Holiday rentals and lettings in Whitby

Table of Contents

• At a glance: What should you know about renting a holiday letting in Whitby?
• Holiday lettings in Whitby: find your perfect retreat
• Exploring Whitby: our top recommendations
• Activities: What are the top things to do and see in Whitby?

• Cottages above the harbour: Most Whitby lettings are self-catering cottages and flats on the East and West Cliffs, many within walking distance of the swing bridge and the beach.
• Abbey, steps and Dracula: The 199 Steps climb from the old town to St Mary's Church and the ruined abbey that inspired Bram Stoker's novel.
• Book around the Goth Weekends: The festival weekends in spring and autumn, plus the August regatta, fill the town and push prices up.
• Guests rate the town centre: Our top-rated Whitby properties score a full 9.9+, with guests praising harbour views and short walks to the fish and chip shops.
• Moors and coast on the doorstep: The North York Moors, the steam railway and the villages of Robin Hood's Bay and Staithes are all short drives away.

Whitby's accommodation is mostly self-catering: fishermen's holiday cottages in Whitby tucked into the yards of the old town, larger holiday homes on the West Cliff with room for a family, and welcoming bed and breakfasts a short walk from the harbour. Converted lofts and quayside flats round out the choice. Most properties come with the practical extras that make a coastal break easy:

• Sea views over the harbour mouth and the piers
• Wood burners and fireplaces for autumn and winter stays
• Enclosed yards and gardens, useful for dog-friendly lettings
• Off-street parking, which is scarce in the narrow old town
• Washing machines and drying space after a wet cliff walk

Book early for the summer school holidays, when the best-placed cottages go quickly.

What are the best areas to stay in Whitby?

For a first visit, stay in the old town on the East Cliff, closest to the abbey and the harbour. The table below details regions for specific interests:

What do our guests say?

Guests staying in Whitby consistently mention the same things: how short the walk is to the harbour, how quiet the old town becomes once the day trippers leave, and how welcome a fireplace is when the sea fret rolls in. Properties in the town centre and on the West Cliff regularly score 9.5+, with the very best reaching a perfect 9.9+.

Here are our top-rated holiday lettings from the past year:

1. Marina Apartment - 9.9+: A cottage for four in Whitby, North Yorkshire, with WiFi and a full kitchen, moments from the marina and the swing bridge.
2. Cairns Cottage - 9.9+: Sleeps five and welcomes dogs, with WiFi and a well-equipped kitchen for self-catering in central Whitby.
3. Whitby Haven - 9.9+: A roomy cottage for six in Whitby, North Yorkshire, with WiFi and a kitchen, handy for the beach and the abbey.

Whitby sits where the River Esk meets the North Sea, on the North Yorkshire coast between the moors and the cliffs.

✈️What is the best way to get to Whitby?

Most visitors arrive by car, as Whitby has no direct mainline station. Here are the most common ways to get to the town:

• Car: The A171 is the main approach, running north from Scarborough along the coast in about 40 minutes, or south from Teesside and Guisborough across the moors. From the A1(M) or the A19, join the A171 at Middlesbrough or come across on the A169 from Pickering, a scenic climb over the moors past the Hole of Horcum. Parking in the old town is very limited, so most visitors use the West Cliff or Whitby Marina car parks.
• Train: Whitby is the terminus of the Esk Valley line from Middlesbrough, a slow and pretty 90-minute run up the river valley through Great Ayton, Danby and Grosmont. Connect at Middlesbrough from Darlington or Newcastle on the East Coast Main Line. At Grosmont the line meets the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, so you can arrive in Whitby by heritage steam train from Pickering in the summer timetable.
• Plane: The nearest airports are Teesside International, roughly 50 miles north-west and about an hour and a quarter by car, and Leeds Bradford, around 75 miles inland with a two-hour drive across the moors. Both have car hire desks. Manchester Airport is the main long-haul option, about three hours away by motorway, and rail connections run from all three towards Middlesbrough for the Esk Valley line.

🥗Where to eat in Whitby?

According to Google Maps data and reviews, Ditto is the best rated restaurant in Whitby. Below is a table showing the top 5 highly-rated restaurants hand-picked by our travel experts.

⭐Our guests' recommendation: Our guest traveller Emma recommends the Magpie Café in Whitby: the queue down the cobbles is part of the ritual, and the haddock and chips with a harbour view is worth every minute of the wait.

☀️When is the best time to visit?

For warm weather and long evenings, come between June and August, when the beach is busiest and the regatta takes over the harbour. For a quieter town and better value, May and late September are hard to beat, though the Goth Weekends in spring and autumn fill Whitby's lettings and push prices up sharply, so check the dates before you book.

Spring

• Best for: Walkers and photographers who want the cliffs to themselves.
• Weather: Cool and breezy, with sea frets drifting in off the North Sea on calm mornings.
• Atmosphere: Calm and local, apart from the April Goth Weekend, when the town fills and accommodation sells out.

Summer

• Best for: Families using the West Cliff beach and the steam railway.
• Weather: Mild rather than hot, with long light evenings and the odd sea mist.
• Atmosphere: Lively and busy, peaking around the August regatta with fireworks over the harbour.

Autumn and winter

• Best for: Couples after fireside stays and dramatic seas.
• Weather: Wet and windy, with proper North Sea storms breaking over the piers.
• Atmosphere: Quiet and atmospheric, except during the October Goth Weekend around Hallowe'en.

⭐Our Hosts' recommendation: Our Whitby local expert, the host team of Marina Apartment, recommends coming to visit the harbour early, before the swing bridge opens for the morning boats. Walk the east pier for the best view back at the abbey on its headland, then climb the 199 Steps while the town is still quiet. Afterwards, browse the jet workshops on Church Street, where Whitby's black gemstone has been carved since Victorian times. You can read more about local tips on the host team's page.

1. Climb to Whitby Abbey
2. Ride the steam railway
3. Follow Captain Cook's Whitby
4. Walk the coast to Robin Hood's Bay
5. Hunt for jet and fossils

1. Climb to Whitby Abbey

   Start at the bottom of the 199 Steps on Church Street and climb slowly, using the flat coffin rests the pallbearers once used. At the top, St Mary's Church comes first, with its box pews and a graveyard that looks straight out over the sea. Beyond it stand the gaunt arches of Whitby Abbey, ruined since the Dissolution and shelled by German warships in 1914. Bram Stoker stayed below in 1890 and borrowed the whole scene for Dracula's arrival in England.

2. Ride the steam railway

   The North Yorkshire Moors Railway runs heritage steam services between Whitby and Pickering, climbing out of the Esk valley and across open heather moorland. Break the journey at Goathland, whose station has stood in for both Aidensfield in Heartbeat and Hogsmeade in the Harry Potter films, or at Grosmont to watch the locomotives being turned and coaled in the engine sheds. Services are seasonal, so check the timetable before travelling and book popular summer departures ahead.

3. Follow Captain Cook's Whitby

   James Cook was apprenticed here, and the ships that carried him around the world were Whitby-built colliers, the Endeavour among them. The Captain Cook Memorial Museum on Grape Lane occupies the house where he lodged as a young seaman, with charts, letters and models of the barques. Up on the West Cliff his statue stands beside the whalebone arch, a reminder of the whaling fleet that once sailed from this harbour. Replica ships often moor at the quayside in summer.

4. Walk the coast to Robin Hood's Bay

   The Cleveland Way heads south from the abbey along the cliff tops, reaching Robin Hood's Bay in about six miles of steady walking. The village tips down a ravine in a tangle of red roofs and passageways built for smuggling, and the beach below is one of the best places on this coast for rockpooling at low tide. Buses run back to Whitby, so you need only walk it one way. Further north, Staithes offers the same charm with fewer visitors.

5. Hunt for jet and fossils

   Whitby jet, the fossilised wood that made the town's Victorian jewellery trade, still washes up along this coast, and the cliffs between Whitby and Staithes are studded with ammonites. The Whitby Museum in Pannett Park holds the finest collection, including the fossil marine reptiles that gave the Jurassic coastline its name. Guided fossil walks run at low tide from Saltwick Bay. For more of the same wild coastline, look north towards cottages in Northumberland.