images

Overview

Just an hour south of the southern Dales and one of the fastest-growing cities in the UK, Leeds is the glitzy embodiment of rediscovered northern self-confidence. A decade and a half of redevelopment has transformed the city centre from a near-derelict mill town into a vision of 21st-century urban chic, with architecturally daring malls woven into the fabric of the city centre, a revitalised Victorian mill district and an innovative independent dining and drinking scene.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

Royal Armouries

Leeds

Leeds' most interesting museum was originally built in 1996 to house armour and weapons from the Tower of London, but subsequently expanded to cover 3000…
Thornton's Arcade

Leeds

Though not the grandest, Thornton’s Arcade was the first Victorian shopping arcade to be built in Leeds and remains one of the most interesting. Its sky…
Kirkstall Abbey

Leeds

Leeds' most impressive medieval structure is beautiful Kirkstall Abbey, founded in 1152 by Cistercian monks from Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire. These…
Leeds Industrial Museum

Leeds

One of the world's largest textile mills has been transformed into a museum telling the story of Leeds' industrial past, both glorious and ignominious…
Leeds Art Gallery

Leeds

This major gallery is packed with 19th- and 20th-century British heavyweights – Turner, Constable, Stanley Spencer, Wyndham Lewis et al – along with…
Henry Moore Institute

Leeds

Housed in a converted Victorian warehouse in the city centre, this gallery showcases the work of 20th-century sculptors, but not, despite the name,…
Abbey House Museum

Leeds

The Abbey House Museum, once the Great Gate House to Kirkstall Abbey, contains meticulously reconstructed shops and houses that evoke Victorian Leeds,…
Tetley

Leeds

Tetley Brewery's defunct 1930s offices have been converted into a contemporary-arts venue with a restaurant and pub on the ground floor, spilling out onto…