Welcome to the Victorian spa town of Harrogate! This is a largetown in North Yorkshire, England, forming a conurbation with Knaresborough. Itwas in 1571 that water from Harrogate’s TewittWell was discovered to have similar properties to that from springs of theBelgian town of Spa.The medicinal properties of the water were widely publicized. Thus, this healerof a town became renowned as a spa paradise. In the year 2005, the town of Harrogate was classified as United Kingdom’s third best placeto live.

Nowadaysthe site of the Tewitt Well is marked by a dome within the Harrogate Stray, which is an area of open parkland some two hundredacres in size running through the centre of the town. Other wells with healingwaters are found in the Valley Gardens and the Royal PumpRoom Museum.The Royal Pump Room is in fact the site of the strongest well in Britain.Visitors also get to experience the history of the Queen of Inland Spas with a program of changing exhibits here.

The Royal Hall theatre is a majorattraction in town, and an important national heritage building. Besides itsmagnificent architectural pieces, Harrogatehas guesthouses, hotels and restaurants in abundance. It is one of Europe’s largest exhibition and conference centres; youwould enjoy doing business here.

The Bettys Tea Rooms areregionally renowned. Bettys has two venues in Harrogate. The most recently opened one at the Harlow Carr Gardens displays over fiftyteapots around the tea rooms. The Gardens are yet another tourist site, by theway. Covering fifty eight acres, they have much to enthuse the tourist,including alpines, heathers, scented garden, peat terraces, woodland trail,arboretum, fruit, vegetables, a museum, a shop, plant sales, a café bar, amodel village, and a children’s play area. Safe to say that you and your familywill undeniably revel in this town!