Because there is no place on earth like God’s Own County. It considers its food and drink reputation as now the best in Britain. Yorkshire boasts more Michelin-starred restaurants than anywhere else in the country (apart from the clogged streets of London and who wants to go there?). On every street corner there are proper pubs that sell proper pints, there’s even the odd Yorkshire vineyard.  The view from Sutton Bank encapsulates the atmospheric beauty of Yorkshire.  There is a hugely impressive arts scene, with the Hepworth Wakefield (01924 247360; hepworthwakefield.org) and Yorkshire Sculpture Park (01924 832631; ysp.co.uk) enjoying fabulous reputations, not to mention the annual film festivals in Sheffield and Leeds. Poets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath stalked the moors of the Calder Valley while this, don’t forget, is Brontë country too.  The sheer beauty of the county, sometimes as unexpected as a dilapidated mill chimney stabbing up through a leaden sky, has inspired generations of painters: from John Atkinson Grimshaw’s moonscapes to the Victorian artists of the Staithes Group to David Hockney’s Yorkshire Wolds.  And no surprise. Yorkshire boasts three national parks, a wild and rugged coastline, and wonderful Victorian architecture, not least the preserved terraced streets and mills of the World Heritage Site of Saltaire.  Burnsall, in the Yorkshire Dales: there is no place quite like God's Own Country.  The only downside for visitors is the secret is out. The world’s largest annual sporting event – the Tour de France – chose Yorkshire as the place for the Grand Départ in July 2014. Some 40 million visitors now travel here every year for heritage-related tourism alone. Good job its grand old cities and sweeping moors and Dales are large enough to soak them all up.  Obviously, nobody comes here for the weather, although it still gets a fair bit less rain than its old enemy on the other side of the Pennines. Come in summer and surf, hunt for fossils or lie on sandy beaches along its cracking North Sea coastline. There is no better place than the Yorkshire Dales on long summer day, walking along its wildflower meadows and moors with only the mewing curlews for company.  Yet equally satisfying is a winter tramp over sodden moorland to sit by a fire in one of hundreds of ancient sandstone pubs.  Cayton Bay, near Scarborough, has hot showers and changing facilities.  Yorkshire’s national parks are a must visit: the Dales, the Peaks and the Moors. Its coastline is similarly breathtaking, in particular the cluster of craggy stone-built villages north of Scarborough.  For shopping, visit Leeds; for history, visit York; for culture, visit Hull; and for pubs visit Sheffield.  Off the tourist trail are the relics of Yorkshire’s industrial past that scatter the valleys of the west and south, in particular the Calder Valley.  During the summer months and peak holiday periods, roads throughout the Yorkshire Dales can become very busy with traffic.  The weather, particularly in the wilder parts of Yorkshire, can turn on a sixpence. On any day out you should bring a good waterproof and walking boots. On longer walks, definitely take a detailed OS map or something similar. Do not rely on an iPhone map to guide you as phone reception can be very poor in the national parks.  More Telegraph Travel expert guides  Follow Telegraph Travel on Twitter  The ultimate Yorkshire road trip
Read our insider’s guide to Yorkshire, as recommended by Telegraph Travel. Find expert advice and great pictures of top hotels, restaurants, bars and things to do.