Black Horse Inn

Set in the village of Kirkby Fleetham, near Northallerton, Black Horse Inn works as a compact base for North Yorkshire's dales, moors and market towns. The inn holds fourteen en-suite bedrooms, each fitted with a flat-screen TV, mini-fridge, and tea and coffee facilities; options run from double and twin rooms to a family room and a four-poster. A bar, garden and restaurant sit alongside guest areas with free Wi-Fi. It is a modest, well-kept stay rather than a grand one. From the door, Richmond Castle and Mount Grace Priory are both a short drive, as are Roseberry Topping and Captain Cook's Monument, where three marked routes climb to the summit. Racing fills much of the calendar nearby, with meetings at Catterick, Thirsk and Ripon through the year. Cyclists head for the Dales Bike Centre, while families often choose the Krypton Factor obstacle course or a walk with the alpacas at a farm near Great Ayton. For slower days, Aysgarth Falls and Kiplin Hall, once home to Maryland's founder, offer woodland walks and garden grounds. Ellerton Park's lake, a short drive off, draws paddleboarders and open-water swimmers in summer. Back at the inn, the pace drops: a bar for the evening, a garden for the morning, and roads out in every direction come daylight.