Yorkshire Coast

OVERVIEW

Between Bridlington and Saltburn the Yorkshire coast is generally very hilly - with dramatic cliffs along much of this stretch. Then between Bridlington and the Humber estuary the coast becomes flatter, and suffers a lot more from erosion.

This stretch includes what to me is one of the nicest stretches of coastal walking in England (between Ravenscar and Robin Hood's Bay), as well as puffin colonies at Bempton cliffs.

South of Bempton cliffs you have Flamborough Head - and for those who prefer a seaside town, you have the choice of the seaside resorts at Saltburn, Whitby and Scarborough - as well as more traditional fishing towns at Skinningsgrove, Staithes, Runswick Bay and Robin Hood's Bay.

From Saltburn down to Filey the the Cleveland Way follows the coast - although I would suggest that those walking that trail continue on at least down to Bempton to go see the sea birds (and ideally on down past Flamborough Head).

The Coast to Coast trail also briefly follows this coast, joining between Whitby and Robin Hood's Bay - and finishing up in Robin Hood's Bay. Those doing that trail should, in my opinion, continue on down and finish in Scarborough.

It's a great stretch of coastline and very different to the Northumberland Coast to the north.

PRACTICALITIES

The coast is very easy to access by public transport - and so there is no reason not to leave the car at home.

Aside from buses, which stop more frequently down the coast, there are train stations at Redcar, Saltburn, Whitby, Scarborough, Filey, Bempton and Bridlington.

Accommodation is also fairly straight-forward for much of this stretch of coast, with accommodation to be found in almost all the towns and villages dotted along the coast.

The hardest part to walk is the southern end (south of Bridlington). At the time of writing the coast path was still being finalised in this section (the rate of erosion is complicating this effort) - and accommodation in this stretch is far more complex to find. 

I am yet to completed this southern section, but I hope to do it one day once the paths are all in place.

STAGES

South Gare to Saltburn

Yet to be walked...

Saltburn to Whitby (★★★★☆)

From Saltburn the path heads up onto Hunt Cliff, where it squeezes between the cliffs and the railway, before heading round to a very pretty, and often deserted, beach at Skinningsgrove. 

From here it heads back up onto the cliffs on the far side, and on past Boulby to the pretty fishing village of Staithes. After passing through Staithes, the path climbs once again and heads past Port Mulgrave, before dropping into Runswick Bay.

At Runswick Bay there is a classical English seaside beach - and from here the path climbs back up the cliffs to reach Kettleness. From Kettleness the path continues along the cliffs, joining up with the old railway, before reaching Sandsend. From here you can walk along the beach most of the way into Whitby.

This walk totaled 20.3 miles (19.5 miles on the Cleveland Way) and totaled almost three thousand feet of ascent walking in reverse from Whitby to Saltburn.

Whitby to Scarborough (★★★★★)

This walk is ideally done walking from Scarborough to Whitby - as then the best section (between Ravenscar and Robin Hood's Bay) can be done with the views in front of you as you walk. If you do go the other way it is not a disaster, you will just want to stop and look back every now and then.

From Whitby the route heads up past the Abbey along the cliffs (this section is eroding so is best done along the road past the Abbey for now). Having cleared the holiday park you look out over Saltwick Bay (here it helps to be walking from Whitby as you no longer need to look at the holiday park).

Next you head past the lighthouse (don't get too excited about it, it's a bit ugly), and on past Maw Wyke Hole, where you get a great view of the cliffs as they cut in. From here there is a straighter section of cliff line until the route starts to wiggle a bit more as you pass White Stone Hole (again improving the views out across the cliffs).

From here you pass through Robin Hood's Bay, then past Boggle Hole and then take on the prettiest part of this section of coast, walking up to Ravenscar (passing the former site of Peak Alum Works along the way). 

From Ravenscar the path heads on past Heyburn Wyke and on along the cliffs to eventually make it round to the edge of Scarborough. Here you walk past North Bay beach, round the castle and then arrive into the harbour - and the core of Scarborough.

This section totaled 22.8 miles (22.2 miles on the Cleveland Way itself) and walking from Scarborough to Whitby had a total ascent of just over three thousand feet.

Scarborough to Filey (★★★☆☆)

The Cleveland Way heads out of Scarborough on a low route past Scarborough Spa (the origin point for Scarborough as Britain's first seaside town, back in 1660), but I extended the walk to explore the park above as well (this is a much shorter stage).

From here the path heads out up above Wheatcroft Cliff and Frank Cliff, before cutting up to Osgodby, with this section around Osgodby having less coast visible.

From here the path heads down towards Clayton Bay, where the views return, and the path heads past Clayton Bay to Lebberston Cliff. From here it goes past a holiday park on a crumbling section of cliff to reach Filey Brigg, which is a wonderful end point to the Cleveland Way. From here you can follow the Yorkshire Wolds Way to Filey train station.

This section totaled 11.4 miles (of which 7.8 miles were on the Cleveland Way - with 2.0 miles being additional walking around the parks at Scarborough). Total ascent was in excess of one thousand feet.

Filey to Bempton

Planned in 2026

Bempton to Bridlington (★★★★★)

If you arrive at Bempton by train the walk out to the cliffs is about 1.5 miles long - and around half a million birds nest at Bempton Cliffs each year (between March and August). These include Puffins, Gannets, Kittiwakes and Guillemots.

Here I got to see puffins on my visit (further down from the visitor centre) - and the path continues from here along the cliffs to Thornwick Bay. From here it continues on to the very impressive Flamborough Head (see the photo).

From here the path continues round on the cliffs to Flamborough South Landing - and on into Bridlington.

This section included 13.5 miles of walking (of which 11.5 miles were done on the coast path) - with just over one and a half thousand feet of ascent.

Bridlington to Hornsea

Yet to be walked...

Hornsea to Withernsea

Yet to be walked...

Withernsea to Hull

Yet to be walked...