Between Blackpool And Leeds Is A Charming English Town With Shops, Tasty Eats, And Art

When travelers plot a route through Northern England, they may want to leave some room for the towns in between the more obvious stops. Blackpool, Leeds, and Manchester are the bigger northwestern names, but the pleasures of lesser-known towns tend to be smaller and more local: browsing independent shops, poking around a covered market, or stumbling into an art gallery that most tourists haven't found. Accrington fits that bill, with a town center known for market shops and historic architecture. Conveniently, it sits about an hour east of Blackpool by train and a little over an hour west of Leeds, making it a potential middle chapter for a trip between the two hubs.

Visitors to Accrington will find a town center that's fairly easy to explore on foot, with its main shopping mall, Town Square, and the stone St. James' Church all under a 10-minute walk from each other (and from the Accrington train station). You could follow a 1-mile loop trail through the town center to see some of its listed historic buildings, the Victorian Arcade, and church gardens. Or, simply wander Blackburn Road, which the Hyndburn Borough Council notes was modeled on Parisian boulevards and features a stretch of pretty storefronts. However, there's one stop that you may want to venture a bit outside of the town center to see. The Haworth Art Gallery and Museum collection includes Europe's largest public collection of Tiffany glass set within a handsome country house and gardens.

The Accrington Market Hall is a good place to start your shopping. As of November 2026, the Hall's renovations are slated to be complete. It's a Grade II-listed Victorian building that opened in 1869, with an ornate stone facade and cast-iron-framed interior. Covered stalls inside sell everything from fruit and vegetables to clothes, greeting cards, and household goods.

Accrington Arndale, the town's shopping mall, has a mix of bigger retail names, though the mall has seen better days. Lately, reviewers have pointed out its run-down state. Luckily, there are plenty more street-side shops enlivening the town's personality. The Victorian Arcade, built in 1896, fares better with reviewers on Google. One reviewer recommended the Arcade's "card and sweetshop [...] lots of choice and very friendly owner." For some scrapbooking finds, you could pop into Dark Artsy 1300, which has unique items that make for the perfect souvenir. Just down the street, Revival Vintage Clothing offers fashion curated from across different eras.

The town's food scene has a helping of classic pubs and global cuisines alike. Abdullah's on Blackburn Road ranks as the third-best restaurant in Accrington, according to Restaurant Guru at the time of writing. Its menu features a plethora of Indian dishes, with particular praise for the curry. A pub option with a bit of pedigree to back it up is The Crafty Fox on Abbey Street. Its owner, Paul Fox, was previously a 2024 finalist for Taste Lancashire with another venture called The Three Fishes.

It might be worth the 15-minute bus ride (or, if you're fine with staying on your feet, a 30-minute walk) from the Accrington town center to reach Haworth Art Gallery and Museum. Built in 1909 for a local manufacturer, the house and its surrounding estate were designed with an eventual public life in mind. The owners left the property and its painting collection to Accrington. Visiting the gallery today (which is free) is as much about seeing the artworks as it is about exploring the country house and gardens. An oak staircase, carved woodwork, stained glass, and detailed plasterwork lend the interiors a warm quality, while the park surrounding the house includes landscaped lawns, a rose garden, and woodlands with views across the Pennine Moors.

The main event at Haworth Art Gallery is, undoubtedly, upstairs, where more than 140 pieces of Tiffany glass form its prized collection, per Amazing Accrington. In short, the glassworks arrived here because of an Accrington-born engraver who began as an errand boy for Tiffany and worked his way up to becoming managing director. Look for translucent vases painted with flowers and luminous glass mosaics. The gallery also houses some 18th- and 19th-century paintings, from pastoral landscapes to intimate scenes of everyday life.

After roaming Accrington's art-filled country house, you could continue an artsy trip through some Northwest England towns by making a stop at Preston, a city between Blackpool and Blackburn with boutiques and a music scene. You could also continue to the coast to see the Blackpool Tower, one of the "Seven Wonders of the English Seaside," perfect for a beachy road trip, or pop into Fleetwood, a coastal town near Blackpool that's known for its seafood.