Carlisle - The Great Border City
At Carlisle Castle you can explore chambers, stairways and dungeons and see the 'licking stones' which gave prisoners lifesaving moisture. The splendid Cathedral has superb oak carvings and the Citadel, once a prison, is an interesting place to spend time.

Appleby
Appleby's wide main street has been described as one of the finest in England, with, at one end the1596-built Moot Hall and at the other, Appleby Castle. Every June the town hosts the Gypsy Horse Fair, known as 'the great annual fair for horses, cattle and sheep', when Fair Hill is transformed into a sea of caravans, with horses being bought, sold, trotted and raced. Confirmed dates are 7-13th June 2007.

Kirkby Stephen
In Kirkby Stephen's church - the 'Cathedral of the Dales', you can see one of the few surviving relics from the Vikings era. 'The Loki Stone' is about a metre in height and depicts a carved figure with horns, the Norse God Loki. Croglam Castle has examples of prehistoric earth works and Pendragon Castle, in neighbouring Mallerstang, is built on what is thought to be the site of the castle of Uther Pendragon, King Arthur's wife.

Ribblehead With its awe-inspiring views over the curving 24-arch Ribblehead Viaduct, the train journey between Settle and Carlisle is arguably Britain's most famous. You can find out about the building of the line in the 1870's at Ribblehead station Visitor Centre.