South Yorkshire
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South Yorkshire marks the beginning of "The North" - neighbouring areas just south are in the Midlands. It's nowadays a county in name only, as it's divided into four "unitary" or metropolitan districts, with no county level of government. It's convenient here to consider it in terms of those four, as visitor amenities cluster and transport routes radiate accordingly.
City and towns
The four metropolitan boroughs are Sheffield, Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham.
- Sheffield the "Steel City" is especially renowned for fine steel products including cutlery. There are many visitor attractions and amenities, and two large universities. Sheffield is the birthplace of Arctic Monkeys, Human League and Pulp.
- is a former mining town
- Rotherham is an industrial and steel-making town.
- is east of the hills in broad farmlands. The town itself is industrial but has a famous racecourse, and there are several museums and manors in the surrounding countryside.
Get in
By plane
(DSA) has flights from several European cities and resorts, with particularly good links from Poland and Lithuania.Manchester Airport (MAN) has global connections, competitive fares, and is only 80 mins away from Sheffield by hourly direct train.
You'd never fly to London from South Yorkshire, it's too close. Flying into the London airports will involve travelling into central London then taking the train north.
East Midlands Airport (EMA) near Nottingham has flights from across western Europe and the Med.
By train
Direct trains run every 30 minutes from London St Pancras to Sheffield (2 hours). They run at least twice an hour from London Kings Cross to Doncaster (1 hr 40). For Rotherham or Barnsley, travel via Sheffield or Doncaster.Cross-Country trains run hourly from Derby, Birmingham, Bristol and Plymouth in the south, and from Leeds, York, Durham, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Aberdeen in the north.
East Midlands Trains and Transpennine Express both come from Manchester Piccadilly in the west, and the former also links Liverpool.