Scarborough

English Heritage, entry around £9, reached by the steep Castle Road above the harbour. The headland is enormous — Roman signal station, twelfth-century keep, and views over both bays that explain why it was built here. Windy in any season; the grass banks are the best picnic spot in the town.

North Bay, five minutes from the sands. The park's boating lake stages a scaled naval warfare display with model ships on selected summer afternoons for a couple of pounds, a tradition running since 1927. The rest of the year it is free, with a pagoda island, dragon pedalos and a proper Yorkshire brass band on Sundays.

On Westborough, directly opposite the railway station, in a converted 1930s Odeon. Alan Ayckbourn has premiered nearly all his work here and still directs. Tickets typically £15 to £30, and there is a good café and a cinema screen. It runs year-round, which matters in February.

Opened 1881, running from Foreshore Road up to St Nicholas Cliff beside the Grand Hotel, a journey of about 45 seconds for roughly £1.50. Saves a punishing climb with beach kit. The Spa Cliff Lift at the south end does the same job for the Esplanade and Spa complex.

In St Mary's churchyard on Castle Road, in an annexe section above the main church. She died in Scarborough in 1849 aged 29 and was buried within sight of the sea. The headstone was re-cut in 2013 after the original weathered badly. Five minutes from the castle gate.

A miniature railway running along the North Bay cliff from Peasholm to Scalby Mills since 1931, about £4 each way. It drops you at the Sea Life centre and the Old Scalby Mills pub, where the Cleveland Way heads north along the cliffs toward Hayburn Wyke and Ravenscar.

Scarborough station on Westborough is the terminus of the York line — about 50 minutes from York, where you connect to LNER services for London in a further two hours, roughly hourly. TransPennine also runs direct from Leeds and Manchester, around 2h50 from Manchester Piccadilly. Manchester Airport is about 3h15 by train, Leeds Bradford 1h50 by car. In town, the seafront is a 5-minute walk downhill from the station and the cliff lifts save the climb back. The X93 and X4 buses run north to Whitby in about an hour and south to Filey in 25 minutes, roughly hourly.

South Bay and the South Cliff for restaurants, the harbour, the theatre and the station, all within walking distance. North Bay for a quieter, wider beach, Peasholm Park and cheaper family rooms, at the cost of a 20-minute walk or a bus into town. Families with small children often prefer North Bay's calmer sands.

Yes, if you like empty beaches and low prices — sea-view rooms drop to £45 to £70 from November to March. The castle, the Rotunda and the Stephen Joseph Theatre all stay open, but many arcades, cafés and the seasonal attractions close or run weekends only. Bring windproof clothing; the Marine Drive gets closed in storms.

Judge each one on recent reviews rather than the building. Several of the large Victorian hotels changed hands into budget chains decades ago and the interiors have not kept up with the architecture. The reliable options tend to be the smaller South Cliff townhouses at £80 to £130, which are independently run and refurbished.

Yes. The X93 bus runs along the coast to Whitby in about an hour, roughly hourly through the day, calling at Robin Hood's Bay. There is no direct railway between the two — the line closed in 1965 and is now the Cinder Track cycle route, which is 34 km of former trackbed and a good day on a bike.