Malham

Malham Cove, Gordale Scar, Janet's Foss, and Malham Tarn are all separate places reached on paths out of the village. What the village adds is the practical and social side: the National Park Centre with its geology exhibition and walking leaflets, two pubs, cafes, a shop, and hostel and inn beds. Think of it as the trailhead with a pulse, not the scenery itself.

• Malham Cove is roughly a half-hour gentle walk from the village, a huge curved limestone wall visible from far down the dale. The classic route continues up around 400 stone steps to the limestone pavement on top.
• Janet's Foss and Gordale Scar lie east of the village, linked with the Cove on the Malham Landscape Trail, a circuit of about 5 miles that is heavily used and generally moderate. A shorter out-and-back to Janet's Foss is around 3 miles.
• The Pennine Way passes through, heading north past the Cove toward Malham Tarn, a glacial lake and national nature reserve with quieter walking and waterbirds.
• Wander the village itself for the beck, the bridges, the old field walls, and views up Malham Rakes.

The settlement appears in the Domesday Book as Malgun and has been lived in for at least a thousand years. A century ago there were mills and mines here, and the pattern of drystone walls, pastures, and scattered farms around the village is the long result of farming this thin limestone soil.

• The National Park car park is pay and display, with toilets that stay open even when the visitor centre is not, plus a Changing Places toilet and drinking water. Extra field parking sometimes appears at peak times, but total space is limited.
• Wear proper footwear. Paths mix gravel and stone flags with rough, rocky, uneven woodland sections that get slippery when wet, and the Cove steps are a genuine climb.
• If steps and stiles are a problem, ask at the centre about the easier access routes toward the Cove, Gordale Scar, and the Tarn.
• Fields are grazed, so keep dogs on leads on footpaths, take litter home, and do not light fires or barbecues.

This is a very small village absorbing a lot of visitors on good walking days, so it can feel crowded and the narrow approach roads get congested. Parking is paid and finite. And the headline scenery is all beyond the houses, so if you are not prepared to walk at least a couple of miles, you will only see a pretty hamlet.