The Gen Z Weekend: Best Value Hotels & Vibrant Pubs for Young Groups in the Dales

Group-friendly boltholes in Skipton, Richmond, Leyburn and Hawes, plus the pubs where a Friday night actually goes somewhere.

Base yourself in Skipton if the train is doing the work

Skipton is the only town in the Dales with a proper rail link to Leeds and Bradford, roughly an hour on the Settle-Carlisle line, and that single fact decides most group weekends. Budget doubles and twins cluster within ten minutes' walk of the station and the High Street, and you are looking at roughly £70-110 per room per night on a Friday, dropping noticeably in March and November. Book a place on or off Keighley Road or near the canal basin and you can leave the car at home entirely.

The night out is unusually compact: the Narrow Boat by the springs, the Woolly Sheep on the high street, and the Beer Engine a short stagger up Albert Road. A pint runs £4-5.50, and groups of six or more should ring ahead for the weekend. If you want a taxi to a converted barn or the Tempest Arms at Elslack, that is a fifteen-minute run and worth booking at 10pm, not midnight.

Richmond and Leyburn: cheaper beds, stronger beer gardens

Richmond trades on a bigger, prettier town centre than Skipton and generally cheaper rooms. The marketplace and the streets off it — Frenchgate, Victoria Road — hold most of the small hotels and guesthouses, and you can walk from the station at the bottom of the hill in about ten minutes, though it is steep enough to make you regret a heavy bag. Expect £60-95 for a double in the shoulder months. The Station, the converted railway building by the river, is the obvious group-friendly first stop, with the Castle Tavern and the Bishop Blaize filling out the evening.

Leyburn is the value pick if you have a car and a group of six to ten. Self-catering cottages and pub-with-rooms setups around the market square cost less per head, and Leyburn to Richmond is 15 minutes, to Hawes around 30. The Bolton Arms and the Black Swan handle groups without fuss. Skip Bedale and Masham if you want a proper night out — both are lovely, both are quiet by 10pm, and Masham's brewery taps close earlier than you would like.

Hawes and the western Dales for walkers who still want a pub

Hawes suits groups who want to earn the evening. Bed and breakfast places and the pubs along the main street run £65-100 a double, and most will take a group booking if you are clear about numbers. The Crown and the White Hart are the reliable options, and the Wensleydale Creamery is a wet-weather fallback that actually works. Hardraw, a mile up the road, has a fine beer garden behind the Green Dragon and England's highest single-drop waterfall.

Distances decide everything out here. Hawes to Skipton is about 50 minutes over the moors, to Richmond 40 by the A684, and to Kendal across the M6 an hour. Drive times double in snow, and the Buttertubs Pass between Hawes and Thwaite closes without warning in winter. April to June and September are the months to aim for: dry enough for the walk, quiet enough that a table for eight is still gettable. July and August push room rates up 20-30% and fill every car park by 10am.

What I would actually book, and what to skip

For a group of four to six arriving by train, Skipton wins outright — I would take a twin or double near the canal basin for the Friday, spend Saturday walking the canal to Gargrave, and eat in town rather than chasing a country pub. For six to ten with cars, a Richmond base gives you the best ratio of bed price to nightlife, with Leyburn as the cheaper fallback if Richmond is full. Book direct by phone or on the site's own booking page; the 27 people who searched this region last week mostly looked and did not book, and the ones who convert are the ones who secure a room two to three weeks out.

Skip the big-name spa hotels outside Harrogate unless someone else is paying. Skip Malham in August, when the village is a coach-tour crush and parking is hopeless. Skip Ingleton in February — the waterfalls walk is muddy, the pubs are half-empty and several close midweek. And skip the idea that you can do the Three Peaks and a night out in the same weekend; you can, but nobody enjoys Sunday.

Questions, answered

Do I need a car for a Dales weekend with friends?

Only if you base yourself in Hawes, Leyburn or a village. Skipton and Richmond both work car-free, with trains to Skipton from Leeds and buses linking Richmond to Darlington. For groups of six or more, one car or a pre-booked minibus is cheaper and far less stressful than four separate taxis.

When is the cheapest time to book a group weekend in the Yorkshire Dales?

Late March, early April and November give you the lowest room rates, roughly 20-30% below July and August, with pubs still open and walkable weather. Avoid the May bank holidays and the first two weeks of August, when demand and prices peak together and group tables become hard to secure.

Which town has the best pub-to-hotel ratio for young groups?

Skipton, comfortably. You can walk between a dozen pubs and your bed in under fifteen minutes, and the train removes the designated-driver problem. Richmond is a close second and slightly cheaper on rooms; Hawes and Leyburn are better for walkers than for a big night out.

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