Scarborough & Whitby

Britain's first seaside resort, with a castle commanding two bays; head north to Whitby Abbey, Robin Hood's Bay and the North York Moors, or south to see puffins at Bempton Cliffs.

Scarborough lies on the east coast of North Yorkshire in England. It rose to fame in the 17th century for its spa waters and is considered Britain's first seaside resort. The headland crowned by its castle divides the coast into South Bay and North Bay: South Bay has the old fishing harbour, amusement arcades and the beach, while the quieter North Bay has Peasholm Park, the Sea Life centre and the Open Air Theatre. With Scarborough as a base, Whitby lies about 30 km to the north: the abbey ruins, the 199 Steps, the Captain Cook Memorial Museum and fish and chip shops cluster on both banks of the River Esk, and the town inspired scenes in the novel Dracula. Between the two, Robin Hood's Bay, Staithes and Runswick Bay are old fishing villages beneath the cliffs that can be linked on foot along the Cleveland Way coast path. To the south are Filey Brigg, Flamborough Head and Bempton Cliffs, where puffins and hundreds of thousands of seabirds can be seen in April–July. Inland lies the North York Moors National Park, which you can cross by steam train, or explore on foot or by bike at the Hole of Horcum and Dalby Forest. The best time to visit is May–September, with the heather on the moors in full bloom in August; in winter the sea winds are strong and many sights have shorter hours. Trains from York reach Scarborough in about 50 minutes; Whitby can be reached by train from Middlesbrough or on the X93 bus from Scarborough in about an hour. Allow 3–4 days; driving is the most convenient way to get around.

Top sights

• Scarborough Castle – A 12th-century royal castle ruin on a headland, surrounded by the sea on three sides, with panoramic views over the north and south bays.
• South Bay & Harbour – Scarborough's liveliest bay, lined up with a fishing harbor, sandy beach, amusement street, and fish-and-chip shops.
• Robin Hood's Bay – A red-roofed fishing village with houses stacked up a steep slope, once a smugglers' stronghold, where you can hunt for fossils on the rock…
• Whitby Abbey – Gothic abbey ruins on a clifftop by the sea, which inspired Dracula. Climb the 199 steps from the harbour for views over the North Sea.
• North York Moors National Park – England's largest continuous heather moorland, where purple flowers cover the hills in late summer. It also contains stone villages, valley…
• North Yorkshire Moors Railway (Goathland) – A heritage steam railway crossing the moors, passing Goathland station, the original of Hogsmeade station in the Harry Potter films.
• North Bay – A quieter bay north of the castle, with colourful beach huts, a seafront promenade and a miniature train. Good for families.
• Peasholm Park – An oriental-style lakeside park where, every summer, model warships stage a "naval battle" unique to Britain.
• Scarborough Spa – The starting point of British seaside holidays. The Victorian spa building is now a theatre and concert hall.
• Rotunda Museum – A round museum built in 1829 for geologist William Smith, displaying Jurassic fossils from Yorkshire in rock-layer order.
• SEA LIFE Scarborough – A white pyramid-shaped aquarium at the northern end of North Bay, with penguins, otters, sharks and a seal rescue centre.
• Scarborough Open Air Theatre – One of Europe's largest open-air theatres, with a stage on a lake island where famous singers perform concerts each summer.
• St Mary's Church & Anne Brontë's Grave – A medieval church at the foot of the castle, whose churchyard is the resting place of Anne Brontë, author of Agnes Grey.
• Whitby 199 Steps & St Mary's Church – Climb 199 steps to an ancient clifftop church beside the abbey and its graveyard, a classic setting from Dracula.
• Whitby Harbour & Swing Bridge – A fishing harbour at the mouth of the River Esk, where a swing bridge links the old streets on either bank, and famous fish and chip shops…
• Captain Cook Memorial Museum – A 17th-century shipowner's house where Captain Cook lived as a young apprentice, displaying his voyages, manuscripts and charts.
• Whalebone Arch & West Cliff – A whalebone arch on the West Cliff, built from jawbones and framing the abbey across the harbour. The most classic photo spot in Whitby.
• Staithes – A fishing village where colourful cottages are crammed between a ravine and a small bay. Captain Cook worked as a grocer's apprentice here…
• Runswick Bay – A curved sandy bay embraced by cliffs, with red-roofed cottages nestled beside it. One of the most photogenic small bays on the Yorkshire c…
• Sandsend – A long beach about 5 km north of Whitby that can be walked there and back, ending at a quiet village.
• RSPB Bempton Cliffs – England's largest seabird colony, where around half a million seabirds and puffins gather on cliffs nearly 100 metres high.
• Flamborough Head – A chalk headland jutting into the North Sea, with sea caves, sea stacks and one of Britain's oldest surviving lighthouse towers.
• Filey Brigg & Beach – A natural rocky reef that extends about 1.5 km into the sea, beside an 8 km sandy beach that suits families.
• Pickering Castle – A Norman motte-and-bailey castle ruin in the market town at the southern end of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.
• Hole of Horcum – A huge bowl-shaped valley on the moors, about 120 metres deep, where a loop walk offers superb views of the heather moorland.
• Dalby Forest – A large plantation forest on the southern edge of the moors, with mountain bike trails, treetop adventures and an international dark-sky st…
• Ryedale Folk Museum – An open-air folk museum in the moorland village of Hutton-le-Hole, with more than twenty relocated and rebuilt Yorkshire buildings.
• Flamingo Land – Yorkshire's largest theme park, combining thrill rides with a zoo. A popular choice for family days out.
• Eden Camp Modern History Museum – An immersive museum set in a former Second World War prisoner-of-war camp, recreating life on the home front and at the front line.
• Falling Foss – A roughly 20-metre waterfall in an ancient broadleaf woodland. The old forester's cottage beside it has become a fairy-tale tea garden.

Where to eat

• Magpie Café – A famous fish and chip spot in a black-and-white old building on Whitby's harbour, widely considered a must-visit in Wh…
• Harbour Bar – A retro ice cream parlour opened in 1945, with yellow-and-white decor unchanged for decades; its signature is the fresh…
• Trenchers Whitby – A Whitby fish and chip restaurant opened in 1980, named UK's best restaurant at the 2026 National Fish & Chip Awards.
• Golden Grid – A fish and chip shop on Scarborough's harbourside since 1883, with an upstairs dining room offering sea views and table…
• Lanterna Ristorante – Scarborough's oldest Italian restaurant, opened in 1973, known for truffle dishes and handmade pasta from its Piedmonte…
• Eat Me Café Social – A popular café on the second floor of the Stephen Joseph Theatre, mixing British and Asian flavours, and named Good Foo…

Itineraries

• Yorkshire Coast, Moors and Dales in – From York, cross the North York Moors to Whitby, then head west through the Dales and back.