Dales Way: Bolton Abbey to Ilkley

The Dales Way runs 79 miles from Ilkley to Windermere. Most people walk it end-to-end over a week. I’ve been doing it differently — in day sections from a campervan base at Bolton Abbey — and this southern stretch, from the priory ruins down to Ilkley, is where I started.

It’s a confident first section. Mostly flat, mostly riverside, and almost entirely pleasant. The kind of walk that makes you wonder why you don’t do this more often.

The route

You leave Bolton Abbey following the River Wharfe south. For much of the walk the path stays close to the river, which is both beautiful and useful — it means navigation is straightforward. The Wharfe in this section is proper Yorkshire Dales river: clear, wide enough to feel like something, with that particular quality of light you get in a limestone valley.

The path passes through Addingham before dropping into Ilkley — a useful marker if you’re keeping track of progress. Addingham has a pub if you want to stop.

The Strid — if you’re walking from Bolton Abbey, make time to see it before you set off south. It’s about a mile north of the abbey, where the Wharfe narrows dramatically into a fast deep gorge barely a few feet wide. It looks like you could step across it. You cannot. People have died trying. It’s genuinely impressive and slightly unsettling.

Practical notes

Start: Bolton Abbey is on the B6160. The estate has pay-and-display parking. If you’re based at the campsite, you can walk from there.

End and return: Ilkley has a train station on the Wharfedale Line. Services run regularly to Leeds (about 40 minutes) and Bradford. From there you can connect back toward Skipton for Bolton Abbey. It’s a multi-leg journey — probably 1.5 hours total — but it works, and it’s a far easier logistics problem than many long-distance walks.

Food and water: There’s a tearoom at Bolton Abbey. Addingham has a pub and a village shop. Ilkley has plenty at the end. Fill up at the start; there’s not much en route beyond Addingham.

The path: Well-waymarked throughout. If you’ve got a Garmin or OS Maps on your phone, the GPX above will keep you right. But honestly, losing the route on this section would take some effort.

What I carried

For an easy 8.5-mile walk in reasonable weather, I kept it light: a 20L pack, a waterproof layer, water, snacks, and a basic first aid kit. Good footwear is worth having — the path gets muddy after rain even though it’s not steep — but you don’t need heavy boots for this one.

If you’re doing this as part of a campervan base setup, you’re packing light by default.

The Dales Way in sections

This walk is the southern bookend of what I’ve been doing — using Bolton Abbey as a base and walking sections of the Dales Way out and back (or with a bus/train return). The next section north, from Bolton Abbey to Grassington, has a different character and a different return logistics story. Both are covered on this site.

If you’re thinking about walking the Dales Way but don’t have a week free, this approach works well. You trade the sense of a continuous journey for flexibility — but you still get the route.

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Walked May 2026. Route correct at time of writing — check the Dales Way Association for any diversions.