4 Best Sights in Yorkshire, England

This museum documenting the life of the famous mariner and those who sailed with him is located in a 17th-century house owned by the captain to whom Cook was apprenticed and where he lodged from 1746 to 1750. Exhibits devoted to Cook's epic expeditions display the legendary explorer's maps, diaries, and drawings.

Occupying a redeveloped 13-acre dockland site 15 minutes from the city center, this National Museum of Arms and Armour now houses a collection that originally began in the reign of Elizabeth I, when selected objects were displayed at the Tower of London, making it the United Kingdom's oldest museum. Four collections (the 100 Years War, the Battle of Waterloo, Arms of the First World War, and Arms from the Tower) and five themed galleries (War, Tournament, Self-Defense, Hunting, and Oriental) trace the history of weaponry through some 4,500 objects. The state-of-the-art building is stunningly designed: see a full-sized elephant in armor, models of warriors on horseback, and floor-to-ceiling tents, as well as spirited interactive displays and live jousting demonstrations. Shoot a crossbow (extra charge), direct operations on a battlefield, or experience an Elizabethan joust (around Easter and the end of August).

Built in 1842 over the sulfur well (as Europe's strongest, its pungent odor is still very much present) that made Harrogate a wellness destination, the Pump Room housed in this octagonal structure sold 1,500 glasses of water to spa-goers in its heyday (so no, designer water is not a modern phenomenon). Today it houses the town's museum, which has displays of bygone spa treatment paraphernalia alongside a somewhat eccentric collection of 19th-century clothes, fine china, and bicycles.

The ecological and archaeological history of the county is the focus of this museum in an early-19th-century Greek Revival–style building with massive Doric columns. Themed galleries focus mostly on Roman, Anglian, Viking, and medieval periods, with nearly 1 million objects, including the 15th-century Middleham Jewel, a pendant gleaming with a large sapphire; a Paleolithic hand axe; and an extremely rare copperplate helmet, a 1,200-year-old Viking artifact. The oldest working observatory in Yorkshire (from 1833) is in the gardens. Another exhibition documents Yorkshire during the Jurassic period.