Why?
The spa’s the thing in this Yorkshire town. With nearly 90 natural springs beneath it, it tempted first the Tudors and later the Victorians, who moulded Harrogate into a centre to rival Europe’s grandest spa spots. When they weren’t soaking, they’d be scoffing scones in tearooms or taking a turn in the pleasure gardens. Sounds like our kind of wellness weekend.
What you do
Before you dip your toes into the spa scene, find out where it all started. Harrogate’s first mineral spring was discovered in 1571. The high sulphur content meant that drinking it led to explosive results, perfect for perennially blocked-up Tudors. The Royal Pump Room Museum has all the details, as well as intriguing exhibits that include an astonishing (and terrifying) Victorian colonic irrigation device. If you can’t find the octagonal building, follow the pong — they open the grates to the springs on tours (£3.50; www.harrogate.gov.uk).
The Victorians preferred non-stinky waters, and built a spate of bathhouses in the late 19th century. Entering the Turkish Baths, opened in 1897 and magnificently restored, is like stepping into the Arabian Nights, with Islamic horseshoe arches, glazed brickwork and terrazzo floors. Repeat a circuit from steam room to hot room to cold plunge, increasing the hot-room temperature each time: the top level is 75C (from £19 for two hours; turkishbathsharrogate.co.uk).
Time for tea. Bettys, a few steps from the baths, opened in 1919 and is the traditional favourite. Its Imperial Room has a parquet floor, curved cream leather chairs and views over Montpellier Gardens. Smoked salmon and dill sandwiches, dainty cakes and big pots of tea are accompanied by a resident pianist — just as they were a century ago (£34.95; bettys.co.uk).
A 10-minute drive from town, Harlow Carr is one of only four RHS gardens in England. The size of more than 30 football pitches, it’s strewn with roses, lavender, yews and conifers, interspersed with cornus, salix and other shrubs. This is Harrogate, though, so the highlight has to be on the water: you’ll find one of the longest streamside gardens in the country, lined with primulas, irises and bright blue Himalayan poppies, and punctuated with stone bridges and cascades (£11.80; rhs.org.uk/gardens).
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It’s no surprise that a town with such a fashionable past is known for vintage shops. The best are in the Montpellier Quarter: try Circa and Catherine Smith Vintage for clothing from the 1920s to the 1950s (circavintageharrogate.co.uk; catherinesmithvintage.co.uk). Space sells midcentury furnishings and retro homeware (spaceharrogate.co.uk), and Retro Vintage Watch offers classic timepieces (retrovintagewatch.com).
Where you eat
The menu sounds strange, but Quantro, in the Montpellier Quarter, makes combinations such as fishcakes with blueberry gin salad sing (mains from £13.50; quantro.co.uk). Horto, at Rudding Park, serves a six-course tasting menu that includes lobster and tomato consommé and Yorkshire beef (£72; see below). Other dishes are sprinkled with flowers from the herbaceous borders you can see through floor-to-ceiling windows.
Where you stay
Set in a colonnaded Regency palace, Rudding Park is a country-house retreat right on the edge of town, with rooms overlooking rhododendron copses and one of the best spas in Britain (doubles from £170, B&B; ruddingpark.co.uk). Or try Country Living St George, in town: the pale wood floors, leather sofas and simple rooms are straight out of the pages of the eponymous magazine (doubles from £90, B&B; countrylivinghotels.com).
The writer was a guest of yorkshire.com and visitengland.com
