Leeds

Buy

There are a large number of city centre shops : modern shopping centres, the lovely arcades and busy streets - principally Briggate, a wide and attractive pedestrian street with all the high street favourites (from time to time there are markets and other events, and there are usually street performances of some kind). Much of the central shopping area is pleasantly pedestrianised, making retail therapy even easier. Leeds has myriad options for shopping including the beautiful Victorian-era shopping arcades, offering anything from the reasonably priced to the expensive items. In November and December, Millennium Square is turned into a Christmas wonderland of stalls, eateries and fairground-rides for Christkindelmarkt - the city's German Christmas market. There are also several outdoor markets held across the city more regularly, including occasional French markets on Briggate. Plans are also afoot for a massive extension of the main shopping district. City Centre Shopping Centres include all:

thumb|1904 Hall, Kirkgate Market The districts of Chapel Allerton, Headingley and Roundhay also offer a smaller (but worthwhile) range of boutiques and other shops. Crossgates in East Leeds has a medium-sized shopping centre and many highstreet shops and cafés, and Horsforth in the North West offers a range of shops and eateries.

Eat

There are many restaurants in central Leeds that everyone can find something to their taste and budget. There are all the usual chains (many of which have several branches in the city) and a huge variety of one-off places, including many award-winners. Headingley, Chapel Allerton, Roundhay and various other districts outside the centre also have a range of quality eateries (whilst a few places in these areas are mentioned below, fuller selections can be found on their respective guides).

Café culture is thriving in Leeds, with a great number of places for a lunch or lighter meal, and there are also many fine curry houses in the city, due to the large South Asian population.

Leeds has a successful annual food and drink festival, held at the end of August, with many free events bookable in advance.

Drink

thumb|Bridgewater Place Leeds' two large universities mean there is a vibrant, diverse and thumping nightlife scene including many clubs as well as a huge range of fine drinking establishments from traditional pubs to ultra chic concept bars. It is estimated that there are over 180 city centre bars and pubs, and around 29 nightclubs with late licenses. Railway arches are increasingly popular homes for bars and clubs across the city centre. All areas (indeed, most streets) of central Leeds offer something in the way of nightlife, but the main areas are:

Call Lane in the Exchange Quarter (one of the city's main nightlife districts), offering a range of bars (which many would argue are the best in the city) from chic to bohemian. The area around the Calls and the Parish Church has overspill from Call Lane and some great waterfront bars and restaurants. The 'yards' off Briggate are home to both traditional pubs and modern bars and clubs. Boar Lane is for the most part made up of standard chain bars and more downmarket drinking establishments, but a few buck the trend. Architecturally lovely Assembly Street has a select number of swanky bars, clubs and restaurants. Greek Street is expensive, but in between the high-end exclusivity are tackier bars attracting a less desirable crowd at weekends. New York Street is becoming increasingly popular. The Northern Quarter, centred on New Briggate and spreading north (and down Grand Arcade) is home to several older Leeds institutions but i…

Sleep

Leeds is a major business centre, so if the business hotel chains are within your budget, you'll have plenty of choice, especially weekends and off-peak. City centre offerings include Ibis, Jury's Inn, Marriott, Hilton, Novotel, Crowne Plaza, and Holiday Inn Express. You won't go wrong with any of these; check the standard booking websites or the hotels direct for rates & availability. Mid to top end, if your parents are coming to watch you graduate, point them at the Malmaison or the Queens, a vast Art Deco megalith right over the railway station. There's more at the city's edge by the motorway junction, if you have your own car.

Leeds frankly doesn't do budget & back-packer: the city's large youth hostel has closed permanently. There are only two hostels left in the city, the Art Hostel and Russell Scott Backpackers. In the university holidays, uni accommodation may be available, if it's not booked out to a conference. At the other end of the budget, Leeds doesn't do splurgy upmarket hotels: these are away out in the countryside, too far out to be listed here. There are, however, several 4-star hotels in the city.

Stay safe

Leeds is known as a friendly city, but as with any other city, the usual tips about exercising a degree of common caution apply: leave no valuables unattended, avoid going to badly lit/shady/unknown places by yourself or walk around alone at night etc.

Leeds residents might have a healthy sense of humour but think twice before making harsh criticisms of their city which they are proud of.

There are some notorious areas of Leeds at night with seedy reputations, such as the unrejuvenated areas of Chapeltown , Holbeck and Mabgate. Whilst by and large these places are safe by day, it is best to proceed with caution after dark.

Avoid displaying any memorabilia or clothing of Manchester United (the main rival of local football club Leeds United), as these worn at the wrong place could make you a target of violence, especially on match days.

If you do encounter any trouble, the emergency services (police, ambulance, fire) number is the same as for the rest of the country: 999, or the new European wide emergency number: 112. To contact the police in a non emergency, dial 101.

If you do get ill in Leeds, there are NHS and private medical practices. The Light complex houses a NHS walk-in centre. Leeds is home to two of Europe's largest hospitals : Leeds General Infirmary (in the Civic Quarter) and rapidly expanding St James's University Hospital (a couple of miles east of the City Centre and just south of Harehills), and many smaller hospital and PCTs across the wider city area. A…

Go next

Leeds is a major transport hub, so many outlying attractions can be done as day trips. Several are major centres in their own right and worth a longer visit - see their separate pages. Train is a good option for most, though rural spots may need a car or bike-on-train.

To the north:

Harrogate — elegant, upmarket Victorian spa town, ringed by parks (including the extensive Valley Gardens). The taste of the original spa water is not soon forgotten. Frequent trains from Leeds, some continuing to Knaresborough, a small medieval market town where the ruins of a castle sit dramatically above the Nidd gorge. For Ripon use the express bus (Route 36). Saltaire, near Bradford but you reach it via the Skipton train, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, an industrial village built by magnate Titus Salt. Within it is the Hockney gallery. These trains call next at Keighley, where the branch line to Haworth and the Bronte Country is often steam-hauled. End of the commuter line is Skipton, with its imposing castle, market town centre and canal walks. Some trains continue to Gargrave (where the canal climbs over the Pennines by a flight of locks), thence to Settle, Carnforth, Morecambe and Carlisle. You probably need your own car to delve deeper into Yorkshire Dales National Park. Other places of interest include Bolton Abbey, Ingleborough, Pen y Ghent, Grassington and Beamsley Beacon. See also North York Moors National Park. Studley Royal Park and Fountains Abbey — you probably need your own c…