Bradford nature reserve named one of the seven wonders of the world for 2026 by the global magazine Condé Nast Travel. It’s the only UK spot on the list, sitting up there with a grand list such as Canada’s famous Banff National Park, El Imposible National Park in El Salvador and the Faroe Islands.
The Bradford Pennine Gateway National Nature Reserve is set to be the first of its kind in West Yorkshire, as part of the King’s Series of National Nature Reserves. The initiative will bring 25 new ‘National Nature Reserves’ to the country by 2027, with Bradford being one of the lucky areas to benefit. Spanning a whopping 1,274 hectares, the new reserve will link up eight nature sites in the area, including Ilkley Moor, Baildon Moor, Harden Moor, Penistone Hill Country Park, Shipley Glen and much more.
Each area is home to priority nature habitats, including peat bogs, heathlands, and wetlands, offering varied sights and landscapes for all to enjoy. It is hoped the new reserve will encourage young people living in surrounding urban areas to visit the local countryside.
Protections will also be added, helping endangered wildlife such Adders, Curlew, and Golden plover, who call the land home. In collaboration with local universities and colleges, the reserve will also offer opportunities for field studies and research.
Highlighting why it has been named in the list, Condé Nast Travel said: “Rather like King Charles himself, there’s something stoic and un-showy about this 1,272-hectare region, resided in, and beloved by, the Brontë sisters.”
It continues: “These are landscapes of unhurried drama: undulating moors, wind-polished gritstone tors and views that collapse into long, moody distances broken only by the slow, stately flap of a marsh harrier.
“New trails knit the old wool villages of Haworth, Stanbury and Thornton into a tapestry of slow travel, with signposted routes pointing you towards medieval packhorse bridges, secret waterfalls, and a pub or two that still understands a proper pint. If Britain ever needed proof that the everyday could still surprise, the Bradford Pennines Gateway delivers with quiet aplomb.”
Check out the full Condé Nast Travel list of wonders here.
Read More: The Yorkshireman’s Guide To The Best Places To Visit In Yorkshire For 2026
[Featured image: Photo © Raymond Knapman (cc-by-sa/2.0)]
