Rain in the Yorkshire Dales is not a washout, it is weather with a plan attached. The trick is to stop chasing a view and start moving between roofs: a museum, a cavern, a brewery tour, a tearoom with steamed-up windows and a pot of tea you did not intend to finish. What follows is arranged by area rather than by the clock, so you can pick the leg that suits where you are staying and shuffle the order when the forecast changes. Every stop is under cover, and most work as well in drizzle as in a downpour.

Southern Dales: Settle and Skipton

Settle makes a sensible wet-morning start. The Museum of North Craven Life, in The Folly on the main street, fits the town's cattle markets, Quaker families and railway history into a handful of small, well-lit rooms. An hour and a half is about right, and the building itself is worth the visit. Afterwards, walk down to the station: the long platform and its ironwork still carry the swagger of the Settle to Carlisle line, and you can watch a train come through without getting soaked.

Skipton is the afternoon. The castle has stood since the twelfth century and, unusually for an English castle of its age, it still has a roof. Lady Anne Clifford restored it after the Civil War; the yew she planted in the courtyard in the 1650s is still there. You can wander the banqueting hall, kitchen and dungeon while the rain drums overhead. Then cross to Skipton Town Hall for the Craven Museum and Gallery, which costs nothing to enter and holds everything from local lead-mining tools to a Shakespeare First Folio. If you have an hour spare, follow the Leeds and Liverpool Canal towpath to the outskirts and back.

Limestone Country: Ingleton, Clapham and Stump Cross

The Dales are riddled with cave systems, and three of them are set up for visitors. White Scar Cave at Ingleton runs guided tours past an underground waterfall along a stream passage. At Clapham, Ingleborough Cave is reached by walking roughly a mile up a surfaced track through the estate — that part is outdoors, so waterproofs stay on — and then you are underground for a good while. Stump Cross Caverns sits high on the B6265 between Pateley Bridge and Grassington, with tight passages and formations that reward a slow look.

Two things to know. Caves hold a steady, cool temperature all year, so take a jacket even in July. And check accessibility before you book: some routes involve steps, uneven floors and low ceilings, which is worth flagging if anyone in your group is unsteady on their feet or uneasy in confined spaces.

Wharfedale: Grassington, Kettlewell and a Tearoom

Grassington's cobbled square has a National Park Centre for maps and advice, plus several tearooms within a few paces of each other. The village folk museum opens seasonally and relies on volunteers, so ring ahead or check the noticeboard in the square before you build a day around it. If it is shut, the alternatives are pleasant rather than second best.

1. Start with coffee and a look at the centre's displays on Dales archaeology and wildlife.
2. Walk the short riverside path towards Linton Falls if the rain eases — brief spells between showers are common here.
3. Drive up the valley to Kettlewell for a late lunch and a wander round the churchyard.
4. Finish in Buckden or Hubberholme with tea and cake while the clouds do whatever they are going to do.

Wensleydale: Hawes, Cheese and the Dales Countryside Museum

Hawes is the best single wet-weather base in the national park. The Dales Countryside Museum occupies the old station yard and covers farming, lead mining, knitting and the railway that never quite paid its way — there are hands-on bits that keep children interested for longer than you would expect. A few minutes away, the Wensleydale Creamery has a viewing gallery, a cheese shop and a café that fills quickly at lunchtime. Book ahead in school holidays if you want a table rather than a queue.

If you fancy one proper soaking, Hardraw Force is a short walk behind the Green Dragon at Hardraw and is at its most dramatic in heavy rain; there is a small charge at the pub. Aysgarth Falls, further down the valley, is genuinely spectacular in spate, but the limestone paths get greasy. Stay back from the edges and keep children close.

Masham, Richmond and Swaledale

Masham has two breweries with visitor facilities within a few streets of each other — Black Sheep and Theakston's — and both run tours that should be booked in advance. Tours are the useful part; tasting rooms are the enjoyable part, so sort out who is driving before the first sample arrives.

Richmond fills a whole wet day on its own. The Green Howards Museum and the Richmondshire Museum are both indoors, the Georgian Theatre Royal is the oldest working theatre of its kind in the country and runs tours, and Richmond Castle is largely open-air but the keep gives shelter if you get caught. Swaledale, up the road, is quieter: the volunteer-run museum at Reeth is small, seasonal and full of lead-mining and farming detail.

Practical Notes for a Wet Day

• Check opening days. Many Dales museums are run by volunteers and open only a few days a week, sometimes only in season.
• Book the set-piece visits. Cave tours and brewery tours have limited slots and sell out in holidays.
• Drive gently. Single-track lanes, standing water, blind bends and farm vehicles are the real hazards, not the rain itself.
• Pack spare socks. Wet boots are survivable; wet boots plus cold feet end an afternoon early.
• Eat early or late. Village tearooms and pubs hit capacity between about midday and half past one.
• Keep some cash. Card payments are widely accepted, but rural signal and small honesty boxes are not always reliable.

Build in one outdoor hour if you can bear it. The Dales in rain are not a lesser version of themselves — the waterfalls are fuller, the valleys quieter and the tearooms emptier. Then get back under a roof, order something warm, and let the weather do what it likes outside.

Photo: NickyPe / Pixabay