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Robin Hood's Bay Village and Shore

A smugglers' village poured down a ravine to the sea, with Jurassic rock scars full of ammonites at low tide and the end of the Coast to Coast walk on its slipway.

Where
Robin Hood's Bay
Time needed
Half day
Tickets
Free
Free entry
Yes
Red-roofed cottages tumbling down the ravine to the slipway at Robin Hoods Bay Red-roofed cottages tumbling down the ravine to the slipway at Robin Hoods Bay

What to expect at Robin Hood's Bay Village and Shore

Robin Hood's Bay, known locally as Baytown, is a fishing and smuggling village built into a steep ravine on the North Yorkshire coast between Whitby and Ravenscar. Its houses date largely from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, stacked in tiers of red pantile roofs down alleys so narrow that contraband was said to pass from cellar to cellar without touching the street. In the 1770s this was one of the busiest smuggling ports on the coast, dealing in tea, gin and tobacco run in from the Netherlands. The sea has taken a good part of the old lower village over the centuries, which is why a sea wall was built in 1975. Below it, at low tide, the shore opens into a wave-cut platform of Lower Jurassic shales and limestones, ridged into curved scars that are one of the best fossil-hunting grounds in England.

You leave the car at the top and walk. Bay Bank drops at around one in three past the Victoria Hotel and the chapel, then narrows into cobbled New Road, with galleries, a bakery, a sweet shop and the old chapel museum tucked in on either side. At the bottom is the Dock, the slipway and the Bay Hotel, where walkers finishing Wainwright's 190-mile Coast to Coast from St Bees dip their boots in the sea and sign the book in Wainwright's Bar. Turn left along the shore at low water and the scars run out towards Ness Point, thick with ammonites, belemnites and the occasional bivalve bed. The National Trust's Old Coastguard Station on the sea front has a free exhibition on the geology and the smuggling history and a viewing room over the bay.

Time your visit around low water, without exception. At high tide the shore is gone and you are left with a very pretty village and a wall of water against the slipway; at low tide you gain a mile of rock platform and rock pools. Wear grippy shoes, because the scars are covered in weed and are lethal in smooth soles. Fossil collecting is fine from loose material on the beach, but hammering the cliffs is not, and the cliffs themselves shed rock without warning, so stay away from their base. Bear in mind the climb back: Bay Bank is short but severe, and people with hearts, knees or heavy children genuinely struggle. There is no vehicle access to the lower village except for residents and deliveries.

The village lies five miles south of Whitby off the A171, signed down the B1447. From Whitby the X93 bus takes about 15 minutes and drops at the top of the bank for roughly £3 single; from Scarborough the same service takes about 45 minutes. Driving from York is around 55 miles and an hour and 45 minutes. The main pay-and-display car park on Station Road at the top of the village charges roughly £2 an hour and about £8 for the day and fills by 10:30 on summer weekends; the overflow field opens in peak season. Do not attempt to drive down the bank. Walkers can arrive along the Cleveland Way from Whitby, a fine six-mile cliff walk of about three hours, or on the Cinder Track, the old railway line, which now serves cyclists.

Entering the village, walking the shore and using the slipway cost nothing, and the National Trust's Old Coastguard Station is free to enter, with donations invited. Parking is the only fixed charge, around £8 for a day. Beyond that: tea and cake in the village runs £6-£9, a pub lunch at the Bay Hotel or the Dolphin £14-£20, and fish and chips about £12. Fossil-hunting guided walks are run locally in season for roughly £10-£15 a head and are worth it if you want to leave with something identified rather than a bag of interesting stones. Rooms in Baytown itself are limited and pricey in summer, typically £110-£170 a night, with more choice and better value up the coast in Whitby.

Aim for a low tide falling between 10:00 and 15:00 and you will have the best of it. The village is at its most photogenic in early morning light and at dusk, when the lit windows step down the ravine. July and August bring day-trippers by the coachload from 11:00, and the narrow streets get genuinely congested; May, June, September and October are far better. Winter is quiet, atmospheric and often ferocious, with storms breaking over the sea wall; several shops shut from January to March and some pubs reduce hours. The Old Coastguard Station runs daily in season and weekends only in winter. Christmas and New Year weekends are busy again with walkers and second-home owners.

It suits fossil hunters, photographers, walkers finishing or starting long-distance routes, and families with children old enough to scramble on wet rock. It is one of the least accessible villages on this coast: the bank is one in three, the streets are cobbled and stepped, and there is no step-free route to the shore, so wheelchair users and buggies are effectively confined to the top of the village and the viewpoint by the car park. Anyone with an hour to spare should walk down, look, and walk back up, allowing 25 minutes for the return climb. On a wet day the shore is miserable and slippery; the museum and pubs will not fill an afternoon.

Whitby and its harbour are 15 minutes north by bus, with the abbey headland above the town. Boggle Hole, a smugglers' cove with a youth hostel and a cafe, is a mile south along the beach at low tide or by cliff path, and makes the classic short walk from the village. Ravenscar, at the far end of the bay, has the abandoned town that was never built and the National Trust visitor centre, five miles along the Cleveland Way. Falling Foss waterfall and its tea garden are 20 minutes inland. The Cinder Track carries cyclists 21 miles between Whitby and Scarborough, passing the top of the village.

The caveats are real. Parking is the whole problem: the top car park fills early, the lanes are unsuitable and unpoliced parking blocks emergency access, so arriving after 11:00 on an August Sunday can mean giving up. The climb back up the bank is steeper than any photograph conveys. The name misleads people every year: there is no connection whatsoever between Robin Hood and this village beyond a legend of doubtful vintage, and there is nothing here about him to see. Fossils are found in the loose shale on the beach, not lying decoratively on the sand, and a wet, unlucky low tide can produce nothing at all. Finally, the village is largely holiday lets now, which is charming in June and eerily empty in February.

Plan your visit TicketsFree Free entryYes Time neededHalf day WhereRobin Hood's Bay Opening hours Village and shore open at all times Old Coastguard Station (National Trust) daily 10:00-17:00 in season, weekends in winter Shops and pubs typically 10:00-17:00, later in summer Hotels near Robin Hood's Bay Village and Shore

Questions about Robin Hood's Bay Village and Shore

What does it cost to visit Robin Hood's Bay?

The village, the shore and the slipway are free, and the National Trust's Old Coastguard Station charges nothing to enter, though donations are welcome. The only unavoidable cost is parking at the top of the bank, roughly £2 an hour and about £8 for the day. Food and drink add up quickly in the village: tea and cake £6-£9, a pub lunch £14-£20. Local fossil-hunting guided walks run around £10-£15 a person in season.

Are there free hours?

The village is open and free at every hour, so come at dawn if you like; the streets and the slipway have no gates. The Old Coastguard Station has set hours, daily 10:00-17:00 in season and weekends in winter, and is free whenever it is open. Parking charges normally apply through the day and lapse in the evening, so a sunset walk down and back costs nothing at all beyond your legs.

How long should I spend there?

Half a day. Allow 20 minutes down the bank with stops, an hour or two on the shore at low tide, time for the Old Coastguard Station and lunch, and a full 25 minutes to climb back. Add a further hour and a half if you walk the mile south to Boggle Hole and return. A quick look at the village alone, without the shore, takes about 90 minutes including the climb.

Is anything closed at certain times?

Nothing closes outdoors, but the tide effectively closes the beach twice a day, and at high water there is no shore at all. The Old Coastguard Station runs daily in season and drops to weekends between November and February. Several village shops and galleries shut from January to March, and pub hours shorten. Storms occasionally close the sea wall walkway. Always work from the day's tide table rather than shop opening hours.

Do I need to book?

No booking is needed for the village, the shore or the museum. Book a table for Sunday lunch at the Bay Hotel or the Dolphin in summer, and book guided fossil walks a few days ahead since group sizes are small. Accommodation in Baytown itself is very limited, typically £110-£170 a night in season, and sells out for summer weekends and for the Whitby Goth Weekends five miles up the coast.

What is the nearest bus stop or station?

The X93 Whitby-Scarborough bus stops at the top of Bay Bank, a five-minute walk from the car park and 20 minutes above the slipway. From Whitby it takes about 15 minutes for around £3 single; from Scarborough roughly 45 minutes. The nearest railway station is Whitby, on the Esk Valley line from Middlesbrough, five miles north. Walkers arrive on foot along the Cleveland Way from Whitby in about three hours, which is the best approach of all.

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