The market town of Leyburn has developed as the traditional centre for mid-Wensleydale shopping and trade. There is a full range of independently owned shops and services and plentiful accommodation. Leyburn has its own cinema, the Elite, which offers new and classic films and the occasional live performance.

On Fridays there is an open-air market in the square and there are livestock sales at the auction mart. Several unusual businesses operate from the nearby Business Park, where the largest provincial Auction Centre in the country, Tennants, is also located.

Leyburn 'Shawl', just a short walk from the Market Place, gives superb views over Wensleydale.Leyburn is linked to Middleham, 2 miles away, by one of the most unusual river bridges in England, built in 1829 as one of the first examples of a suspension bridge.