Your family guide to the North Yorkshire coast: fossil hunting, surfing, swimming and more.
Pull back the curtains at Hotel Victoria and the North Sea is right there. It’s a view that never gets old. But as good as it looks from your room, the coastline beyond rewards the people who get out into it.
Within half an hour of our front door you’ll find some of the most varied shoreline in England. Sandy bays for building castles. Rocky scaurs full of fossils. Surf breaks. Kite-flying stretches. Calm water for paddling, and open sea for the more adventurous. Each beach has its own character, its own pace.
Here’s where to go and what to do when you get there.
Robin Hood’s Bay Beach
Right on your doorstep
You don’t need to go far. The beach starts right at the bottom of the village, reachable on foot or, if you’d rather arrive in a bit of style, in our EV Monaco electric vehicle. We’ll chauffeur you down through the cobbled streets and back up again.
At low tide, the rocky scaurs stretch far out to sea. The rock pools are teeming: crabs, anemones, blennies and the odd startled starfish. It’s also one of the best spots on the Yorkshire coast for finding fossils. The bay exposes an extensive Lower Jurassic succession, so ammonites, belemnites and gryphaea (known locally as Devil’s toenails) pressed into the shale aren’t unusual finds. Go at low tide, bring a small brush and take your time.
This isn’t a bucket-and-spade beach in the traditional sense. It’s something a bit wilder. The cliffs, the waves, the sense that smugglers once worked these very rocks under cover of dark: it gives the place an atmosphere you won’t find at a more manicured resort. Robin Hood’s Bay was, in fact, the busiest smuggling hub on the Yorkshire coast in the 18th century, and the stories are very much part of what makes the village tick.
Whitby Beach
About 10 minutes north
Whitby doesn’t need much of an introduction. The town where Captain Cook began his seafaring career, where Bram Stoker found his inspiration, and where the ruins of a 7th-century abbey still dominate the skyline. It also has a very good beach, known as West Cliff Beach, stretching out from the harbour mouth with easy access from the town centre.
It’s broad, sandy and sheltered. There’s room to spread out and proper sand to dig in. The long flat stretch is perfect for flying a kite when the wind decides to make itself known, which in North Yorkshire it often does. On breezy days you might spot kite surfers out on the water too.
The sea is generally calmer than at more exposed bays. Good for paddling, good for supervised swimming with younger children. And when you’ve had enough of the beach, Whitby itself is one of the best towns on this coast for an afternoon: fish and chips in paper, jet jewellery in the shop windows, the abbey silhouette against the sky.
Sandsend Beach
About 15 minutes north
Robin Hood’s Bay is wild. Whitby is lively. Sandsend is something quieter: a long arc of sand that feels unhurried even in summer.
Three miles north of Whitby, the beach stretches in a wide ribbon towards the town. At low tide it seems to go on forever. Families come here for proper beach days: set up camp, let the children disappear into the shallows and don’t look at the time until your stomach insists on it.
The sea here suits surfers and bodyboarders well. Sandsend can pick up a decent swell and on the right day you’ll find local surfers riding waves that would look at home on a far more well-known stretch of coast. Paddleboarders like it too, and the calmer sections are a good place to start if you haven’t been before.
The village is small and easy. A handful of cottages, a café or two, and the clifftop path back to Whitby if you’ve got the legs for it.
Scarborough North Bay
About 25 minutes south
Scarborough is a resort in the grand Victorian tradition. North Bay is its quieter half: less busy than South Bay, with a long crescent of clean sand that regularly picks up Seaside Awards for water quality and facilities.
The headland shelters the bay, so the sea tends to be gentle. It’s a good place for children getting their first taste of swimming in the sea. Kayakers and open-water swimmers like it for the same reason. There’s a miniature railway running between Peasholm Park and the Sea Life Centre along the seafront, and younger visitors love it. The flat sand is well suited to beach cricket, football and frisbee too.
On windier days this is a great spot for kite flying. The bay catches the coastal breeze and you’ll often see kites climbing above the sand. If you want to try kayaking, paddleboarding or surfing for the first time, Dexter’s Surf Shop on the North Bay promenade offers lessons and hire for all ages.
Scarborough South Bay
About 25 minutes south
South Bay is the classic British seaside. The Grand Hotel overlooks it from St Nicholas Cliff. The harbour sits at the northern end under the castle headland, and the Spa borders the southern edge. Donkey rides, arcades, ice cream. It’s cheerful and a bit chaotic and entirely itself.
But it’s a proper beach too. Large enough that you can find a quiet patch, with good sand and sea that’s sheltered by the castle headland to the north. RNLI lifeguards patrol in summer, which makes it one of the better options for families with small children who want to get properly into the water.
The old town around the harbour is worth a wander: independent shops and good fish restaurants clustered below the castle.
Making the Most of It
All five beaches are within reach of a day trip. You could spend a morning fossil hunting at Robin Hood’s Bay, have lunch in Whitby and finish the afternoon at Sandsend. Or head south to Scarborough for a full beach day and be back for dinner at Osborne’s.
We’re always happy to point you in the right direction. Tell us what you’re after: surfing, swimming, rock pooling or just somewhere good to sit and watch the sea. The North Yorkshire coast has it all, and you’re well placed to explore it.
Planning a visit? Take a look at our Angebote & Pausen and find the right room for your stay. From cosy doubles to our Superior Sea View rooms, we’ve got you covered.
Why a Staycation Here Just Makes Sense
The best holidays don’t always take you far from home. A staycation on the North Yorkshire coast means you’re on the beach within minutes of checking in, not hours into a journey.
It’s a proper break. No long drives, no airports, no arriving somewhere exhausted before the holiday’s even begun. Just pack a bag, head to North Yorkshire and let the coast do the rest. Families especially feel the difference: children are in the sea by lunchtime on the first day, not still strapped into the back seat.
And because everything is so close, you’re not spending the week trying to cram it all in. You can take it at your own pace. A slow morning with coffee and a sea view. An afternoon on the sand. A walk along the cliffs before dinner. That’s what a proper rest actually feels like.
The North Yorkshire coast is one of the UK’s great short break destinations. But it rarely feels crowded or rushed in the way that longer-haul spots can. It’s the kind of place that reconnects you with the things that matter: open air, good food, time with the people you came with.
We think that’s worth celebrating. So whether you’re planning a quick weekend away, a half-term escape or a few days entirely for yourself, Hotel Victoria is a good place to start.
Planning a visit? Take a look at our Angebote & Pausen and find the right room for your stay. From cosy doubles to our Superior Sea View rooms, we’ve got you covered.
