Robin Hood's Bay
Robin Hood's Bay
Seven miles down the coast from Whitby, the old smugglers' haunt of Robin Hood's Bay makes a great day trip. There's a fabulous cliff-top walk from Whitby (signposted all the way, starting from near Whitby Abbey), and once you arrive you can explore the steep, narrow, cobbled streets or poke around on the rocky beach to your heart's content. Some of the finest Jurassic-era fossils in England have been found here – you can view them in the Whitby Museum. Hikers are often seen struggling down into the village – it's the end of the Coast-to-Coast walk, and a pint in the Bay Hotel by the slipway is the customary reward for crossing the country on foot. There are also a couple of other pubs (the Laurel is the best), a smattering of gift shops and galleries, a café or two, and a wet fish shop where you can buy fresh crab sandwiches for your beach picnic. This part of what they call the 'Heritage Coast' is also firmly within the North York Moors National Park, so you don't have far to drive from Bay up to Ravenscar and Fylingdales Moor for dramatic sweeps of heather moorland and some spectacular coast views.
