Guides ·Day trips

How to get to Whitby

From York, the 840 Coastliner bus leaves the railway station roughly hourly and runs via Malton, Pickering and Sleights in about two and a half hours; a day ticket is around £13. The final descent of Blue Bank into the Esk valley is why this route regularly tops best-scenic-bus lists. Driving from York takes about 75 minutes on the A64 and A169 across the moors, 45 minutes from Pickering, and an hour from Scarborough on the A171.

By rail, Whitby sits at the end of the Esk Valley Line from Middlesbrough, four trains a day, 90 minutes, about £12 return, and the run through Danby and Grosmont is beautiful but infrequent. The most enjoyable arrival is by steam: the North Yorkshire Moors Railway runs Pickering to Whitby via Grosmont, with a Freedom of the Line day ticket around £40 adult. Parking is the sore point. Use the Park and Ride on the A171 at around £4 all day, because harbour car parks are full by 10:30 in season.

The abbey, the church and the 199 Steps

The 199 Steps climb from Church Street on the east side up to St Mary's Church and the abbey. They are the town's defining walk and there is a road alternative, Caedmon's Trod, for anyone who would rather not do the stairs. St Mary's Church at the top is free, and its box-pew interior, fitted out by ships' carpenters, is stranger and more memorable than most cathedrals. The graveyard is where Bram Stoker set Dracula's landing after reading in Whitby library in 1890.

Whitby Abbey behind it is English Heritage, about £13.50 adult, free to members, open 10:00 to 18:00 in summer and shorter hours in winter. The ruin is thirteenth century but the site dates to 657 and the Synod of Whitby in 664, which set the date of Easter for the English church. The visitor centre in Cholmley House is included and worth twenty minutes. Even without a ticket, the headland approach and the view back over the harbour cost nothing.

Fish, kippers and where to eat

Whitby takes fish and chips seriously and the reputation is deserved. The Magpie Café on Pier Road is the famous one: sit-down cod is £18 to £22, the queue in August runs an hour, and the takeaway hatch next door does the same fish for roughly half. Trenchers on New Quay Road is larger, faster and about £16 for a main. For less than £12, the smaller shops on Church Street and Baxtergate do a perfectly good haddock and chips to eat on the harbour wall, provided you can beat the gulls, which are relentless.

The other Whitby speciality is smoked fish. Fortune's on Henrietta Street has been smoking kippers over oak in the same smokehouse since 1872 and sells a pair for around £6; the shop is a shed with a counter and opens most mornings until it sells out. Add a crab sandwich from the harbourside stalls at £6 to £8, and the Whitby Brewery beside the abbey for a pint at about £4.50. For dinner, the restaurants on Skinner Street run mains £18 to £30.

Jet, Cook and the rest of the old town

Whitby jet is fossilised monkey puzzle wood, black, light and warm to the touch, and it became a Victorian fashion after Queen Victoria wore it in mourning. Church Street on the east side is where the genuine workshops are; expect £45 upward for a small pendant, several hundred for good Victorian pieces, and be sceptical of anything suspiciously cheap, which will be plastic or French jet glass. Several shops will show you the carving bench if you ask.

James Cook served his apprenticeship here, and the Captain Cook Memorial Museum on Grape Lane occupies the actual house of his master, John Walker, where he lodged as a teenager. It costs about £8 and takes 45 minutes. The Whitby Museum in Pannett Park is roughly £7 and is an unreformed Victorian cabinet of curiosities, with fossils, the Tempest Prognosticator and a hand of glory. The whalebone arch and Cook statue on the West Cliff are free and give the standard postcard view.

Beyond the town: Robin Hood's Bay and Sandsend

With a car, add Robin Hood's Bay, fifteen minutes south. Park at the top, about £5, and walk down the very steep main street to the slipway; the village is a warren of smugglers' cottages and the rock pools at low tide are the best on this coast. Check tide times before you walk on the scaur. Sandsend, three miles north, has a broader sand beach, free parking on the roadside outside peak hours and a good beach café.

Walkers can take the Cleveland Way clifftop path. Whitby to Robin Hood's Bay is about six miles and two and a half hours, and the X93 or 840 bus brings you back for a few pounds. The other direction, Whitby to Sandsend, is a flat two miles along the old railway line and takes 40 minutes. Both are free, well signed and dramatically better than driving between the same points in August traffic.

Timing, crowds and costs

Whitby has roughly 13,000 residents and takes millions of visitors a year, so timing decides your day. Weekday mornings from May to June and mid-September to October are ideal. Avoid the Whitby Goth Weekends in late April and late October unless you are coming for them, when rooms triple and the town is packed, and avoid the August bank holiday and Whitby Regatta entirely if you dislike crowds.

Costs for a day: £13 for the Coastliner day ticket or £4 for Park and Ride, £13.50 for the abbey, £8 for the Cook museum, £16 to £22 for a sit-down fish lunch or £10 takeaway, £6 for kippers to carry home. That is £45 to £70 per person for a full day. Staying overnight? Bagdale and the streets behind the harbour start around £90; West Cliff hotels with a sea view run £120 to £180 in summer and drop to £75 in February.

Frequently asked questions

What people ask before they set off on this one.

Rooms worth pairing with this guide.

Whitby Eighteen97

4.0/5 See price

Whitby Lemonade Cottage

4.0/5 See price

Whitby Quoits Cottage

4.0/5 See price

24 with a full page

More guides to North Yorkshire

All guides

Itineraries · 9 min read 48 hours in North Yorkshire

Two days, one base, and roughly £250 to £400 for a couple including a decent room. Here is how to split a weekend between York, the coast and the Dales without spending it in the car.

Itineraries · 10 min read One week in North Yorkshire

Seven nights across three bases, covering the city, the Dales, the moors and the coast for roughly £900 to £1,400 for two including rooms. Here is the route that works.

Itineraries · 9 min read North Yorkshire in 3 days on a budget

Three days, two nights and a target of £180 per person all in, including a bed. The county has more free sights than almost anywhere in England if you know which doors not to pay at.

Find a hotel