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| The Royal Pump Room, Harrogate, by John Tomlinson. |
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This pleasant, bustling spa town in North Yorkshire, to the south-east of the Yorkshire Dales, is a real treat to visit. It is famous for its upmarket shops and eateries, – including Bettys Tea Rooms of course – spa wells, flower shows and turkish baths.
Harrogate is an historic town and its waters have been famous and attracting people to try out their healing powers since the seventeenth century. The Royal Pump Room, which covers the Old Sulphur Well, the strongest sulphur well in Europe, is a distinctive and elaborate octagonal building dating from 1842 and now contains a fascinating museum of local history. The original well head can still be visited in the basement and the waters sampled.
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The Royal Bath Assembly Rooms, built in 1897, was once one of the world's largest hydrotherapy centres, offering a wide range of treatments using the sulphur water and mud to help with various ailments, especially rheumatic complaints. The baths closed in 1969 but have since reopened to house the Turkish Baths, a great way to spend a relaxing few hours in an elaborately decorated setting.
The town is attractive to stroll around, with elegant Victorian architecture, delightful tree-lined boulevards and large, well planned open spaces such as Montpellior Parade, The Stray, Valley Gardens, and, just outside the town centre, RHS Harlow Carr Botanical Gardens. Valley Gardens is a very pretty park, with beautiful flower beds, water features, a glass-covered walkway, Magnesia Well and the Sun Pavilion, where visitors can get refreshments and even catch a concert.
The compact town centre is great for a day of retail therapy, having the usual high street stores as well as many independent shops and boutiques. Or you can soak up the culture by calling in at Mercer Art Gallery, Harrogate Theatre or Harrogate International Centre. There are several big events that always draw people to Harrogate including the Great Yorkshire Show, Harrogate Flower Shows, and the Northern Antiques Fair, so if any of those are appealing, why not get tickets for an event and combine it with a few days in the area?
If Harrogate is to be the base for a short break or holiday, venturing out of the town itself you don't have to travel far to find a variety of attractions such as Harewood House, Ripley Castle, the Washburn Valley, Fountains Abbey, Plumpton Rocks, Brimham Rocks and the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
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