Highwayman Tours started in York, and York will always be at the heart of what I do.

But Harrogate has never felt like somewhere separate to me.

I used to work there. For a long time, my mornings involved getting the train through Knaresborough and into Harrogate. And I still remember that moment when the train crosses the viaduct and the view suddenly opens up beneath you.

It never really gets old.

Knaresborough castle, the river, the houses climbing up the hillside. Even when you are travelling to work and thinking about the day ahead, it makes you look up.

That journey probably planted the seed for this more than I realised.

Why Harrogate makes so much sense

As Highwayman Tours has grown, I’ve had more people staying in Harrogate asking whether I can collect them there instead of travelling to York first.

And the more I thought about it, the more obvious the answer became.

Of course I can.

Harrogate is a brilliant base for exploring Yorkshire.

You are already close to some of the best countryside in the county. Nidderdale is on the doorstep. Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal are nearby. Brimham Rocks is an easy run out. Keep going west and you are into the Yorkshire Dales.

Head the other way and places like Ripon, Masham, Knaresborough and some of the quieter parts of North Yorkshire all become possible.

It made no sense to tell people staying in Harrogate that they needed to come into York before we started.

So I’ve changed it.

Selected Highwayman Tours can now start and finish directly at your hotel or accommodation in Harrogate.

The same tours, just starting somewhere that works for you

The important bit is that I haven’t created a watered-down Harrogate version of Highwayman Tours.

They are still private tours.

Still just your group, with up to four guests.

Still flexible.

Still designed around seeing Yorkshire properly rather than racing around a checklist of stops.

The difference is simply where the day begins.

For eligible published tours, a Harrogate start and return adds £100 to the York tour price. That is once per private booking, not per person.

So whether there is one guest or four, it is the same £100 Harrogate supplement.

Some days work especially well from Harrogate

There are some Highwayman Tours that almost feel made for a Harrogate start.

The Yorkshire Dales is an obvious one. Bolton Abbey, Grassington, Linton Falls and the high roads across the Dales all work beautifully from here.

Yorkshire Icons is another. Fountains Abbey, Masham, Brimham Rocks and Knaresborough make a fantastic day, and starting from Harrogate puts you right in the middle of it.

There is also Brontë Country, heading towards Haworth and the moors, and I can build completely bespoke days around Nidderdale, the Dales, abbeys, ruins, market towns or somewhere you have always wanted to see.

That flexibility matters to me.

I would rather give you a great day than force you into a route simply because it is printed on a page.

Harrogate deserves more than being treated as a pickup point

One of the reasons I wanted to make this official is that Harrogate itself deserves to be part of the story.

It is one of those places visitors sometimes use as a base without realising just how well positioned they are.

You can wake up in the centre of Harrogate, have breakfast, walk out of your hotel and be heading into genuinely spectacular countryside a few minutes later.

No coach.

No car hire.

No getting yourself to York first thing in the morning.

Just your group, your route and a local guide picking you up where you are staying.

That feels much more like Highwayman Tours.

And yes, I still love that Knaresborough view

Whenever I drive through Knaresborough now, I still think about those train journeys into Harrogate.

I probably appreciated the view more than most commuters did.

It is one of the things I love about Yorkshire. You can travel the same road or railway line hundreds of times and there will still be a morning when the light hits it differently and you notice it all over again.

That is part of what I try to give people on my tours.

Not just the obvious places.

The views between them. The stories. The roads you would probably never choose yourself. The places where I still slow down, even after living here for years.

So Harrogate felt like a natural next step.

Highwayman Tours now offers private Yorkshire tours from Harrogate, with hotel and accommodation collection available on selected tours.

If you are staying in Harrogate and you are not sure which route would work best, just ask me before you book.

I’m always happy to help build the right day.

View private tours from Harrogate