Things to do in Leeds this weekend
Weekends are for the market and the arcades, a Roundhay morning, the Armouries with children and, if the sun is out, the moors at Ilkley.
25 picks that fit, best first. The order follows the live forecast and the time of day.
Royal Armouries
Leeds Dock
The national collection of arms and armour, with live combat demonstrations, free, on the dock.
Rain is due later, and this is under cover. Free.
- Free
- Indoors
- Half a day
- Good with kids
Leeds Art Gallery and the Henry Moore Institute
The Headrow
A strong twentieth-century British collection and a sculpture institute next door, both free.
Rain is due later, and this is under cover. Free.
- Free
- Indoors
- Under 2 hours
Roundhay Park and Tropical World
Roundhay
Seven hundred acres of lakes, woods and lawns, with a tropical glasshouse of butterflies and meerkats.
Go now, before the rain arrives. Free.
- Free
- Outdoors
- Half a day
- Good with kids
Park free; Tropical World cheap
Victoria Quarter and the arcades
Briggate
Marble, mosaic and stained glass: the Victorian arcades that made Leeds a shopping city.
Rain is due later, and this is under cover. Free.
- Free
- Indoors
- Under 2 hours
Belgrave Music Hall and Canteen
Cross Belgrave Street
Three floors of pizza, burgers, gigs and a rooftop terrace in a former working men’s club.
Rain is due later, and this is under cover.
- Under £10
- Indoors
- Under 2 hours
Kirkgate Market
Kirkgate
One of the largest covered markets in Europe, where Marks and Spencer started, with a street-food hall.
Rain is due later, and this is under cover.
- Under £10
- Indoors
- Under 2 hours
Kirkstall Abbey
Kirkstall
The ruins of a Cistercian abbey in a riverside park, free, with a museum of Victorian streets over the road.
Go now, before the rain arrives. Free.
- Free
- Outdoors
- Under 2 hours
- Good with kids
Leeds City Museum
Millennium Square
The Leeds Tiger, an Egyptian mummy and the story of the city, free, in a converted institute.
Rain is due later, and this is under cover. Free.
- Free
- Indoors
- Under 2 hours
- Good with kids
Leeds Corn Exchange
Call Lane
A Victorian domed trading hall full of independent shops, cafés and makers.
Rain is due later, and this is under cover. Free.
- Free
- Indoors
- Under 2 hours
Elland Road stadium tour
Beeston
Behind the scenes at Leeds United, from the dressing rooms to the dugout.
Rain is due later, and this is under cover.
- £10 to £25
- In and out
- Under 2 hours
- Fine in rain
- Good with kids
Hyde Park Picture House
Hyde Park
A gas-lit Edwardian cinema showing independent and classic films, restored and reopened.
Rain is due later, and this is under cover.
- Under £10
- Indoors
- Under 2 hours
Ilkley Moor and the Cow and Calf
Day trip: Ilkley
The moor from the song, half an hour by train, with rock climbing at the Cow and Calf and tea in Ilkley.
Go now, before the rain arrives.
- Under £10
- Outdoors
- A full day
Free; train fare
Thackray Museum of Medicine
Harehills
A recreated Victorian slum, a surgical theatre and a lot of interactive gore, for older children especially.
Rain is due later, and this is under cover.
- £10 to £25
- Indoors
- Half a day
- Good with kids
Call Lane and the Corn Exchange quarter
Call Lane
The city’s densest run of bars and restaurants, from cocktail cellars to late-night rooftops.
Comes alive in the evening.
- £10 to £25
- In and out
- Under 2 hours
- Fine in rain
Harewood House
Harewood
A great Georgian house with Chippendale furniture, a bird garden and Capability Brown grounds.
- Over £25
- In and out
- A full day
- Good with kids
Temple Newsam
Whitkirk
A Tudor-Jacobean house in a Capability Brown park, with a rare-breeds farm children love.
- Under £10
- In and out
- Half a day
- Good with kids
Park free; house and farm cheap
Leeds Dock and the waterfront
Leeds Dock
A walk along the Aire and the canal from the station to the dock, with bars on the water.
Go now, before the rain arrives. Free.
- Free
- Outdoors
- Under 2 hours
Leeds Minster
Kirkgate
A grand Victorian parish church with a famous choir and Saxon crosses, free, beside the market.
Rain is due later, and this is under cover. Free.
- Free
- Indoors
- Under 2 hours
Meanwood Valley Trail
Meanwood
A wooded valley walk from the edge of the city out to the countryside, with a farm and a pub on the way.
Go now, before the rain arrives. Free.
- Free
- Outdoors
- Half a day
- Good with kids
Otley Chevin
Otley
A forest park on a ridge above Otley with a view over Wharfedale and the airport’s planes.
Go now, before the rain arrives. Free.
- Free
- Outdoors
- Half a day
Trinity Leeds
Briggate
A glass-roofed shopping centre in the middle of town, with a food hall and a cinema.
Rain is due later, and this is under cover. Free.
- Free
- Indoors
- Half a day
- Good with kids
Leeds Industrial Museum at Armley Mills
Armley
Once the biggest woollen mill in the world, now a museum of textiles, printing and a tiny cinema.
Rain is due later, and this is under cover.
- Under £10
- Indoors
- Under 2 hours
- Good with kids
Headingley
Headingley
The student suburb with the cricket ground, the pubs of the Otley Run and good cheap food.
- Under £10
- In and out
- Under 2 hours
Leeds Grand Theatre
New Briggate
A gilded Victorian theatre that is home to Opera North and the big touring musicals.
Comes alive in the evening.
- Over £25
- Indoors
- Under 2 hours
Leeds Playhouse
Quarry Hill
One of the country’s best producing theatres, with new work and big revivals on two stages.
Comes alive in the evening.
- £10 to £25
- Indoors
- Under 2 hours
Good to know
What is on in Leeds this weekend?
Weekends are for the market and the arcades, a Roundhay morning, the Armouries with children and, if the sun is out, the moors at Ilkley. This list has 25 weekend-friendly picks, including the markets that only run on Saturdays or Sundays, ranked for the forecast.
Which of these need booking for the weekend?
Ticketed attractions sell out on weekends. Where a place is bookable, the card has a tickets and tours link so you can check availability before you go.