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 £7 – 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:-
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 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
Other Bus Services to/from Ilkley (these vary on Sundays)
