The Tales from the Dales & Brontë Country

Take a storybook journey from Manchester into Brontë country and the limestone folds of the Yorkshire Dales – landscapes that have shaped some of England’s most enduring fiction.

As you might have guessed, this is a tour for literature fans. But it’s also a day for romantics. Not the hearts-and-roses kind, but those stirred by wind-blown moors, brooding skylines, and stories worn into cobbled streets. With one of Rabbie’s expert guides – part driver, part storyteller – you won’t just see these places, you’ll understand them: their histories, their mysteries, their… Cheeses.

Setting off from Manchester, you’ll travel in a top-of-the-range mini-coach with no more than 16 other people. One of these will be your guide, who’ll bring this tour to life with knowledge, facts, stories, history and fairy-tales.

From urban bustle to tranquil charm. The first stop on the tour is the hillside home of the Brontë family: Haworth. Wander the town’s steep, cobbled streets and, if timing allows, step into the Brontë Parsonage Museum – a shrine for readers and writers alike. It was here the sisters imagined windswept lovers, haunted halls, and fierce heroines long before they became literary icons.

From there, it’s on into the Dales as meandering hills and craggy moorlands stretch out around you. Emily Brontë might’ve set Wuthering Heights further north, but the mood? Very much present. Over ancient ridgelines, you’ll trace a route through Grassington, fictionalised as Darrowby in All Creatures Great & Small. Next is Aysgarth Falls, a three-stepped waterfall that’s been luring in artists and writers – including Wordsworth – for over 200 years. You’ll see why.

Cheese. Won’t somebody tell me about the cheese. Don’t worry, it takes centre stage at Wensleydale Creamery – proud custodians of a 1000-year-old cheesemaking tradition and makers of the crumbly classic adored by Wallace himself. From their iconic Yorkshire Wensleydale to the rich, buttery flavours of Fountains Gold, load up – you’ve earned it.

High off 100% pure Wensleydale, you’ll roll onto the final stop: Ribblehead Viaduct – a jaw-dropper of Victorian engineering stretched across the wild moor. It’s impressive on its own, but your guide’s the one who’ll make it sing – bringing you tales of navvies, hardship, ambition, and a railway built against the odds. With the Three Peaks on the horizon and a bit of awe in your chest, you’ll pile back on the bus and head for boring old Manchester.

But by now, it’s not just about where you’ve been – it’s how you’ve seen it. Through stories, through the words and worlds of the writers who walked here before you, through a guide who knows just when to point something out – and when to let the landscape speak for itself. This is what Rabbie’s and their guides do best: slowing things down, finding the stories that stick, and making it feel like this tour was made just for you.