Doncaster to Leeds drive: Distance, time & best road trip stops

The best road trip stops along the Doncaster to Leeds driving route are Cusworth Hall, Pontefract Castle and Diggerland Yorkshire. The distance from Doncaster to Leeds by car is 35 miles, with a 51m driving time.

The drive from Doncaster to Leeds connects two of Yorkshire’s biggest cities.

Top things to do in Doncaster include the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, watching the races at Doncaster Racecourse and tackling a scavenger hunt.

The best Leeds activities include food tours that visit top local restaurants and Emmerdale filming locations bus tours.

Doncaster to Leeds distance and driving time

By car, the distance from Doncaster to Leeds is 35 miles. That makes for a driving time of around 51 minutes. The quickest route is usually along the A1(M), then the M62, M1 and M621.

The best road trip stops along the Doncaster to York drive are Cusworth Hall, Pontefract Castle and Diggerland Yorkshire.

Doncaster to Leeds drive: Cusworth Hall Museum and Park

Cusworth Hall is a Grade I listed building, built between 1740 and 1744. It is now home to a social history museum, but visitors can still head into the Great Kitchen where massive feasts were prepared. It’s also worth checking out the ceiling paintings in the chapel.

Otherwise, you can just enjoy the walking paths that lace through the grounds and the children’s play areas.

Doncaster to Leeds road trip stops: Pontefract Castle

Pontefract Castle stands on a hill to the east of Pontefract. It was build in 1070, shortly after the Norman Conquest of England, and is now a ruin.

The grounds are open for strolling and exploration daily. The visitor centre tells how the castle played an important part in the English Civil War and was immortalised by Shakespeare in Richard II.

Attractions between Doncaster and Leeds: Diggerland Yorkshire

Diggerland Yorkshire in Castleford is a wonderfully simple concept. A whole load of diggers and other industrial machines are collected in one place, and members of the public are allowed to have a go on them.

Some of the diggers are used as fairground-style rides, where visitors are spun around in the buckets of the digger. It’s absurd, but it works.

Roundhay Park in Leeds.
Roundhay Park in Leeds. Photo courtesy of Leeds City Council.

More Doncaster road trips

Doncaster to Birmingham | Doncaster to Newcastle | Doncaster to Nottingham | Doncaster to Sheffield | Doncaster to York.

More Leeds road trips

Huddersfield to Leeds | Leeds to Hull | Middlesbrough to Leeds | Leeds to Milton Keynes | Leeds to Newcastle | Nottingham to Leeds | Sheffield to Leeds | Leeds to York.