Enjoy a cobweb-busting walk and ice-cream treat along the grassy cliffs and beach huts of Whitby Sands. Stay closer to home with a fossil hunt on Sandsend beach or ride the cable cars down to the beach at Saltburn. Take the Whitby Vampire Curse Treasure Trail. Or brave the Dracula Experience.
Spot minke, sperm, humpback and northern whales as well as porpoise, bottle-nosed dolphins, jellyfish and sharks on a Whitby Whale Watching Centre boat trip. And discover the Captain Cook Memorial Museum, where the young James Cook lodged as an apprentice in 1746.
Head to The Moors National Park Centre among woodland and moorland for an interactive exhibition, arts and crafts, a playground, sculptures and a labyrinth. Swing through the canopy on a Go Ape adventure at Dalby Forest, walk the trails or hire bikes. Or explore your creative side at Pot 2 Doodle Do.
Ride the slide at the beach pool at Redcar Leisure Centre, with its three pools. Meet over 140 species of animal at Flamingo Land Resort and don’t forget the water rides and rollercoasters. Or get over to Scarborough to feed alpacas, sheep, goats, ponies, donkeys, pigs, llamas, rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas at Playdale Farm Park.
Just outside Whitby, you’re a mere hop and a jump from cosy cafes, arcades, fish restaurants, boutiques, pubs and cobbled streets. Climb the 199 steps up to the Church of Saint Mary, discover Whitby Abbey, inspiration for Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’, then head out to a haven of woodland and moorland in the North York Moors National Park.
Discover other gems along the Yorkshire coast, including Staithes, a small town of cobbled streets and period cottages that cling to the hillsides and invite clifftop walks and fossil hunts. Learn to surf on a Blue Flag beach with Whitby Surf School. Come home to be pampered in The Raithwaite restaurant, bar and spa.
Discover a unique gemstone made from fossilised wood at Whitby Heritage Jet Centre and pop into the shop. Take a boat trip on an authentic replica of HMS Endeavour with the Captain Cook Experience. Or steam through the North York Moors National Park on the North York Moors Railway.
Refuel at Whitby Brewery, a microbrewery beneath the arches of Whitby Abbey. Add another 81 steps to the 199 at Whitby Harbour West Lighthouse and get a great aerial view of the town from the lamp room. Or head to Robin Hood’s Bay for fossils, rock pools and fascinating cafes, pubs and restaurants among its narrow cobbled streets.
