A small Victorian market town on the edge of a national park is one of the prettiest in the country. Just a 90-minute drive from Greater Manchester is Ilkley in West Yorkshire.

On the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, Ilkley beat towns in Cornwall and East Sussex to be named the fifth prettiest town in the UK by The Telegraph. The publication asked experts to rank towns based on "pleasantness of their shop fronts, historic architecture, low traffic/litter, stunning viewpoints and plentiful greenery, culminating in a score out of 50." Ilkley achieved an overall score of 44/50 with solid tens for views and greenery, a nine out of 10 for shop fronts, an eight for historical architecture and a seven for the low traffic and litter category. The publication praised Ilkley's "excellent views", which are "guaranteed at almost every turn", thanks to its location on a slope above the River Wharfe with not a high-rise in sight. The town also features "wide and leafy streets", particularly the Grove, which boasts a "broad pavement, bandstand, cherry trees and handsome shopfronts".