Leeds Hotels

featured hotels

Merrion Hotel - Leeds
Crowne Plaza Hotel Leeds
Hilton Leeds City
Express by Holiday Inn Leeds City Centre
Express by Holiday Inn Leeds-East
Holiday Inn Leeds-Garforth
Holiday Inn Leeds-Bradford Airport

leeds weather

The City of Leeds, through which the River Aire runs, is based in West Yorkshire in the north of England.

In the Middle Ages, Leeds was an agricultural market town and in the Tudor period, it was mainly a merchant town manufacturing woollen cloths and trading with Europe via the Humber estuary. At one point nearly half of England's total export passed through Leeds.

Today, Leeds has a diverse economy with the service sector now dominating over the city's manufacturing industries. Its good transport links have been a major factor contributing to the growth of Leeds, and have led to the city becoming a major centre for distribution. Retail is another major service and employer in the city centre, with a retail economy which has experienced a recent boom resulting in several new shops. Briggate is one of Leeds' main shopping streets, with the Victoria Quarter and Harvey Nichols. The city centre also includes Europe's largest indoor market, and over 8 shopping centres.

For the visitor, Leeds has a large number of museums, being the home of the Royal Armouries Museum (opened in 1996 when the collection was transferred from the Tower of London), the Leeds City Museum which is dedicated to the history of Yorkshire, the Thackray's Medical Museum and the Leeds City Art Gallery. Leeds also boasts the Grand Theatre (where Opera North is based), the City Varieties Music Hall (which has hosted performances by Charlie Chaplin and Harry Houdini) and the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

The Leeds Festival every August Bank holiday weekend held at Bramham Park attracts tens of thousands of fans to watch world famous bands. Millennium Square in the city centre also holds regular outdoor concerts upto 7,000 people at a time, including the Kaiser Chiefs in 2006. Roundhay Park is home to occasional concerts such as the Love Parade, Madonna, and Robbie Williams (in 2006). Harewood House is also host to huge outdoor concerts including in 2006 The Who (whose quintissential live album Live at Leeds was recorded there in February 1970). The city is also home to the Leeds International Pianoforte Competition, held every three years since 1963, which has launched the careers of many major concert pianists. There is also the Leeds International Concert Season, the largest local authority music programme of any UK city outside London.

Leeds has gained a well-deserved reputation as one of the UK's favourite clubbing destinations. Often described as the UK's clubbing capital, Leeds is best known as the home of pioneering club nights Back to Basics and Speedqueen. Leeds is also home to a number of 'super-clubs' including Creation, Evolution, Majestyk and Oceana. Life Bar, Tiger Tiger and Discotheque by Gatecrasher are also large clubs.

Leeds is also home to some very cool Bohemian bars that aren't aimed at the 'usual' crowd - especially the bars in and around Briggate and North Street (North bar, Sandanista, Mojo, The Reliance(Reli), Reform, etc), Baby Jupiter on York Place and Milo on Call Lane.

Places and events of interest in Leeds:

• Harewood House
• Leeds City Art Gallery
• Leeds City Museum
• Millennium Square
• Roundhay Park
• Royal Armouries Museum
• Thackray's Medical Museum
• The City Varieties Music Hall
• The Grand Theatre
• The Leeds Festival (Bramham Park)
• West Yorkshire Playhouse.