Best Car Rental Leeds

History Leeds

The great city of Leeds lies in the green land of Western Yorkshire and is crossed by the river Aire, a beautiful source of life to the city�s natural surroundings. Visitors to the city should admire the city�s imposing buildings and consider the great progress since not so very long ago this place was a forested area called Loidis Which gave the city its name not too long ago. With European standards Leeds is a relatively young city. A vast forestland in Roman and Anglo-Saxon times with only a small fort on the banks of the river Aire, shows that there might have been a settlement or a small village. Most of the Celtic Kingdom of Elmet, between the 5th and 7th century was covered by Loidis forest and it was not until 1086 that the town is clearly mentioned as a thriving manor.

During the Normad conquest of England, Ilber de Lacy was overlord of Leeds and in the beginning of the 13th century the manor was taken from Maurice de Gant and grew slowly but steadily during the middle Ages and the Tudor period. The town became part of the Duchy of Lancaster in the medieval period, and reverted to the crown. At the start of the English Civil War, it was on the side of the Royalists. There was no evident education in Leeds until 1551, when William Sheffield, presumably a charitable priest at St Catherine’s in Leeds, left some property so that a scholar would be able to establish some kind of teaching facility. The origins of the Leeds Grammar school, which later became a very important institution, are as humble as that. Weaving was introduced during the reign of William the 3rd and in the 17th and 18th centuries, Leeds prospered as a centre of the woollen industry and it continued to expand rapidly in the Industrial Revolution.

Weather

The weather in Leeds can be catergorised in unpredictable, which means that at a particular moment it can be sunshine, but at the next moment it can be rainy. Therefore it is advised to check the weather forecast well in advance to avoid getting in the rain. The recommended time to visit this place is during the summer month which is between June and August.

Best Leeds

Leeds is a beautiful city in Yorkshire, England offering visitors a very impressive historical centre with civic buildings of Tudor grandeur and churches of reverence. Leeds' most interesting museum is certainly the Royal Armouries, beside the Clarence Dock residential development. Built to house the armour and weapons from the Tower of London, it was eventually expanded to an impressive war museum designed to cover 3000 years of fighting and self-defence. The exhibits are varied and they are fascinating. Galleries are thematic and with names such as Hall of Steel, Arena, Self Defence or Oriental Gallery, the museum uses films, live action demonstrations and technology to awaken emotions you never knew you had, facing objects varying from Medieval Knights �swords and shields to Indian elephant armour.

Near northern Briggate in the centre of Leeds is St John's Church, a masterpiece of 17th century design. It is decked out with wonderful box pews and a spectacular screen with huge carvings of the arms of James I and of Charles I. The Leeds Industrial Museum is housed in of the world's largest textile mill, which has been transformed into a building telling the story of Leeds' industrial past. The city became rich and started taking advantage of the sheep's precious wool, but at the cost of bad working conditions, at least at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. There is a selection of working machinery, along with an informative display on how woollen cloth is made.

The City Art Gallery exhibits works of 19th and 20th century popular British artists such as Joseph Mallord, William Turner and John Constable and The Henry Moore Foundation supports many art exhibits and events. Henry Moore studied at the Leeds School of Arts.

Exploring Leeds

Visitors to Leeds will no doubt enjoy their stay in this brilliant city in the heart of Yorkshire. This vibrant young city has enough history to keep everybody interested, enough shops to keep every shopper satisfied, enough pubs and restaurants to keep every gourmet visitor’s stomach full and satisfied and more than enough nightlife action to keep you happy and make your visit to Leeds unforgettable. While you are enjoying your full English breakfast, you might want to consider your itinerary. Leeds is a big city with lots of interests, so unless you have a week to spend exploring it, you may have to make some serious planning. You don’t have to prepare any sandwiches for the road as you will find plenty in small shops and supermarkets and maybe you will be pleasantly surprised with a new taste. Remember that sandwiches may be fast food but for the British they are never junk food.

Public transport is very convenient in Leeds and a bus will soon bring you to the city Centre for a visit of the sights. Whether it is history or art you are interested in, there is a lot to see. You can stroll along Briggate for your fashion shopping and maybe visit Granary Wharf advertised as Leeds best kept secret. You will find street entertainers and a large selection of underground market stalls together with coffee shops and restaurants. If you are looking for something different then this is the place for you.

Everything from Moroccan and Egyptian handicrafts to Goth gear and pine wood furniture is sold here. By late afternoon you must have chosen a place for your dinner. The Leeds City Guide will navigate you through a wide variety of choices. After dinner you could go back to your hotel and rest but when in Leeds, a wild night awaits you and invites you to meet new friends and rock the night away.

Eating drinking Leeds

Leeds, a beautiful city in Yorkshire, is visited by millions of people every year who come to this modern city for various reasons. Tourists, business people and students as well as visitors from Yorkshire towns who are here shopping share a common need and that is to find a decent place to enjoy reasonably priced quality food. Leeds, on the other hand, also has something in common with most cities in the western world: it has got everything! First things first and visitors to Leeds must remember that England is the home of a truly great inventor, John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich.

He invented the ideal quick meal and regardless of your taste or country of origin, it is a meal that is both indispensable when you are traveling and honestly almost impossible to avoid, should you ever want to, when in the UK. Other than sandwich shops, convenient solutions for visitors in Leeds are fast food restaurants (of course a hamburger is a meat sandwich), take away pizzerias and fish and chips venues. There are plenty of brilliant Victorian pubs offering good food and beer and there is a list as big as the Cosmos with ethnic restaurants. Here, the Leeds City Guide site can prove very useful as bars, restaurants and pubs open and close very often and it is very difficult to keep up. It is this cosmopolitan cocktail of tastes that makes Leeds special.

There is something that makes the city’s quality restaurants unique, and that is not the world famous Yorkshire pudding, although it is exquisite in Leeds. Yorkshire pubs and restaurants are widely popular both for their wholesome quality food and for the large portions they serve. In fact sometimes Yorkshire puddings are such giants that it often takes visitors a few pints of local beer to wash them down and then there is hardly any space left for their dessert curd tart.

Night-life

Leeds is a lively, vibrant city in West Yorkshire, England. It is a city of history and beautiful sights, a city where modern outgoing people work hard by day and enjoy themselves by night in a variety of ways that will leave no Leeds visitor indifferent. Since the crazy days of the dance music explosion in the early nineties, Leeds has gained a reputation as one of UK's best clubbing destinations. Often described as the leading city outside of London, Leeds is a clubbing metropolis that challenges even the most idiosyncratic clubbers not to find something that will float their musical boats in one of the many nightclubs or hundreds of bars in the city centre.

Hard rock clubs, trendy British scene establishments where local celebrities often make their presence evident, even cheesy shows, head banging clubs with waitresses in bikinis, whatever your idea of fun may be, you are sure to find somewhere in Leeds to have an unforgettable night of wild clubbing. Whether you are out with friends or out to meet someone new, whether you are trying to have a quiet drink or a blast, no one in Leeds will think less of you and in fact whatever you wish to do you will find plenty of people to do it with. Pubs in Leeds are plentiful ranging from the more stylish and trendy, frequented by younger people for a quick pint before clubbing time or conversation with mates, to the more traditional ones where you can make friends and get to know local people better. You can also have a bite to eat at local pubs as the night might prove long. Sophisticated, eclectic bars are also a nice choice for a more quiet approach to Leeds nightlife.

Shopping Leeds

The bustling, modern city of Leeds offers many attractions to the large number of its visitors. Whether if you are here on business or pleasure, or sightseeing or just visiting, you will find shopping in the city a great experience, other than its 800,000 inhabitants and the millions of tourists, Leeds has a catchment area of 3.2 billion people as it is an important commercial centre in Yorkshire. It has a very extensive retail area and many shopping centres are situated right in the middle of the city. St John's Centre, Headrow Centre and the Victoria Quarter are just a few names of shopping Centres and there almost 1,000 shops selling all kinds of merchandise. As of 2012, a huge complex called Trinity Leeds is being constructed.

Upon completion it will cover the old Burton Arcades and the Leeds Shopping Plaza and will be a shopping and leisure area of great proportions. The city centre has a large pedestrian zone, with McDonald’s fast food restaurants, coffee shops like Starbucks and of course all the stylish, British fashion megastores that gave Leeds the well-deserved right to be calledKnightsbridge of the North.

Briggate is the city’s main shopping street and fashion clothing is what most visitors are looking for. The city’s sharp, stylish image is acknowledged in the decision for the opening of the first regional store outside of London of top quality Harvey Nickols emporium in 1996. Marks & Spencer and Debenham’s are also present as well as Internationalnames such as Spanish Zara. The Victoria Quarter is the finest area for shopping in Leeds. It includes old buildings and two passages with 70 classy fashion stores. In the Churwell area of Leeds you will find the White Rose Shopping Centre.

Disabled visitors Leeds

The wonderful city of Leeds is a lovely destination right in the heart of England. Its imposing churches and buildings, its brilliant atmosphere and its vibrant city life guarantee that visitors with special needs will indeed enjoy being here. Starting from their arrival at Leeds Bradford International Airport, travellers with special needs will find all that they require for a safe transport to their accommodation.

Special toilet facilities, ramps and pathways, lifts to all levels, wheelchairs and special carts on request will assist them for as long as they chose to remain in the Airport area. There is a hearing induction loop available at the information desk and special parking facilities are available. LBA is not a very busy airport and services here are great. Disabled visitors should also keep in mind that there are strict Internationalregulations concerning the matter and any airport in the world cannot be licensed without abiding by them.

There are many beautiful hotels in Leeds that are wheelchair accessible and with great arrangements for the city’s visitors who are physically disabled. Lists of such hotels and provided amenities can easily be obtained at central spots or through relevant internet sites. In the city of Leeds there are special provisions for the disabled and many facilities are offered. Not just in hotels but also in parks, civic buildings, churches and museums, special preparations have been made so that people who are physically impaired or are disabled can also visit the beautiful city and enjoy all its pleasures like every other visitor. There is even a special group of volunteers (who are disabled themselves) willing to assist in any possible way. It is also good to know that the extensive network of Leeds buses is a very comfortable way to go around the city.