A small, cosy, but very friendly, family run eatery, located in the heart of Whitby that thoroughly believes in serving you the best Pie, Mash, Peas & Gravy. They do not consider themselves a cafe or restaurant, but a unique culinary experience, set in nostalgic 1940's surroundings which creates a warm, homely, cosy & comfortable atmosphere.

The Whitby Goth Weekend is an alternative festival incorporating the Bizarre Bazaar Alternative Market which features over 100 indoor stalls. It was founded in 1994 by Jo Hampshire and has grown to become one of the world’s premier Goth events. Kids have been among regular goers for years and we like to think of ourselves as a family event.

There’s something special about the ruins of Whitby Abbey brooding over the harbour from the East Cliff. These ruins were mentioned in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1890), and even at that time the monastery had been abandoned for 350 years.

One of those things you simply have to do in Whitby is to climb the 199 steps that wind up from Church Lane to St Mary’s Church on the East Cliff. You’ll be treading the same path as the creature “resembling a large dog” that climbed up to the abbey in Dracula.

At the top of those 199 Steps, and before you get to Whitby Abbey, you’ll be confronted by the compact Church of St Mary. The building goes back to a Norman church, consecrated at the start of the 12th century. The tower, choir and parts of the nave all date to that earliest period, and at the transept you can look for the three Gothic lancet windows.

Whitby’s picturesque harbour is the result of centuries of human intervention at the mouth of the River Esk. At the very north you can walk out to the ends of the East and West Piers where there’s a pair of lighthouses. There are pubs, cute antiques shops, fish and chip shops, and a host of companies offering trips out to spot whales on the North Sea.

Beginning just west of the Esk are a few miles of Sandy Beach, and the section closest to the town under the West Cliff is Whitby Beach. Whitby Beach is awarded the Blue Flag for its facilities and hygiene each year. In summer the beach comes to life with old-time seaside activities like donkey rides and stands selling snacks.

It’s a beach to experience at any time of year, to be buffeted by the wind in winter or to soak up the more clement weather in summer. The scene is awe-inspiring in stormy weather, and if you’re a fossil hunter the days after a storm are prime time to come looking for specimens. In summer, the Sandsend Beck has safe and shallow water for children to splash in, while there’s a surf school in summer.

On Grape Lane there’s a 17th-century house where Britain’s greatest explorer Captain James Cook served as an apprentice from the age of 19 in 1746. Cook would later return to this property for the winter of 1771-72 following his First Voyage, in which he made the first European encounter with Australia’s eastern coastline.

 The line that begins down in Pickering, 20 miles to the south, and runs through the enchanting North York Moors scenery every day from March to November. Levisham Station for instance has been frozen in time at 1912, while Goathland appeared as Hogsmeade Station in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.

Whitby is couched in the North York Moors, a national park with some of the largest swathes of heather moorland in the UK. The tallest hills, or high moors, reach above 400 metres and the deep valleys (dales) in between have farmland or ancient oak woodland home to roe and fallow deer, as well as endless choices for walks.