Leeds: where to drink and what to see

Considering a trip to this northern powerhouse? Check out our day-trip guide, the second in our series revisiting destinations from our book, Beer Breaks in Britain

By Kate Simon and Phil Mellows

You might have been to Leeds before, but have you been there lately? The past year or two has brought a wave of exciting new pub openings, including the Brewery Wharf Tavern, launched last summer by the people behind Leeds institution Whitelock’s.

Taking full advantage of its position on the southern bank of the Aire, the Tavern’s waterside terrace curves around the glazed frontage, while inside, it is bright, modern, comfortable and colourful, serving the range of beers you’d expect, on four handpumps and 14 keg taps. Alongside Hackney’s Five Points Brewery (which shares an owner with the pub), the city’s own vibrant brewing scene is showcased on the bar through the likes of Kirkstall and Northern Monk.

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Tetley’s Brewery ceased production in 2011 but the building by the gates of Aire Park remains a major landmark in the city – and, following a stint as an art gallery, since 2024 this imposing edifice has housed a pub that appropriately celebrates Leeds’ beer heritage. The Tetley is run by Kirkstall Brewery (its taproom is also worth a visit), so you’ll of course find its own ales on the pumps alongside other local brews plus Tetley Bitter to complete the nostalgic experience.

Art has not abandoned the area, there is a striking work to see in Aire Park, the city’s new green lung. “Hibiscus Rising” is a giant, colourful sculpture of the plant by Yinka Shonibare, dedicated to David Oluwale, a British-Nigerian man who drowned in the River Aire in 1969, victim of a racist hate crime. This is just one work on a downloadable street art trail that also includes Ian Randall’s “Steeped Vessels” back at Brewery Wharf, three six-metre-high bronze barleycorns that reference the city’s brewing heritage.

Across the river, near the railway station, the Bankers Cat is a splendid place to drink beer. The former bank has been tastefully and luxuriously renovated in a joint venture between Derbyshire’s Thornbridge Brewery and bar operators Pivovar and features a replica of an Edward Burne-Jones stained-glass window. Every pub should have one. On the bar, the Thornbridge cask range pours from the eight handpumps, supplemented by some well-chosen craft, including guests.

Head west from here to the Monks Bridge Viaduct, recently transformed into a public garden. Every self-respecting city with a railway network wants its own version of the High Line, New York’s celebrated elevated park built on a disused train track. Leeds is no exception and this is just a small, realised part of a greater vision. The trains still rumble by, but the sprawl of stations once here has disappeared, replaced by a forest of modern blocks of flats and offices. In one of the stranded remnants of the former railway complex, the Wagon Lifting Hoist Mini Museum shows pictures of what this area used to look like.

From some of the newest to the oldest pub in Leeds, it’s always a nice surprise to find Whitelock’s Ale House in the middle of the city’s concrete and glass shopping centre. You step into the past when you walk into this long, narrow pub dating back to 1715, the tables and chairs spilling out into the alleyway when weather permits. It has got more than historical charm, though. There’s great beer, too, including cask ales from across Yorkshire, such as Theakston Old Peculier if you’re lucky. And the choice embraces craft, too, with interesting options from modern brewers.

Further on, beyond the shopping city, North Bar has its own place in history as one of the country’s first pubs to get on board with the new-fangled hop-forward beers coming out of the States. Going for nearly 30 years now, this is a lively spot that’s not lost its enthusiasm for novel brews, even though it has ventured heavily into cocktails of late. Alongside the craft tap list, you’ll find two or three well-kept cask beers.

Close by are Leeds’ elegant Victorian shopping arcades. Thornton’s was the first to open, in 1878, designed for the theatrical entrepreneur Charles Thornton by the architect of his City Varieties (still open on Swan Street, the UK’s longest running music hall). Hence all the dramatic flourishes beneath its glass roof – look out for the Ivanhoe Clock, depicting a scene from the tale. This early shopping centre is a beauty, perhaps only outdone by neighbouring County Arcade (pictured), built by another theatrical designer, Frank Matcham. Check out Grand and Queens Arcades, too.

A short hop over the inner ring road to the west will take you to the Highland Laddie, a small backstreet pub that’s quietly created a huge noise among beer lovers and restaurant critics alike since it reopened nearly a year ago. Its minimalist website simply describes it as “a drinkers pub with a dining room”, and it’s getting that difficult trick right, making those downing a couple of pints with their mates at the bar (four cask ales are available) feel as comfortable as the people who’ve come to find out why it’s made the latest Top 50 Gastropubs list.

Due north, the University of Leeds campus holds a couple of surprises. The M&S Archive is a trip down memory lane at for anyone who ever had their nametag sewn into a pair of St Michael’s undies (the city’s Kirkgate Market was home to the brand’s original Penny Bazaar). Undies and much more sold in this British institution are on display here, with exhibits including a film theatre showing the kind of sexist ad campaigns that wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow in the Sixties and Seventies. Also, follow the public art trail of 21 sculptures from the 20th and 21st centuries – including works by Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth – spread about the equally interesting Victorian and Brutalist complex.

Returning to the city centre, the Victoria & Commercial is the latest addition to the Leeds scene, opening only last December. Perhaps it’s really not new, though, being a glorious revival of a famous pub thought lost when it closed as Covid hit in 2020. Instead, Kirkstall Brewery and Whitelock’s joined forces to restore the Victorian interior, uncovering forgotten original features in the process. They also made sure there’s plenty of beer to choose from, with eight handpumps and 14 keg lines. You can even get a pint of the revived Double Diamond from Allsopp’s.

Around the corner, the Henry Moore Institute was undergoing a major refurbishment when we last visited, the first in 30 years for the UK’s first purpose-built sculpture gallery. Now reopened, this year’s big exhibition (until 10 January 2027) is an examination of the use of steel in the art form in the last 20th Century: “Some Steel: Sculpture and Steel in Britain, 1960-90”.

Photo: County Arcade © Visit Leeds