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Best of Britain - Yorkshire Day Tours

Name: Best of Britain - Yorkshire Day Tours
Address: Duncombe Place, York, YO17, GB
Telephone: +441609779933
Price range: ££

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Small-group Yorkshire day tours from York, Harrogate & Thirsk. Operating 7 days a week. ⭐ 4.9/5 from 1,300+ Tripadvisor reviews.

Explore the Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors, Whitby, Herriot Country & Brontë Country with local guides. We are a family-owned Yorkshire tour company offering small-group and private day tours from York, Harrogate & Thirsk. Discover the Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors, Whitby, Herriot Country and Brontë Country with friendly local guides. From famous landmarks to hidden gems, we help visitors experience the very best of Yorkshire. Rated 4.9/5 from 1,300+ Tripadvisor reviews.

21/10/2026

There is more to this beautiful Yorkshire waterfall than meets the eye…

In the picturesque village of Bainbridge, nestled in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, the River Bain is not just a lovely sight. It is also helping to generate renewable electricity for the local community.

An enormous corkscrew-shaped turbine, known as an Archimedes’ screw, uses the natural flow of the river to generate power.

But here is the fascinating part… Bainbridge was harnessing the river to generate electricity more than a century ago! In 2011, a community-led project brought this tradition back to life.

It is a wonderful example of Yorkshire ingenuity, where local heritage, community spirit and renewable energy come together.

A lovely reminder that caring for Yorkshire’s landscapes is about more than preserving their beauty. It’s also about supporting the communities that make these places so special. 💙🇬🇧

📍 Bainbridge, Wensleydale, Yorkshire Dales National Park

19/10/2026

The Yorkshire we share with our guests is also the Yorkshire we are raising our children to love. 💙

It is where we grew up in farming families, where we head out for walks with the children and our dog, Dottie, and where a familiar view can still make us stop and look.

So, as our family-run business grows, how we explore these places matters to us.

Meet our brand-new, fully electric Volkswagen ID. Buzz — our first electric vehicle and a proud step forward for Best of Britain – Yorkshire Day Tours. ⚡

Joining our executive fleet for private touring, it produces no exhaust emissions while driving. It is a practical investment in more sustainable private tours, bringing electric travel together with the comfort, personal service and local knowledge our guests know and love.

There is more to responsible tourism than the vehicle we drive. The villages, working farms, wildlife and local businesses along our routes are all part of what makes Yorkshire special. Helping guests appreciate that wider story matters to us, too.

From the North York Moors and Whitby to the Yorkshire Dales and Herriot Country, we look forward to sharing many more memorable days with you.

Inspired to explore Yorkshire for yourself? Discover the beauty of the Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors and beyond on one of our private tours, with convenient hotel collection from York, Harrogate, Thirsk and surrounding areas.

Start planning your Yorkshire adventure today 💙🇬🇧

09/10/2026

Some rather exciting news from our family to yours! 💙🏆

When we took over Best of Britain in 2021, we had one simple ambition: to share the Yorkshire we know and love with visitors from around the world.

Five years on, we are absolutely delighted to announce that Best of Britain – Yorkshire Day Tours is a finalist in TWO categories at the Yorkshire, Humberside and North East Family Business Awards 2026!

🏆 Leisure & Tourism Finalist
🏆 People’s Choice Award Finalist

As an independent, family-run Yorkshire tour operator, this recognition means a great deal to us.

From the rolling hills of the Yorkshire Dales and the wild beauty of the North York Moors to the timeless charm of James Herriot Country, we are proud to share our home county through small-group day tours and private experiences, bringing Yorkshire’s landscapes, history and stories to life.

Behind it all is our wonderful team of local Driver-Guides, whose knowledge, enthusiasm and care help make every tour special.

And now, we would love your support! 💙

Voting is officially open for the People’s Choice Award, and whether you have travelled with us, recommended us to friends or simply enjoyed following our Yorkshire adventures, we would be incredibly grateful for your vote.

🗳️ Vote for Best of Britain using the link below:

https://yhnefba.co.uk/award-finalist/best-of-britain-yorkshire-day-tours/

Voting closes at midnight on Friday 6 November, with the winners announced in Harrogate on 13 November.

To our guests, our brilliant team and everyone who has supported our family business along the way, thank you. We could not do what we love without you.

Alan, Lucy and the Best of Britain team 💙🇬🇧

📍 North Yorkshire, England

08/10/2026

A special moment in our hometown of Thirsk today, as James Herriot’s children unveiled a blue plaque at the home where their father wrote so many of his beloved stories. 💙

Alan had the pleasure of attending the unveiling, where Jim Wight and Rosie Page, the children of Alf Wight (James Herriot), revealed the plaque at their former family home.

Thirsk, of course, was the inspiration for the fictional Darrowby in All Creatures Great and Small.

For over 25 years, this was the Wight family home. It was here, sitting by the fire alongside his wife Joan, that Alf put pen to paper, turning his experiences as a Yorkshire veterinary surgeon into stories that would eventually be loved by millions around the world.

The unveiling was particularly fitting, coming just five days after what would have been Alf’s 110th birthday. A lovely occasion and a privilege to see this part of Yorkshire’s literary heritage recognised.

And with another episode of All Creatures Great and Small airing on Channel 5 tonight at 9pm, what better time to celebrate the real man behind the stories?

On our private All Creatures Great and Small tours, we explore both the real Herriot Country and the world of the television series, from Thirsk and the World of James Herriot museum to the beautiful Yorkshire Dales villages and filming locations familiar to viewers.

A fitting tribute to a Yorkshire storyteller whose words continue to capture hearts around the world. 💙🇬🇧

📍 Thirsk, North Yorkshire

All Creatures Great and Small The World Of James Herriot visitor attraction

05/10/2026

The man behind the name… 🚂

Sir Nigel Gresley is not just the name of this magnificent steam locomotive.

He was one of Britain’s great railway engineers — and the man who designed it.

Built here in Yorkshire at Doncaster in 1937, number 60007 was Gresley’s 100th Pacific locomotive and was fittingly named in his honour.

More than twenty years later, the locomotive made history of its own — reaching 112 miles per hour in 1959 and setting a post-war British steam speed record that still stands today.

And there is another reason its return to Yorkshire feels particularly special this year: 2026 marks 150 years since the birth of Sir Nigel Gresley.

Our guests were lucky enough to see number 60007 during the North Yorkshire Moors Railway’s recent Steam Gala — a special four-day celebration of steam that brought some remarkable locomotives to the North York Moors.

The North Yorkshire Moors Railway is an optional part of our Whitby, North York Moors and Yorkshire Heritage Railway Day Trip from York, giving our guests the opportunity to experience this wonderful heritage railway for themselves.

📍 Goathland, North York Moors National Park

🔗 Book direct at https://bobholidays.com/tours/north-york-moors-whitby-steam-railway/

01/10/2026

🐑 A little behind the scenes of tonight’s All Creatures Great and Small…

Earlier this year, some of our guests had the chance to watch filming for Series 7 while exploring James Herriot’s Yorkshire with us.

Amongst the dry-stone walls and beautiful Yorkshire Dales countryside, they watched the cast and crew at work, including Nicholas Ralph as James Herriot, Rachel Shenton as Helen Herriot and Caolan McCarthy as Granville Bennett.

If you are watching Series 7, Episode 3, “The Owl and the Pussycats”, tonight, look out for these scenes as James and Helen visit Granville and Zoe Bennett at their home.

One of our guests later wrote:

“Thanks to Alan we were actually lucky enough to witness filming.”

Another guest, joining us for her fifth tour, wrote about Alan’s personal knowledge of James Herriot’s Yorkshire and summed up her day rather wonderfully:

“We came away from the trip feeling that we had found a friend in Alan.”

That means a great deal to us. Sharing Herriot’s Yorkshire is about more than visiting filming locations. It is sharing the landscapes, villages and stories behind All Creatures Great and Small, in a part of Yorkshire that has been close to our family for generations.

We will certainly be watching closely tonight to see the finished scenes on screen.

📺 All Creatures Great and Small — Series 7, Episode 3
The Owl and the Pussycats
Tonight at 9pm on Channel 5

Will you be watching? 💙🇬🇧

29/09/2026

This is Yorkshire. 💙🇬🇧

Rolling landscapes and dry stone walls in the Yorkshire Dales. Wild open moorland, steam trains on the North York Moors Railway, historic villages, abbeys and castles, Whitby and the Yorkshire coast.

And, of course, James Herriot’s Yorkshire — the landscapes and familiar places that continue to bring the stories of All Creatures Great and Small to life for fans around the world.

It is a part of Yorkshire particularly close to our hearts, with our own family connections to Alf Wight, the real James Herriot, and the original Skeldale House veterinary practice here in Thirsk.

As a local Yorkshire family business, we love sharing the landscapes, places and stories of the county we call home. Our small group day tours from York and private Yorkshire tours explore the Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors, Whitby, James Herriot country and much more.

Come and discover the Yorkshire we know and love. 💙

📍 Yorkshire, England

🔗 Small group day tours from York & private Yorkshire tours: https://bobholidays.com/tours/

17/09/2026

From little Jimmy’s first day at school… to Thomas’s first look at James Herriot’s “finest view in England”. 💙

With All Creatures Great and Small returning tonight at 9pm, and little Jimmy taking a starring role as he heads off for his first day at school, it seemed the perfect time to share one of our favourite moments from the summer.

Thomas, who plays Jimmy, joined us with his mum for a very special tour exploring the real James Herriot country here in Yorkshire.

We spent the day introducing him to the real places and stories behind Alf Wight – the Yorkshire vet the world came to know as James Herriot.

And, of course, we had to show him the view Alf famously described as the “finest view in England”. We covered his eyes for the final few steps before the big reveal…

His first reaction?

“It’s actually LOVELY!” 😂💙

We could not have put it better ourselves.

📍 The “finest view in England”, Yorkshire

All Creatures Great and Small returns tonight at 9pm on Channel 5.

And if the new series leaves you longing to discover the real James Herriot country for yourself, we would love to show you around. 💙🇬🇧

16/09/2026

🍂 A Yorkshire Moment

Autumn has its own soundtrack here in Yorkshire, and this little robin has become part of mine.

Almost every morning, it perches outside my office window and sings — one of those little moments that tells me the seasons are beginning to change.

Robins sing throughout much of the year, but their song becomes noticeable again as summer gives way to autumn, when they begin establishing their autumn and winter territories. And despite that familiar red breast, you cannot tell whether this little visitor is male or female just by looking — both look remarkably alike.

The European robin is found across much of Europe, but it holds a particularly special place in British hearts. Many people associate the appearance of a robin with remembrance, taking it as a comforting sign that someone they have loved and lost is close by, “When robins appear, loved ones are near.” 🧡

Whatever you make of that sentiment, I rather like the thought.

For now, I will keep enjoying my little morning visitor and the sound of autumn arriving in Yorkshire. 🍂

📍 Yorkshire

11/09/2026

Look who came to explore James Herriot’s Yorkshire with us… 💙

During the final week of the school holidays, we had the pleasure of welcoming Thomas, who plays young Jimmy Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small, and his mum on a bespoke private tour.

Their day included places connected with the real James Herriot, Alf Wight, and his home town of Thirsk—the inspiration for Darrowby.

As we were born and brought up locally, it was a real honour for Alan to build on what Thomas already knew through playing Jimmy and help him visualise Alf Wight’s life through the places and landscapes he knew so well.

Thomas also added his signature to our Herriot vehicle, alongside those of his on-screen father, James, and Uncle Siegfried — a very special addition!

Thomas was an absolute delight: energetic, inquisitive and great fun. He and his mum were wonderful company, and our girls loved spending the day with him too.

Thank you to Thomas’s mum for kindly allowing us to share these special photographs.

📍 Yorkshire

Address

Duncombe Place
York
YO17

Opening Hours

Monday	7am - 10pm
Tuesday	7am - 10pm
Wednesday	7am - 10pm
Thursday	7am - 10pm
Friday	7am - 10pm
Saturday	7am - 10pm
Sunday	7am - 10pm

Telephone

+441609779933

Website

http://www.bobholidays.com/, https://bobholidays.com/tours/herriot/, https://bobholidays.com/tours/private-day-tours/, h

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