Why I love Leeds

In the latest guest post on 501 Places, well-known travel blogger Darren Cronian shares with us a love of his native Leeds and offers insider tips for those visiting his home city.

For many people, when you mention the city of Leeds, they associate it with being a great place for nightlife and shopping, but as a local I know that there’s much more to the city than bars and boutique shops. Whenever you see Leeds mentioned on the television they always refer back to its industrial past, and some in the media even like to still portray that it is grim up north.

Here are a few reasons why I love Leeds:

Parks and open spaces

Canal Gardens at Roundhay Park, Leeds

Canal Gardens at Roundhay Park, Leeds

It does not matter if you are staying in the city centre or in the suburbs, Leeds has tons of open spaces and parks that are well looked after. Temple Newsam and Roundhay Park are popular with locals for relaxing in the sunshine (yes, it is sunny occasionally!) or for letting the kids run around to burn off some energy. Within the city centre you can eat your lunch and people-watch at various open spaces like Millennium Square, Queens Park or City Square.

The waterfront

Leeds and Liverpool Canal

Leeds and Liverpool Canal

Many people visit the city without even realising that we have a waterfront. In the summer this is my favourite part of the city to socialise, relax and walk. Brewery Wharf has loads of restaurants and bars nearby, whereas Clarence Dock is home to the Royal Armouries. Head to Granary Wharf and you’ll find the Sky Bar in the City Inn hotel with great views of the city from the 13th floor.

Popular annual Leeds events

Party in the Park and Opera in the Park are the biggest free music events held in the UK, with over 100,000 people heading to Temple Newsam to listen to the pop and opera artists. The German Christmas market at Millennium Square is also popular with locals, with its market stalls, huge beer tent and Oompah band.

Recommended bars in Leeds

View from City Inn Hotel Sky Bar

View from City Inn Hotel Sky Bar

I know I mentioned earlier that there’s more to Leeds than the nightlife, and there is. But I couldn’t write a guide about things I love about Leeds without mentioning my favourite bars. The North bar imports beers from around the world, and Midnight Bell has a great selection of real ale from the local brewery.

Darren Cronian Darren Cronian has written about the issues that consumers have with travel for the last five years on his now famous Travel Rants blog. In 2009, frustrated at the lack of attention cities like Leeds receive in the media, he launched a website to highlight the many great things that Leeds has to offer. You can read more about places to visit and stay in Leeds on My Life in Leeds, a locally written guide to the city. You can also follow Darren on Twitter.

Author Information

Freelance travel writer

9 Responses to “Why I love Leeds”

  1. very cool indeed! i am now following Darren in twitter! ;)

    August 11, 2010 at 10:01 am
  2. Hi Darren,

    nice post!

    I’ve lived close to Leeds (Otley) for a while and I haven’t been there for many years. But I’ll make it in October and I’m really looking forward to see Leeds again soon!

    I have some good memories to the time living there!

    Cheers

    Melvin

    August 11, 2010 at 10:24 am
  3. Darren – You’re right. In a word, Leeds: “Underrated”!

    August 11, 2010 at 1:54 pm
  4. Thanks Darren for the post – it brings back happy memories for me too. We lived in the Calls for a few years and had a little flat that overlooked the river (I worked in the city centre). I loved wandering around the old buildings in the city centre. The Corn Exchange is one of my favourites. There are also so many great places to eat, and the great Yorkshire countryside isn’t far away.
    I could never bring myself to support the local football team, but did enjoy the odd trip up to Headingley to watch the cricket.
    Looks like the city has changed a lot in the last five years. Reading this post makes me want to visit again.

    August 11, 2010 at 6:14 pm
  5. @ Ciki

    Thanks for following me on Twitter, and a great blog you have too! :)

    @ Melvin / Andy

    Let me know if you make up to Leeds and I would be happy to give you my local tour! When I think back 5 – 10 years it’s incredible how much the city has changed. Sure, it has room for improvement, but there’s a lot more going on than people give it credit for.

    @ Jeffrey

    It is an underrated city and doesn’t get enough positive mentions from the media, the only time you hear about the city is when it’s negative news (think 7/7 bombings etc.) so I am appreciative that people like Andy are giving me the opportunity to ‘show off’ my home city.

    Thanks for the opportunity to write a guest post Andy, and thanks for the comments!

    August 11, 2010 at 7:28 pm
  6. John #

    You’re spot on Leeds is a lovely city. Shame the tourist board don’t push it enough.

    August 12, 2010 at 10:23 am
  7. @ John

    I agree – the tourism board seem more focused on promoting the luxury aspect of Leeds, i.e. Victoria Quarter, expensive boutique shops, hotels etc. I suspect that this is because it will bring in more money to the city, rather than promoting every aspect of what the city has to offer, so that it does not come across, that all it offers is nightlife and shopping.

    They are also useless working with bloggers who are keen to promote the city.

    August 13, 2010 at 5:34 am
  8. Sounds like a familiar problem Darren. Tourist boards have not yet woken up to the potential that local bloggers (who love the city and are already promoting it) can bring them. I’ve had the same response down here. It can feel like we’re interfering in their efforts to do whatever it is they do, their way.
    There are some notable exceptions to this trend, and the Valencia guys and Tourism Ireland who I recently travelled with certainly get it.

    August 13, 2010 at 5:54 pm
  9. @ Andy

    From recent conversations that I have had, most tourism boards measure their success on how many mentions the city receives. So, when it comes to funding they ask for £x million and justify this spend because of the mentions that their marketing received in the media.

    The question I would ask the people dishing out this money – which content are people on the street going to trust and make a decision on when booking a short break? Tourist board or local people. I know where my money would go, but then I am bias. ;)

    August 14, 2010 at 12:04 am
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