Otley is a great place to take the kids for a day out. It’s also quite near our house, so that is a bonus. Here’s the latest Bewildered Family Guide to Yorkshire video, detailing the stuff to do with the family in Otley, West Yorkshire.
Things to Do With Kids in Otley
Otley isn’t the biggest town in Yorkshire, but it has a great community spirit and with that comes plenty of opportunities to keep the kids entertained.
Otley Show
Otley Show is a fantastic event in the summer, featuring all sorts of attractions. There’s a funfair, donkey rides, livestock and even camel racing. Of course, as an agricultural show, the focus is on local animals. I’m not sure where the camels live, but I will definitely find out next time I need to traverse the great Yorkshire desert.
Otley Victorian Christmas Fayre
If you like stalls full of local food, chestnuts quite literally roasting on an actual open fire, people dressing up like Dickensian characters and all sorts of ornate pipe organs, Otley Victorian Christmas Fayre is the place for you.
It is also a great place to go for festive donkey rides, much to Elsa’s delight. Of course, donkeys are a big deal at Christmas, but at £3 for about two minutes, Mary and Joseph would have been glad that they didn’t have to also shell out for a hotel when they reached Bethlehem. They could have plumped for an Uber donkey, I suppose.
Otley Chevin
Otley Chevin is a stunning forest on a hill that overlooks Otley. It’s a great place to walk the dog and blow away the cobwebs on a family jaunt. It’s one of my favourite family activities in Otley and, best of all, it’s free! Mind you, after a winter’s walk, you might fancy a coffee and slice of cake. In which case, The Cheerful Chilli is a fantastic vegetarian cafe just opposite one of the car parks.
The views from the Chevin are stunning, looking out over Otley and beyond to the Yorkshire Dales. You can see Almscliffe Crag in one direction, Ilkley in another, and Leeds and Bradford on the other side. One of the sections of the Chevin is called Surprise View, but the fact that you can see beautiful Yorkshire countryside is the least surprising thing ever.
Food and Drink in Otley
There are plenty of cafes, restaurants and pubs in Otley at which feed your family. Salami and Co on Market Place is a haven for dogs, with speciality treats for your four-legged friend. Most places in the town are dog and walker friendly, as you would expect from a town so close to the majesty of the Yorkshire Dales.
One of our favourite cafes is Bloomfield Square, which has a really nice vintage-inspired feel to it. Everything about the place looks beautiful, they run printing workshops and the food and drink is spot on.
More Things to Do With the Family in Otley
I didn’t have time to fit in a host of ace things about Otley in the video, but you will always find something to do at any time of year. The folk festival is popular, there is a great skate park and the Otley Courthouse is a fantastic community theatre, cinema, event space and more.
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