The Vale of York Transport Travel Guide 

The Vale of York is easy to travel to from all parts of the UK and overseas by air, sea, rail and road.

It is not possible to fly direct as the area has no airport within its boundaries. However, the nearby airports at Leeds Bradford, Newcastle and Teesside offer domestic and international flights with easy travel by car, coach or rail onwards to the Vale of York. Major international hub airports at Birmingham and Manchester are a little further away but offer a wider choice of flights.

The closest ports, at Hull and Newcastle, have regular ferry crossings to Holland and Scandinavia, making the York, Ripon and Harrogate area easily accessible to or from mainland Europe.

The east coast mainline carries intercity trains to the area from London and Scotland with Transpennine Express trains travelling direct to Manchester Airport.

Driving in the Vale of York is easy with fast flowing main roads and many scenic routes across the countryside. The A19 main dual carriageway runs north to south between the towns of Thirsk and Northallerton joining the A1 north of Ripon. York is easy to drive to via the A59 main road to the east of the A1 while Harrogate and Knaresborough are also on the A59 but lie west of the A1(M).