The Beautiful Yorkshire Coastline

When you think of Yorkshire I would guess that the Yorkshire Dales might spring to mind, rolling, beautiful countryside, the Pennine Mountains and plenty of peace and quiet. And you would be right! But if you head to the Yorkshire coast you’ll be surprised to find it as beautiful as any of the UK’s southern beach destinations and much more wild and rugged. On the Yorkshire coast, towns and ports give way to tiny, quaint villages with a splattering of coffee shops all run by those notoriously friendly local Yorkshire folk. We’ve picked our highlights below.

Robin Hoods Bay

Up in Northern Yorkshire you’ll find the beautiful spot of Robin Hoods Bay, a small coastal village set on a beautiful tidal bay. During low tide you can wander around on the sand and look for crabs in the rock pools. This is a fantastic spot to take little ones and they will love exploring.

You can walk around the bay on the beach to other bays down the coast, but do be aware that once the tide comes in the whole beach will be underwater, so time your walk well! There is also the option to walk up on the path along the cliff if you do leave it too late.

There are a few little coffee shops and pubs in this little village and some lovely boutique type shops with nice gifts for sale.  

Whitby

Also in Northern Yorkshire not far away from Robin Hoods Bay you’ll find the gorgeous town of Whitby, a fabulous town on the Yorkshire coast.

Famed for its beautiful blue flag beaches, amazing fish and chips and its array of shopping, pubs and places to eat its definitely worth a visit.

You’ll find boat trips here amid the fishing boats and the beautiful castle set up on the cliffs overlooking the ocean and the town.

Whitby is also home to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway so if you fancy seeing the countryside on an old steam train then this is a great day out and the little ones will love it too if you are travelling with a family.

Runswick Bay

About nine miles north of Whitby on the Yorkshire coast lies Runswick Bay, with its sweeping bay and gorgeous red roofed cottages it is a really pretty destination.

This is a small village with tiny winding roads weaving around the village, it has a pub and a little shop and many beautiful walks on the coast. Expect a chilled out vibe where you’ll find some real peace and quiet.

Scarborough

Quite the opposite to Runswick Bay, Scarborough is your classic seaside town with the beach, activites on the seafront, loads of hotels, pub and restaruants, shops filled with buckets and spades and a real English seaside holiday feel.

If you are after peace and quiet on the Yorkshire coast then Scarborough probably isn’t the right choice for you, but if you fancy basing yourself somewhere with lots going on then this would definitely work and you could certainly explore the surrounding tranquil countryside from this base.

Visit Scarborough Castle, the Sea Life Sanctuary or try your hand at the Sky Trail Adventure and the Alpine Waterpark.

Flamborough

Flamborough is very rural and wild, a beautiful stretch of the Yorkshire coast with rugged white cliffs and a beautiful little bay. There is a very small village behind the bay too.

People tend to come to Flamborough for a real outdoors adventure, bird watching is great and there is a scenic nature reserve with two ancient lighthouses nearby.

The coastline is often windswept and walking terrain can be hard so its a better place for the more experiened walker to visit.

You’ll get a real sense of being away from it all in Flamborough, surrounded by Yorkshire nature at its best.

Bempton Cliffs

If you are a keen birdwatcher then you must head for Bempton Cliffs, particularly between March and October when around half a million seabirds gather in this area to breed - its a really remarkable sight to see.

Species often seen in this area include Gannet, Guillemot, Puffin, Barn Owl and Tree Sparrow.

The reserve is managed by the RSPB and during the mating season the cliff tops are patrolled by workers who strive to help the birds against environmental threats including climate change and industrial fishing.

The closest places to stay are Scarborough at about 30 minutes drive away and Bridlington which is about a 10 minute drive.

England's beautiful South Coast

We might live on a relatively small island but England’s countryside is definitely varied which is fantastic news for us walkers, as provides us with many different opportunities to find walks that suit our mood. The South Coast of England is a beautiful part of the world ranging from sandy beaches to rocky cliff edges and all in between, which means there are too many stunning walks to cover, so I’ll hand pick some personal favourites.

Ramsgate Let’s start over in the East of the south coast of England in Ramsgate. Walking the Ramsgate, Kent coast is a beautiful experience steeped in over 300 years of history and offering some wonderful natural wildlife and manmade architecture along the way. There are many ways to see this area of the south coast of England, be it along the beaches from Ramsgate to Margate, the cliff top walk from Ramsgate to Broadstairs or the Contra Trail from Ramsgate to Pegwell Bay; all really different walks offering quite different scenery and showcasing different aspects of the area. You’d be best to decide what sort of walk you’re after, sand between your toes, café lined cliff tops or nature reserve walking from the hustle and bustle of Ramsgate through to the natural peace and tranquillity of Pegwell Bay.

Sussex Moving a little West along the south coast of England brings you to beautiful Sussex, and we think you’ll love the Eastbourne to Seaford walk. This is a dramatic cliff walk starting at Eastbourne’s promenade and passing through Beachy Head as the South Downs meets the sea, Cuckemere Haven and Seven Sisters. In the summer months there are opportunities to have a dip in the ocean along the way and during the colder months the coastal views will be more than enough to keep you happy The area is on a well serviced bus route so there is no need to worry about the linear nature of this walk, you will easily find your way back if you’re happy to hop on a bus once your walk is complete. The beauty of this south coast of England walk is the undulating and magnificent cliffs that you will meet along the way. You can’t fail to be in awe, these cliffs are thought to have been formed by glacier meltwater at the end of the last Ice Age which carved steep sided valleys that became eroded by the sea and formed the beautiful cliffs we see today.

Dorset Following the south coast of England to the west we reach Dorset and the breath taking Lulworth Cove area. This is England's first natural world heritage site, and it is said that in 95 miles you can walk through 185 million years of history in just one week. If you don’t have a week, don’t worry! There are plenty of shorter walks that will equally take your breath away. The obvious highlight of this area is the Durdle Door, a natural limestone arch on the Jurassic coastline that can be reached by a walk down to a sand and shingle beach. A short but reasonably steep walk will bring you to Lulworth Cove, a beautiful little village set in a remarkable, almost full circle cove with quaint tea rooms, pubs and a scattering of shops to enjoy. The water is blue and calm here and at low tide there are some wonderful rock pools to explore. The Studland Heath nature reserve is also important to mention and well worth a visit. These dunes and heathland support threatened species such as the nightjar, sand lizard and ladybird spider. Some of the best views of the heath sweeping down to the shores of Poole Harbour are from the Agglestone – a 400 tonne rock sitting up on a hill alone, it’s very dramatic. There is wide range of habit here including sand dunes, bogs and fresh water lagoons. This is a beautiful part of the south coast of England that is not to be missed.

Cornwall Moving west again we reach the undeniably picturesque Cornwall, which offers rugged windswept landscape through to stunning sandy beaches. We love the Porthcurno to St Ives walks in West Cornwall on the landsend peninsula and about as far West as you can get on the South Coast of England. This whole route will take you a few days but can certainly be broken down into small walks, depending what you are after. Porthcurno offers a beautiful, sweeping bay with some of the clearest waters you’ll find in Cornwall and during summer months if you’re lucky you may find seals and basking sharks, a real treat. Along the route you’ll pass through Sennen Cove and on a summers night the open air Minack Theatre is a magical experience. St Ives is treat in itself too, being Cornwall’s most famous town this seaside is seemingly a subtropical oasis where the beaches are golden and beautiful vegetation surrounds.

These walks are just scratching the surface of the striking south coast of England and I could continue to waffle, but the best thing to do is to go along and find out for yourself, you really won’t be disappointed.