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Close to the Leeds Waterfront lie the Royal Armouries, a museum containing an amazing collection of weapons and armour from all over the world dating back 3,000 years. It's divided into five galleries covering war, tournaments, self-defence, hunting and arms of the Orient. Much of the museum is interactive and visitors can watch a martial arts demonstration, falcons in flight or see how a cross bow really works in the firing range. In the menagerie yard, you can get up close to birds of prey and horses and talk to their keepers and see how they are trained and cared for. Entry to the museum is free. 
Art buffs should stay in the centre of Leeds to get their fix. Conveniently located next to Leeds Central Library on The Headrow you'll find the City Art Gallery. In addition to a good collection of traditional watercolours, prints, drawings and sculptures, the gallery also has a growing collection of contemporary works. The works of one of Yorkshire's best-known artists, Henry Moore, are a highlight. The Henry Moore Institute next door showcases sculptures by the Leeds School of Art graduate in what is Europe's largest sculpture gallery. 
If you think the modern NHS is bad, you should pay a visit to the Thackray Museum. Its 35,000 exhibits, including some fairly primitive surgical instruments, help to demonstrate how medical advances help us live 50 years longer now than in the 1840s. Still sceptical? In 'Pain, Pus and Blood', visitors can find out what surgery was like in the days when anaesthetics weren't available – before presumably passing out. Other interactive features include exploring the Victorian slums of Leeds as one of the town's characters. In BodyWorks, body detective Sherlock Bones helps explain to visitors how the body works, while offering tips on how to keep it going. The museum has won several awards, including Museum of the Year Award in 1998 and it was nominated European Museum of the Year in 1999. You'll find it on Beckett Street, next to St James's Hospital. 
Experience Leeds' industrial past with a visit to Armley Mills Industrial Museum. Once the world's largest woollen mill, it now tells the history of factory life and the people that worked there. Armley Mills is situated two miles outside Leeds on Canal Road in Armley. Buses 5A, 14, 66 and 67 run frequent services from Leeds city centre.  Leeds isn't exactly known for its Amazon-like weather conditions. But the climate controlled greenhouses at Tropical World, home to butterflies, monkeys, colourful fish and exotic plants, will give you a fair idea what the real thing is like. Getting there is also a whole lot cheaper and quicker than getting to South America. Jump on the number 2 or 12 bus for the three-mile journey from Leeds city centre before getting off at Roundhay Park. |
Once the face of run down, post-industrial England, Leeds has undergone a renaissance in the last decade to become a bright Northern star.
Gone are the huge textile industries that once ruled the land. In their place lies a thriving 24-hour commercial and social hub with a vibrant nightlife and an upbeat young feel.
Retail heaven
Maybe it's something in the water, for although the textile factories are now but a memory, looking good still appears to be very much on the forefront of people's minds in this West Yorkshire city. Look around you as you walk through it – it's packed with fashion conscious locals strutting their stuff. If you fancy following suit it shouldn't be difficult – Leeds is regularly voted a top destination for shopping. In fact, while you're here, why not do a spot of Christmas shopping? That way you can relax when everyone else is stressing out in the week before Christmas Day.
Thriving canal-side space
Only 15 years ago, the Leeds Waterfront, the area by the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, was a run-down area best avoided. But gradually, decaying old mills have been given a new lease of life and it's now thriving with local shops, cafes and towpaths scattered in between flash riverside apartments and office blocks. Nearby Granary Wharf, housed in converted vaults under Leeds City Rail Station, offers shoppers anything from home furnishings to rare musical instruments.
Hearty food and drink
All this walking around is sure to make you thirsty. Although Tetley has been sold to the Danes, the brewery is still going strong and the real ale is sold in pubs all over. If you get peckish, there is of course Yorkshire pudding, and the original Harry Ramsden's – the fish and chip shop in Guiseley that has grown into a worldwide chain – serving up fried fish in its chandeliered dining room.
United they stand
If football is your sport of choice and you have some time left over, why not head to Elland Road stadium to watch Leeds United play? A few tough years have done little to dampen the atmosphere on match days!
Getting to Leeds is easy with National Express. We run frequent services from all over the UK and with our funfares, available from London Victoria, start from just £1 one way. Tickets can easily be booked online.
Because bustling Leeds has so much to offer, why not stay longer than just a day? Thanks to our fantastic hotel offers through Octopus Travel you can lengthen your stay and make a weekend of it, and still have money left over.
If there is one word to describe shopping in Leeds it can only be fantastic. Don't let the opportunity to pick up some fabulous Christmas gifts pass you by! Do your shopping now and you'll be feeling smug as your friends fight their way down the high street in December.
Frequently described as 'Knightsbridge of the North', it was not by chance that Harvey Nichols decided to open their first store outside London here in 1996.
Shopping in Leeds is made all the better because the best shops are close together. And as much of the centre is pedestrianised there’s every opportunity to wear in your new Jimmy Choos straight away if you feel like it.
So, where to start? The first stop for any fashion-conscious shopper should be Briggate, (pronounced 'Brigget' if you need to ask directions from a local), where label heaven Harvey Nicks rubs shoulders with many familiar high street names. Off Briggate you’ll find the Victoria Quarter, a beautiful Victorian arcade that boasts a myriad of exclusive shops and cafes. If you can tear your eyes away from the goods on display, look above you and you'll see the largest stained glass roof in Europe. This is also the place to stop for a caffeine fix mid-shop, while watching the trendy locals drift past.
If you are less concerned about labels and more into a splash of individualism, the rotund Grade 1 listed Corn Exchange on Call Lane off Kirkgate is the place for you. A popular spot with skaters and DJs, some 35 shops sell clothes and records here. There are also plenty of food and drink outlets if you need an energy boost.
Not far from the Corn Exchange, just next to the city centre bus station, is Kirkgate Market. If food is your forte, your taste buds will be doing somersaults as you walk through this impressive Edwardian market. Other stalls sell more mundane, but no less useful, household and motor goods. In fact, it was in Kirkgate that Michael Marks set up his Penny Baazar in 1884. It has since grown to become none other than Marks & Spencer.
Now you've kitted yourself out with some trendy clothes or shoes it's high time to hit the town. Leeds appears to have almost as many bars and restaurants as it has inhabitants, and late licenses make for a relaxed but vibrant nightlife.
Start the evening with a drink in Oporto Bar, a popular venue with a relaxed atmosphere on Call Street near the Corn Exchange. If you get hungry, it also has an eclectic menu served up by friendly staff.
If you're still thirsty, head for Mojo at 18 Merrion Street. Another favourite with the locals, it's famous for serving up the best cocktails in town to a backdrop of proper rock n' roll music. Elvis would have been proud.
In the business end of town, near Leeds train station, you'll find Living Room at 7 Greek Street. It serves food and drink in a classy atmosphere but without the OTT price tag. Just down the street lies Prohibition, its sister bar.
The area around and on Millennium Square also has many watering holes. Among them is Qube, a huge bar with a large patio that allows for outdoor drinking, weather permitting.
If you've been tapping your feet all evening, now's the time to get down to some real moves. Close to the train station you'll find Majestyk, the nightclub on City Square that has become a Leeds institution. Cheap drinks and cheesy music have turned it into something of a pilgrimage for Leeds' student population. With a capacity for 3,000 people it makes for a huge party. Other popular night spots, interestingly both with a beach theme complete with bikini-clad bar babes, include Bondi Beach Bar, also on City Square, and Baja Beach Club at 43a Woodhouse Lane.
But a night out in Leeds isn't just about hitting the town. If you like theatre, the award-winning West Yorkshire Playhouse on Playhouse Square is well worth a visit. It has won domestic and international acclaim for its productions, and its restaurant and bar offer a cosy setting in which to enjoy a meal before or after a performance.
Why not stock up on some Leeds-related reading before you set off. This is just a small selection of books available at www.amazon.co.uk
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National Express runs frequent services to Leeds from all over the UK, with funfares from London Victoria starting from just £1 one way. Tickets are easily booked online. 
 Because busy Leeds has so much to offer, why not stay longer than just a day? With our ezine offer from Octopus Travel, a double room at the 3-star Comfort Inn Leeds costs just £31.75 per person per night Monday to Thursday, including breakfast and tax. Or make a whole weekend of it – Fridays to Sundays it costs just £27.75 per person* per night. 
Mel B – The scariest of the Spice Girls is a local lass, even if she has snubbed her native North to live in the States these days.
Comedian Vic Reeves was born in Leeds. Eranu!
Anyone listening to Radio 1 cannot have escaped that loud-mouth presenter Chris Moyles was born and bred in Leeds. He's probably Leeds United's biggest fan.
More known for writing books about a twenty-something woman in London fancying a certain Mr Darcy, author Helen Fielding hails from Leeds.
Having named themselves after a chant sung by an African street band in Paris sometime in the 1980s (or so they once claimed), Leeds band Chumbawamba has had the rest of us trying to remember how to spell their name ever since. 
If you're already in Leeds, don't forget the rest of the UK is waiting to be discovered by you. National Express offers convenient, affordable travel to the rest of the country that can be booked at the click of a mouse. Fares start from just £1 one way with our funfares. 
  For those over 60, travel on most National Express services is half-price with routesixty fares. To guarantee a half-price ticket, simply avoid travelling on a Friday, when a 30% discount applies to all fares. 
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