What's near Settle?

Loads of good scenery near Settle. The more obvious places which come to mind are Malham Cove and Ribblehead Viaduct. A ride on the Settle Carlisle Railway would get you a good look at the Scenery in a relaxing way. On Wednesdays there is a Steam Special running over the line too, but that may well be Diesel Hauled due to fire risks, can't catch it from Settle, but you could take the Kids to watch.

Places aimed at youngsters, a little harder really as it's more a place for Walkers and Drivers, The upper reaches of the Wharfe Valley are a great place to take them for a paddle in the Stream.
There is a Bird of Prey Centre close by, which I expect would be very nice for the Kids too.

To add to the above, back towards Skipton here's Yorkshire Dales ice cream parlour (think it's called billy bobs now) which has an American diner, awesome ice cream and an amazing play area for the kids.

I've not been, but Hesketh farm near there also gets good reviews, and also head down to Bolton Abbey or Burnsall if the weather is nice to play in the river

Kettlewell Scarecrow festival. lovely village and you will all enjoy the scarecrows.

The kids will love this: http://www.theforbiddencorner.co.uk/

But you have to book!

Also as you are from the East side of the country then it is certainly worth a run up to the Lake District
which will take less than an hour from Settle

Then there is also the Lakeland Car Museum for the Petrol heads

HTH
Trickie

As mentioned, Scarecrow Festival, but there's also the Forbidden Corner, a fair trek from Settle itself but well worth the trip! The kids will love it!

Brimham Rocks. Brilliant for kids to explore, and lots of space. Parking is £6. Free to walk round, and there is a cafe and ice cream shop.

We ended up only going Monday to Saturday and, due to family illness, lost Monday as a day to do anything - So 4 days really.

We went to:

• Thornton Hall Farm Park - Not exactly cheap to get in and the "safari", caterpillar ride and pony rides were all extra on top. The safari was worthwhile as it took you all round the farm, but at £3.50 each on top of about £25 to get in and £2 each for each caterpillar ride, got expensive... The weather at least was good albeit windy
• Skipton Castle was a huge disappointment - £5 to park and £25 ish to get in and there's not much to see. Even with a 2 and 6 year old, we were done in an hour. No rain, but it was windy and cold
• The women folk went horse riding which they enjoyed - 1 hour ish for about £25. They got rained on. A lot
• I went (and was joined by the family later) to Kilnsey park which was £12 to visit and walk around and look at the fish. It was good walking round and seeing the fish - But it rained a lot which took the shine off the whole thing and was utterly miserable. In the sun, it would be really nice
• Bolton Abbey - It rained. A lot. An awful lot. And it was £8 to park which offended me on just about every level. It was picturesque and the kids enjoyed running round, but again, the rain spoilt it

The rain and high wind was there just about all week, it wasn't fun at all. There were parts that were nice, but everything seems stacked in a way to relieve you of any monies - And that's just in the car park.

Skipton Castle was a real let down - While there is a bit to look at in there, it doesn't seem to compare with other castle and grounds I've been to, such as Lincoln and York.

I won't post a load of photos as my internet connection seems to have died today, but there are some here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesniclair/

Would I go again? No. Certainly not with 2 small kids to amuse. There's just no guarantee of good weather and when it's not good, it's very not good. And paying so much every time to park and do anything smarts.

That being said, while driving around, I can see that it's very pretty - I'll go back without kids and go walking properly some time.

Forgot to add, we did the Bolton Railway too which was short, but worthwhile - I thought it went to the Abbey, but was disappointed to find it didn't.

And you're right. The weather took its toll but even in bad weather, fun can be had, but it was miserable.

Kids were happy though

Nearly as miserable as some of the old rump serving on in the Cavendish café at Bolton Abbey

If you come back I recommend a walk from Bolton abbey to Simon's seat on a clear sunny day the views are outstanding.