Forget the Car!
West Yorkshire really does have one of the best – and most subsidised - public transport systems in the UK today. For example a day trip for the whole family across the entire county on all off-peak buses and trains only costs around £9 – little more than the cost of car parking at a local tourist attraction, let alone fuel, wear and tear and all that pollution and congestion!
Ilkley is just 25-30 minutes by train from both Leeds and Bradford (Forster Square), with trains every 30 minutes to and from both, making four trains every hour throughout the day (varies at night and on Sundays).
Examples of weekday journey times to Leeds by rail are currently:-
London
Birmingham
Manchester
- 2 hour 11mins
- 1 hour 59 minutes
- 57 minutes		 York
Newcastle
Edinburgh
- 23 minutes
- 1 hour 28 minutes
- 2 hours 53 minutes
Add journey from Leeds, plus an average 15 minutes connection time from the mainline train, to estimate how long it will take to get to Ilkley.

We are just a 10 minute walk to Ilkley Station from Westwood Lodge, take a taxi, or catch the regular shuttle bus (961) during the day that stops right outside our gate.
It’s perfectly possible to get by without a car here. Day trips might include: -
York – by train
Bolton Priory/ Bolton Abbey – by bus
Skipton – by bus
Leeds or Bradford – by train
Settle and Carlisle Railway – by train
Excape (Halifax) – by train
Magna (Castleford) – by train
Burnsall or Grassington – by bus
Haworth and Bronte Country – by train and The Keighley & Worth Valley Railway
Hawes or Upper Wharfedale (Buckden, Kettlewell etc) – by bus on Sundays
Harrogate (by bus or train)
Other Bus Services to/from Ilkley (these vary on Sundays)
Number Route Frequency
74 Ilkley – Bolton Abbey – Grassington every 2 hours during the day
762/765 Ilkley - Addingham - Silsden - Keighley every 30 minutes. Hourly evenings and Sundays
X84 Leeds – Otley – Ilkley – Skipton Hourly to Skipton during the day -
every 30 minutes to Otley
960 Ilkley Booths Supermarket Hourly during the day
962/963 Ilkley – Otley Hourly during the day
X53 Ilkley - Harrogate Every two hours during the day
Useful Links
Train
West Yorkshire Metro - covers all local trains across the county: wymetro.com

Northern Rail - local rail services to Ilkley from Leeds and Bradford plus Harrogate, York, Morecambe and Settle-Carlise lines: northernrail.org

East Coast - rail services to London Kings Cross, York and Edinburgh: eastcoast.co.uk

Cross Country Trains - rail services to Birmingham, Bristol, York, Edinburgh: crosscountrytrains.co.uk

 First TransPennine Express - rail services across the Pennines to Manchester and Manchester Airport: tpexpress.co.uk

Bus
West Yorkshire Metro - covers all local buses across the county plus Harrogate and Skipton etc. wymetro.com

Dales Bus - covers all buses into the Yorkshire Dales - Bolton Abbey, Burnsall, Grassington, Hawes etc dalesbus.org