Find out more about wonderful Whitby. Get the unofficial tourist guide to Whitby... our best places to eat, stay and visit. A local tourist's lowdown for Whitby tourist information...
I love Whitby... It is probably my favourite of all the Yorkshire east coast towns. Sadly, it is the furthest away from our home, so we don't get there anywhere nearly as often as I would like...
Whitby is a beautiful little town. We usually approach from across the moors (a beautiful experience in itself) and drive down into the town...
Whitby has lots to offer for locals and tourists alike. I hope we can help you explore the town and surrounding area a little, and help you along with our Unofficial Whitby Tourist Information...
The Town
Whitby is a quaint, old fashioned town, perched on the side of a cliff/hill, and either side of a busy river.
Sea-faring is a way of life here...
In lots of ways it is the perfect seaside town:
History
Character
Seaside and pier
Beaches
Legend
Harbour and river
Shopping
In fact, Whitby was voted the UK's number one beach in 2006 (by 'Holiday Which?' magazine) for having a "postcard-perfect harbour" - and it really does!
Whitby truly is very pretty. It has an old-fashioned feel to it - lots of old cottages and streets, with attractive red roofs, scattered higgledy-piggledy on the hillside...
I love looking across at all the red roofed buildings
The higgledy-piggledy feel is because of all the little side streets, back streets, passages and 'yards'. Whitby's 'yards' are actually quite a famous feature of Whitby's architecture - and go by such unusual names as 'Arguments Yard' or 'Dark Entry Yard'...! They have much to do with the unique architectural characteristic of Whitby.
It also makes for some very interesting shopping streets. There is a main street, with a selection of high street stores, on the west side of the river. The more interesting shopping streets are on the east side - lots of small, independent shops, with unique and unusual wares - ideal for gift shopping for the perfect present or souvenir. Particularly look out for the jewellery stores selling famous Whitby jet, and goth stores.
Dracula and the Goth Influence
Dominating the town, on the cliff-top above the little streets is the dramatic Whitby Abbey. This is very atmospheric, and well worth a visit. To access it from the town, you must go up 199 steps! (Luckily, you can also drive a longer route, to avoid all the effort!)
Evocative and atmospheric - the Abbey lends some of its magic to the whole town
As well as being home to this beautiful gothic building, which influences the whole spirit and atmosphere of the town, Whitby is also famous as the 'birthplace' of Dracula.
Bram Stoker was inspired by a stay in the town, and worked on his Dracula novel just afterwards. Whitby is where Dracula allegedly alighted from his ship voyage to England... on a misty morn, under the shadow of the evocative abbey, you can quite believe the legend is real...!
All this has led to Whitby becoming a veritable mecca for all things gothic. There are goth shops, a goth hotel, and a famous twice yearly goth weekend (around Easter and at Halloween). Goths are in evidence in Whitby at all times of the year - and manage to mingle very nicely with the more 'usual' Whitby tourist.
The river runs right through the centre of Whitby, splitting the town into 2 halves. It is always filled with boats. This makes the town's sea-faring heritage a very prominent part of it's character...
The quaint harbour
Whitby is the town from which Captain Cook started on his sailing career - later to discover Australia.
There is an interesting Captain Cook museum in the town, and a replica of the 'Bark Endeavour' (Cook's ship) is also based at Whitby. Tourists can go aboard, and even take trips around the bay.
The river, harbour, piers and seaside are very pleasant, and well worth a stroll along the harbourside, right up to the beautiful sandy beach. The beach is fantastic, soft and sandy, and continues up to Sandsend - a great place for family fun at the seaside.
Whitby can get very busy in the Summer months (or even when festivals, such as the Goth Weekend are on), but it always has a real relaxed, holiday atmosphere...
We always find any visit to Whitby a real treat, and hope that you too will enjoy your trip to Whitby...
Find out lots of useful and unofficial Whitby tourist information here...
Near Whitby are many small coastal villages, well worth a visit. Also take time to visit the nearby North York Moors National Park, to see Yorkshire at it's wildest, unspoilt best...
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