What to see and do in Whitby, North Yorkshire

This is the first in a series of three blog posts about a small stretch of coastline in North East England, focusing on the towns of Saltburn, Whitby and the stops on the North York Moors Railway.

If you’re thinking about exploring the UK and wondering where to go, the North East coast of England is a fantastic place to visit. With long stretches of sandy beach, rolling moor, and a sense of stepping back into the past, there is lots here to see and do – and you don’t always need a car to enjoy it. For the first post in the series, I’m focusing on Whitby. 

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Getting to Whitby

You can access Whitby by car or by train. As with Saltburn, if you’re coming by train, you can change at Darlington or Northallerton, and if you’re coming from across the Pennines, you can change at Middlesbrough or Thornaby.

Whitby is somewhat split into two halves, with the East half being smaller and more ‘historic’, and the West being more built-up and touristy. I’ll start off on the West half as this is the side with both the station and more parking.

Before I begin though I should probably mention two of Whitby’s most famous events (well, three if you count that there are two ‘Goth Weekends’ each year):

Goth weekend and Whitby Regatta

The first is Goth Weekend, a bi-yearly music festival. It’s a great place to meet like-minded people and hear some great music. Even if you’re not into the music, as you walk around you’ll see lots of people wearing amazing outfits reflecting the different scenes of the goth and goth-adjacent communities.

Held on a weekend in August, the historic Whitby Regatta is a huge festival featuring yacht-racing, rowing races, and lots of other land and air-based events too. It’s all free, and there will definitely be something for everyone to enjoy – past events have featured airshows, magic shows, classic car rallies, and the ‘greasy pole competition’, where competitors have to walk along the greasy pole to get the flag – without ending up in the sea.

As you can imagine, if you’re visiting Whitby during this time it can get very busy, so make sure to book your accommodation well in advance. And of course, in these uncertain times, make sure to check to make sure the events are still happening before you book.

So, on to the sights of Whitby…

Play some crazy golf on the clifftops

Starting off from the clifftops of Whitby along North Terrace, if you fancy a quick game of crazy golf, the Arnold Palmer golf course will scratch that itch. This place has been here for at least thirty years and hasn’t changed a bit. It’s great fun, and you can even try and win a free game at hole 10.

See the famous whale bones

Continuing along the cliff road towards the town, you’ll come across a whalebone arch. Originally erected around 1853 to honour Whitby’s tradition as a whaling community, the bones have been replaced in 1963 and in 2003. There’s not much else to say really, but it makes for an interesting photo opportunity.

Take a walk along Whitby beach

If you’d prefer to skip the crazy golf and the whale bones, if the tide is out you can take a walk along the beach. For the most part, Whitby beach is a lovely long stretch of sandy beach, although there are some areas where you might be able to find some famous Whitby jet. A beachcomber once told me that if you find a piece of black rock, you can test to see if it’s jet or not by scraping it along some sandstone. If it leaves no line or a white line, then you’ve found a piece of jet. If it leaves a black line, then you’re out of luck.

Visit the arcades and walk the pier

Coming down from North Terrace you’ll reach Pier Road, which is arguably the most overtly touristy stretch of Whitby. From here, you can turn left and walk along Whitby pier, which has a small lighthouse at the end, or turn right and walk along Pier Road, where you can buy sticks of Whitby rock, get yourself some award-winning fish and chips (watch out for the seagulls as they will go for your chips), and visit the amusement arcades. Alongside the more expensive machines there are still lots of 2p slot machines so you can still have fun even if you’re on a budget. 

Where the road bends, go left on to the pedestrianised lane next to the sea. Whitby is of course famous for inspiring Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and so you can visit the Dracula Experience down this path (I was never brave enough to go in myself but from what I’ve heard it’s naff, daft fun).

Take a boat trip around Whitby bay

Along the pedestrianised path there are a few places that offer boat trips out around the bay. They’re usually very reasonably priced and not too long either. There are seasonal whale watching trips, fishing trips, as well as boats that will just take you for a spin around the bay. One tip – stay seated! The waves can get a bit choppy (which is great fun!) but if you’re wandering around and get caught at the wrong moment you can go flying.

Visit the shops or cross the bridge!

When you reach Whitby Bridge you have a few options here. You can turn right and go up the rather steep Golden Lion Bank, where, if you keep walking, you’ll eventually reach Whitby Museum (which holds lots of interesting artifacts about the local area). Another option is turning right down Baxtergate to visit the small shopping area.

In terms of shopping down Baxtergate, the shops are…okay. There are some nice gift shops but not too much to write home about. If you’re into your arts and crafts though, Boyes is the place to go. Don’t let the 90’s facade fool you – this store is the best place to get good quality, reasonably priced fabric, arts and crafts accessories and more. There are more dotted around the North of England if you’re in the area.  Another fabric shop (filled with gorgeous fabric I’ve not seen anywhere else) can be found at Whitby Crafts, halfway up Brunswick Street.

Finally, you can turn left and cross the bridge to the East half of Whitby. If you’re lucky you might be able to see the swing bridge open up to let a ship through.

Shopping in Whitby’s East half

You won’t find many high street stores in Whitby’s East half, but what you will find are a range of eateries and gift stores selling Whitby jet, art, alternative clothing and more. Venus Trading is always worth a look around for clothing and cool gifts.

You can also pick yourself up one of Whitby’s famous Lucky Ducks at Whitby Glass.

Walk up the 199 steps to Whitby Abbey

Once you’re over to the East side, if you meander left along the cobbled streets, you’ll eventually reach the foot of the 199 steps. At the top are the ruins of Whitby Abbey, which is well worth a look around. You can also take advantage of having climbed up all those steps to take stock of the amazing view. 

Explore the nearby coastline

I think I’ve more or less covered the main attractions in Whitby, but if you have a car, you can also visit some of the surrounding coastline. 

To the south of Whitby is Robin Hood’s Bay, which has a few pubs and shops at the top, and as you follow the (steep) cobbled streets down you’ll get to the bustling little village which has lots of quirky gift shops and art galleries. Robin Hood’s Bay is also the final (or starting) destination of the Coast to Coast walk – the other end is at St Bees in Cumbria, 182 miles away.

To the north of Whitby is Sandsend, which has another lovely stretch of beach to walk along. Even further north is Runswick Bay, a small village that has a number of holiday homes available, and offers a pleasant walk down to the beach. The same can be said for Staithes, a picturesque village with some gift shops, pubs, a small harbour and of course, the beach. 

I should also note that from Whitby station you can step back into the past by taking a steam or heritage diesel train along the North York Moors Railway…but I’ll talk a little more about that in my next post…!