Walks in Bradford
Sarah Gaffney-Lang, Families EditorThere is more to Bradford than meets the eye. The city combines rich culture, excellent bars, restaurants, and shops, with cutting edge urban parks along with plenty of green spaces. There is so much to see and rather pleasingly, much of it can be explored on foot.
Slap bang in the heart of the centre is Bradford’s multi-award-winning City Park – a vast urban development which contains the largest man-made water feature in any UK city. At six acres, it connects many of the must-see sites including the Alhambra, and the National Science and Media Museum along with the main shopping streets. It makes a great base for exploring the surrounding attractions and of course, a mooch around the park itself is essential. Head there at dusk and enjoy an evening light show with stunning accompanying water effects.
Boasting a whopping 44 parks, there are a great deal of walks in Bradford and the surrounding areas of Baildon, Bingley, Cullingworth, Denholme, Ilkley, Keighley, Shipley, Silsden and Queensbury. Including the unmissable Horton Park and the vast Cliffe Castle Museum gardens. A 40-minute walk from the Bradford Interchange Station is Lister Park which features a spectacular Islamic water feature.
What’s more, Visit Bradford have put together a City Centre Heritage Walking Trail which can be downloaded from their website and there are also bookable guided tours available. Notably though, they take in many of the galleries, theatres, and cultural attractions featured in our guide and this goes some way in demonstrating the fact Bradford is a brilliant place for walks – complete with Yorkshire air.
There are plenty of great eateries to keep your sustenance levels up and provide the necessary calorific clout for long saunters and stomps – including food that can be delivered to your hotel or apartment meaning you can fully relax and rest your legs.
While this guide mostly focuses on the central areas of the city we can recommend a longer stay which would provide additional time to explore all of our top picks along with some of the stunning surrounding countryside.