Close House cottage lies near to the ancient city of York with numerous attractions ranging from the Minster to the National Railway Museum. The area also has a wide range of stately homes. A quiet setting with easy access to the whole of North Yorkshire.  The Yorkshire Vet is a recommended watch to see some of the wonderful scenery in our area. 

Easingwold
Our nearest town is the Georgian market town of Easingwold with all amenities, 3 miles away.  Easingwold has a wide range of shops and pubs with award winning pubs in nearby villages.  The Galtres Centre has a range of highly regarded cultural events including live transmissions from the Royal Opera House, the National Theatre and international productions.  The Galtres Centre also has a gym and a range of classes including Pilates and yoga.  The Durham Ox, an award winning pub and restaurant, is a five minute drive away.  There are excellent cafes, shops and banks and cash points in Easingwold and a good variety of pubs and takeaways.  Other villages have a range of pubs and restaurants.  Further details are in the cottage.

York
York is 16 miles away with numerous attractions, including the amazing Minster, the Jorvik Centre and the National Railway Museum. Comprehensive shopping facilities are available at Clifton Moor on York’s northern ring road, the A1237. Supermarkets deliver regularly to this area.  Guests are welcome to order a delivery timed for their arrival.  Easy Park & Ride buses run frequently into York from Rawcliffe Bar just inside the northern ring road where it meets the A19.

Local villages
Ampleforth has a newly updated indoor swimming pool, while for the hardier swimmer a heated open air pool is available in Helmsley.  Ampleforth also has a tea room in the Abbey grounds; the cider orchard is another attractive part of Ampleforth.

Helmsley
Award-winning Helmsley is the town of ‘La Dolce Vita’, where you’ll be treated like royalty! It’s been the home of nobility for over 800 years, but this is a friendly town with no airs and graces – just an appreciation for the finer things in life.

Helmsley is an epicentre of gourmet food and drink with five of the North’s top restaurants nearby, award-winning tea-rooms, and an extraordinary range of independent shops specialising in local produce. The market square is also a honey-pot for art, antique and design lovers, with galleries, designer boutiques, curiosity shops and craft workshops to rival major cities, while the work of local artists can often be seen during an elegant walk along Rievaulx Terrace (National Trust).

Helmsley is also home to Yorkshire’s top attractions, including the National Birds of Prey Centre, the the North’s largest collection of birds-of-prey, Helmsley Walled Garden, Helmsley Castle (English Heritage) and Rievaulx Abbey (English Heritage). And don’t miss Helmsley’s Christmas Tree Festival each December, with trees from local estate Duncombe Park then dressed to impress for winter. 

Malton
Malton is Yorkshire’s Food Capital, a town dedicated to showcasing the very best of the region’s food and drink, attracting the country’s top chefs and producers to its famous food festivals, and with a staggering wealth of artisan shops in its market square.

Malton is also a place with history, a Roman town as ancient as York, and the gateway to one of the UK’s most important prehistoric landscapes. Malton’s attractions, including Eden Camp, have some of Britain’s most important collections, and on Malton’s doorstep is Britain’s finest stately home, Castle Howard in a 1000-acre parkland paradise that includes the Yorkshire Arboretum.

International artists and craftspeople celebrate this beauty and heritage in local galleries and studios, and there’s also a lively programme of year-round events, a highlight being the Malton Dickensian Festival each Christmas.

Pickering
Pickering is Yorkshire’s time-travelling capital, home to the world-famous North Yorkshire Moors Railway, with its iconic 24-mile steam trains journey, and ‘Harry Potter’ train station, ‘Hogsmeade’.