As title- not been around these parts before. Good for a weeks holiday or jaded old seaside resorts. For a family with two kids 12/11. Have holidayed many times Northumbria way and worried it’s just not going to be as good.
I’d struggle for a week of local activities with the kids, as most require a fair bit of driving. Highlight for me is the North Yorkshire Water Park. Absolute brilliant, and knackering day out. Kids loved it.
loads of coastal walking trails in the area, obviously Dalby Forest for mtb. Some nice Roman settlements etc to visit.
Fabulous. Add Whitby and Filey to your list. Scarborough for most to do. Whitby for views, shops and food/beer. Any if you’ll be driving out of town for trips.
Filey is very pleasant with cliff top walks, the Brigg and fantastic beaches. Flamborough and Bempton cliffs for fantastic birdlife, sealife centre thing at Scarborough. Robin Hoods bay for quaint, Scarborough itself has usual seaside stuff, fishing harbour, good cafes and also a not bad town centre. Staithes, Runswick Bay and Whitby also worth a look. Different from Northumberland but ok.
Seconded Whitby - Trenchers for Fish and Chips..
North Yorkshire Railway is a great day out.
Staithes is very pretty.
Falling Foss waterfall is a nice walk and the “tearoom” there is amazing.
The coastline round there is beautiful.
You’ll fill a week easily if you’ve not been before. Loads of nice walks.
Can be some good surfing in Scarborough north bay too.
And if you get bored of the coast pop inland a bit - Pickering, Goathland (Harry Potter Station), loads of nice walks.
Personally I though Northumberland was great if you liked castles!! 🤣🤣
We had a nice week a little further north at Robin Hoods Bay but we had nice days out in Scarborough and Whitby. Think we also went to Hutton le Hole on one day, good countryside museum there.
If you fancy a short drive up the coast then Saltburn is worth a trip. Give Redcar a miss though - nice coast and beech but the town centre is a bit shabby.
Have family in Bridlington, the town itself is a bit depressed, very much arcades and bucket and spade type coast. Already mentioned Filey has a really nice coast / beach. Bempton cliffs and Flamborough Head are nice. The old town High St in Brid is nice - best fish and chips are Gabby's (do vegan) and Jacksons.
Also said, but it's 30 mins - 1 hour to the North York Moors sights, beach / fishing villages like Staithes are lovely, waterfalls, steam train, Dalby forest if you want Go Ape and waymarked trails, badger hide watching. You can also get to Hull for their aquarium or Spurn Head with WWII interest. Depends what you like doing but you'll easily fill a week as long as you have a car or enjoy British beaches.
I liked it so much I bought a house here, near flambrough.
Mega place to live nevermind a week.
And for kids of all ages, Flamingoland Zoo and theme park and Eden Camp WW2 museum both between Pickering and Malton. Malton has some interesting cafe's and an excellent small cinema - if wet. There is also North Yorkshire Water Park at Wykeham just outside Scarborough.
Agree Whitby is well worth a look. Interesting harbour, Captain Cook, excellent fish and chips, Bram Stoker links and Whitby Jet.
Peasholme Park in Scarborough do model boat naval battle re-enactments which are good fun
Times here…
And, depending on when you are going, Alpemare (indoor water park with slides and stuff) is re-opening.
You've probably picked my least favourite bits up there, though Scarborough might be better with kids for rides and kiss me quick hat seaside fun.
Filey and Whitby much nicer, though Whitby can be very busy. Can go up the coast to Staithes and Saltburn for trips out.
There's the North York Moors behind you. Steam railway from Pickering, Goathland, Grosmont, Whitby. Dalby Forest. York could be a "reverse" day trip if it's not seaside weather.
Filey was where MrsMC and I had our first week away together (1996?), been back with the kids at various ages since, last time was 2022. Still finding stuff to do.
Edit - forgotten Eden Camp, great place.
If you like chalk downland, the Wolds inland of Filey have some lovely walks and road riding. Also Britain’s biggest monolith at Rudstone.
Don't overlook spurn head, lovely spot for wildlife and beach combing. Some fabulous lonely beaches along the east riding too
If you do get yourselves down to Spurn Point there is the old RAF underground bunker at Holmpton which only opens a couple of weeks a year during school holidays. Ive done some work there and it’s a very interesting place to visit for a couple of hours.
Who doesn't want to know more about Britain's biggest monolith?
There's a few things to do in the area - badly written summary below.
Coastal: Whitby/Sandsend/Runswick/Staithes (where I've lived for the last 35 years) has decent stuff for days out although is very busy in the summer (avoid Whitby Regatta weekend, its usually followed by folk week and the bank holiday and its just too busy). Whitby for ice creams, boat trips, abbey/dracula, arcades and fish and chips. The other three for exploring, quaint seaside villages with history and fossils, ice cream and cafes thrown in for good measure. Saltburn is probably the furthest north I would venture although Redcar beach is nice for long walks and the mouth of the Tees at Paddy's Hole is just outright weird but worth a visit. There's also Ravenscar which you can park at and walk to Robin Hoods Bay, also has a seal colony too. Further south there's the RSPB site at Bempton and places like Cayton and Filey for more seaside stuff (buckets, spades, fish and chips). Also places like Saltburn (Nick and Zoe are great), Whitby, Scarborough and Cayton all have surf schools so could be something to try.
Inland: there's places like Grosmont (steam trains/Harry Potter station), Glaisdale/Lealholm/Goathland for moorland villages (Goathland is very busy in summer as its "heartbeat country". Loads of options for walking in this area and cycling too if bikes are being brought. Fryup has the Yorkshire Cycle Hub which has its own mini trail center, bike hire and a cafe with great food and views. Dalby isn't too far away either, near Pickering which is a nice little town (other end of the steam railway from Grosmont). York is another spot for a day out, lots of museums and things to do. Hutton Le Hole is worth a visit, again very busy but avoid going on a Friday as the place shuts down aside from two cafes that stay open. Rievaulx Abbey is near Helmsley (which is also worth visiting) and is a decent day out.
One thing to point out is there's a noted downturn in visitor numbers this year (I used to work in the industry) as holidays abroad are way cheaper than around here so I don't know exactly how busy places might be but it will probably still be busy anyway as we get lots of day trippers and coach tours in this area.
Yeah I should have said about traffic, if tou come or go on a weekend and it happens to be sunny then there'll be a queue of cars from York or from Goole / Howden off the M62 of people from the cities trying to get to the coast in the morning, and visa versa in the evening. So if you are looking at school holidays places like Whitby will be busy and parking does get full.
Roseberry Topping is a good walk. Seal colony at Ravenscar.
Check out gigs at Scarboroughs open air theatre. There are a few nice craft beer places in Scarborough too.
We love Saltburn and wish we'd bought a place there when we first visited 13 years ago as we would like to retire there.
I've not done it but I presume that you can get the bus up or down the coast a bit then walk back to your base. Or a bit further and get the bus back.
You could probably get a train to York from Scarborough or Saltburn too.
