Skipton is a market town in Airedale, its position overlooking the Aire Gap at the south western boundary of the Yorkshire Dales National Park earning the town's title as "Gateway to the Dales".
Situated on the main A65 route which skirts the Yorkshire Dales and leads on to the Lake District, Skipton makes an ideal base for visiting some of the best loved attractions in the Yorkshire Dales, Bronte Country and other parts of northern England.
Nearby are the famous dales villages of Malham (with its spectacular limestone cliffs and gorges), Gargrave (on the Leeds - Liverpool canal), Rylstone and Cracoe, Grassington, Burnsall and the celebrated riverside beauty spot of Bolton Abbey (near the vllage of Addingham and the spa town of Ilkley) in Lower Wharfedale.
[N.B. Just outside Skipton there is the village of Embsay, from where it is possible to take a steam train journey on the Embsay and Bolton Abbey Steam Railway to just short of Bolton Abbey.]
Attractions in the town itself include Skipton Castle and the Leeds - Liverpool canal. The town's name derives from "schap" - an old nordic word for "sheep" (literally sheep town), and every year the residents celebrate Skipton's associations with this delightful animal by hosting a special Sheep Day (!)
For more information about Skipton and some Skipton based businesses and other organisations, please also visit the following externally maintained Skipton related websites (listed in approximate alphabetical order):
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