The Red Lion is a historic pub on the High Street, one of the oldest licensed premises in Skipton. The building is a listed structure and the interior has the low ceilings and worn wooden furniture of an establishment that has been serving travellers for centuries. It sits at the lower end of the market street, handy for both the town centre and the canal wharf nearby.
The pub serves real ales including local Yorkshire brews and standard pub food. It is the kind of place that functions as a local regular as much as a tourist pub — a sign of a genuine market town rather than a heritage attraction. Market days bring an extra crowd of traders and shoppers, and Wednesday and Saturday lunchtimes are the busiest.