Leeds ~ Easy Walk

Distance Covered:  2.5 miles Time to Complete Walk: 1.5 hours

Suitable for dog walking: Yes

This is a great walk if you want to see all the highlights of the vibrant city of Leeds. Starting at Millennium Square, see the amazing cathedral, theatre, the Corn Exchange with its bespoke shops, church and City Square. A great walk to combine with shopping/eating out.

General Safety Tips: Be careful crossing the roads as Leeds can be a bustling city. 

The Leeds Walk

Getting There

By Train - From Middlesbrough train Station take the Manchester Airport train which goes direct to Leeds. Other trains to York can be used and from York station take another train to Leeds.

By Car - From Middlesbrough follow the A19 to Thirsk, then follow the A168 to join the M1 southbound. Take the turnoff onto the A59 which then becomes the A658. Follow this and turn left onto the A61 which goes through Harewood. Continue into Leeds and parking closest to Millennium Square can be found at the LGI Multi Storey Parking. 

Maps Of the Leeds Walk

The Walk

Start the walk at Millennium Square, or alternatively visit each location in the order you arrive at them- your choice really, this walk will hopefully point out the locations of the  highlights of Leeds for you.

Millenium Square is the place the famous Leeds Xmas markets are held each year. Leeds Museum is on the square too which is well worth a visit.

From Millennium Square head down Calverley Street turn left onto Great George Street and then turn right onto Cookridge Street where you will find Leeds Cathedral. Have a look inside this gothic wonder.

From the cathedral head down Cookridge Street and turn right at the first crossroads and walk through Victoria Square passing Leeds Art Gallery and further on arriving at Leeds Town Hall. So much to do here especially a visit to the Art Gallery.

From the Town Hall, double back and pass Victoria Square onto the Headrow. Keep on this road until you come to New Briggate on your left. Walk up the road, and go left  through an archway into St John The Evangilist Church. 

Walk through the church gardens out onto the road and turn right onto Merrion Street. Turn right back onto New Briggate and over the road will be Leeds Grand Theatre.

From the theatre keep ahead down New Briggate which then becomes Briggate. You will pass the very trendy shopping arcades such as the Victoria Quarter.

When you reach Boar Lane, turn right and follow this road around to reach City Square with its amazing statues. 

Double back from City Square and head past Briggate until you come to the superb Corn Exchange with its bespoke shops. Well worth a visit!

From here you can then follow the road right onto Call Lane and then onto New Market Street onto the amazing Leeds markets. You have now finished your whistle stop tour of Leeds!

Leeds

Leeds is a city in the county of West Yorkshire, England. The city lies in the valley of the River Aire in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. The city is the largest settlement in the county with a population of 516,298, while the larger City of Leeds metropolitan borough had a population of 812,000 (2021 estimate). The city is part of the West Yorkshire Built-up Area, the fourth-largest urban area in the United Kingdom with 1.7 million inhabitants.

Leeds was a small manorial borough in the 13th century, becoming a major centre for the production and trading of wool in the 17th and 18th centuries, then a major mill town during the Industrial Revolution; wool was still the dominant industry, but flax, engineering, iron foundries, printing, and other industries were also important. From being a market town in the valley of the River Aire in the 16th century, Leeds expanded and overtook nearby York in importance, absorbing surrounding villages to become a populous urban centre by the 20th century, having attained City status in 1893. Leeds is well known for being the location where carbonated water was invented in the 1760s.

Today, Leeds is known for its many shopping arcades, such as Kirkgate Market.Located at crossroads in Britain about halfway between London and Edinburgh, it sits on important motorway links (the M1, M62 and A1(M)),while Leeds railway station is, alongside Manchester Piccadilly, one of the two main railway stations in the North of England.