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Leeds City Tour: History, Culture, and Hidden Gems
4.7
47 Ratings
West Yorkshire
Discover Leeds’ history and hidden gems on a daily 1.5-hour walking tour with a local expert. Explore iconic sites and modern life.
Discover Leeds’ history and hidden gems on a daily 1.5-hour walking tour with a local expert. Explore iconic sites and modern life.
Duration:
1 hour, 30 minutes
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Leeds Town Hall - Meet your passionate, local guide outside Leeds Town Hall. You’ll receive an introduction to the tour and will gain an understanding of our city’s history! (exterior visit only)
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Leeds Art Gallery - Discover the past and present of this iconic building and it’s link with the Henry Moor Institute (exterior visit only)
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- Leeds Town Hall - Meet your passionate, local guide outside Leeds Town Hall. You’ll receive an introduction to the tour and will gain an understanding of our city’s history! (exterior visit only)
- Leeds Art Gallery - Discover the past and present of this iconic building and it’s link with the Henry Moor Institute (exterior visit only)
- Millenium Square Leeds - Home to Christmas markets, food & drink festivals and more - explore this central square. From the electric press, to the civic hall & even Leeds museum, there’s plenty to explore in this cultural centre - you might even spot a couple of mysterious golden owls!
- Leeds City Museum - Learn about the different exhibitions held here, as well as a very misshapen big cat… (exterior visit only)
- Leeds Cathedral - View this beautiful building and learn about its origin as a Mission founded by a Dominican priest (exterior visit only)
- The Light - A hub of entertainment - learn about this critical development that thrums with life in the modern city! (exterior visit only)
- City Varieties Music Hall - The world’s oldest running music hall and a rare surviving relic of the Victorian era (exterior visit only)
- Briggate - Explore Briggate - a hub of commerical activity since the 13th Century and still today! Explore Leeds’ past and present, from a textile powerhouse to a shoppers paradise. (exterior visit only)
- Victoria Quarter - Explore these ornate, glass-roofed Victorian arcades
- Leeds Kirkgate Market - Europe’s largest indoor market that has survived both bombs and fire (exterior visit only)
- Leeds Corn Exchange - Finish off the tour outside the building that was built as an exchange for grain, a symbol of Leeds’ trading past (exterior visit only)
What's Included
- A passionate, local guide
- A passionate, local guide
Additional Information
Get your bearings and discover Leeds through a local’s eyes, with a local, expert guide every day at 10:30am. Immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of the city as you travel back through the centuries to discover how our city has developed to the cultural paradise you see today.
On this 1.5 hour tour, you’ll not only see and learn about our history,…
Get your bearings and discover Leeds through a local’s eyes, with a local, expert guide every day at 10:30am. Immerse yourself in the sights and sounds of the city as you travel back through the centuries to discover how our city has developed to the cultural paradise you see today.
On this 1.5 hour tour, you’ll not only see and learn about our history, but you’ll also gain an authentic insight into modern life in the city today and explore some hidden gems along the way! From Leeds’ boom as a textile powerhouse, to the world’s oldest city music hall and of course, our iconic shopping arcades and quarters, there’s something for everyone on this unique experience.
The tour includes:
- Corn Exchange
- Town Hall
- Kirkgate Market
- City Varieties Music Hall
- Victoria Quarter
And many hidden treasures!
Location
Leeds Art Gallery
The Headrow
Meet us outside Leeds Art Gallery in Victoria Square on The Headrow.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.7
(47 Ratings)
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I9540atlins
Sep 17, 2024
Leeds walking tour - Bess our guide was informative, pleasant lady who is obviously very proud of her city and her enthusiasm was infectious. Great way to be introduced to Leeds.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Vanessa
Sep 11, 2024
Highly recommended informative, enjoyable tour of Leeds - Very enjoyable, informative tour of beautiful Leeds. So many hidden gems to see and so much history packed in to a fab little tour. Bess also brought along vintage photos so we could visualise the history and development of the town centre. Well paced walk from the town hall through the cathedral and into the main shopping area and covered market followed by the corn exchange. Thoroughly enjoyed every minute with a lovely group of people.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Daytrip26838521383
Aug 24, 2024
Fabulous, informative tour - An excellent tour providing lots of insight into the history of Leeds.
I have lived in Leeds all of my life and have always made a point of booking a tour when on holiday in other countries or cities. Today was the day that I decided to find out more about my own city…. And I wasn’t disappointed. There were loads of interesting facts and stories about the things I walk past every day but did not know about.
The guide was very knowledgeable, caring and keen to make sure that everyone was having a great time.
Originally, we thought our family of 3 were the only ones on the tour, but 5 minutes in a couple arrived having got the date wrong - their booking related to the previous day. The tour guide was completely unfazed, no problem she said you are more than welcome to join today’s group.
Would highly recommend this tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Cegidog
Aug 21, 2024
Good walking tour - Sarah was an excellent guide who connected with us personally and made the tour very interesting. She had good local knowledge, giving an overview of Leeds' history and specific facts about the places on the tour. Thank you Sarah.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Harriet_g
Aug 15, 2024
All the main Victorian sights in whistle stop time - Enjoyed the breadth of different sights of Leeds. Went to some places I never knew existed. My Norwegian friend was delighted to find out more about the history of Leeds
Review provided by Viator
Julious14
Aug 7, 2024
Great Tour - Great experience! We visited most of the iconic places and buildings in Leeds, and the guide was great at explaining the fascinating history of the places.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Northstar25857253817
Aug 6, 2024
Surprising insights - Our guide Sarah surprised us with many a story about the buildings and the people who built them. The walk was insightful and Leeds seems to have a non-conformist tradition.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Killylad
Aug 18, 2023
A great way to find your way around Leeds city centre and learn some of its history - The tour was an ideal way to familiarise ourselves with the city centre. Our guide Annabella was very knowledgable and was really friendly and welcoming. We would have preferred the pace to be a little quicker so that we could have been shown a few more interesting points along the way but we still thoroughly enjoyed the tour.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Bill
Aug 18, 2023
Enjoyable Tour But Guide Lacking In Experience - We met at the Town Hall where Annabelle was already waiting for us 10 minutes prior the departure time of 10.30. It was a nice touch that she asked everyone to identify themselves as it gave everyone an idea of the diversity of the group.
The tour was interesting and it certainly took us to areas we would have struggled to find on our own but we were surprised that the guide could not answer simple questions like “what was the “Millennium Square” prior to its development in 2000. Admittedly she did Google it and came back with an answer later in the tour.
Walking Tours are a great way to get the feel of a City and it is good to see that Leeds are encouraging younger guides…..”cool” as Annabelle would say!! However, possibly as a result of their youth and lack of experience they do not have the in-depth knowledge of more mature guides.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Meligalarzafdez
Aug 14, 2023
Briana is a lovely woman - Highly advisable
I had a very small group and that made the experience great.
Brianna, the guide, is a woman who knows, who answers questions cordially and with a smile always
Review provided by Tripadvisor
