Whitby is a special place for me. I've been going there for over forty years since I was a child. I'm fairly well travelled and have seen famous places around the world, but f I had to list my Top Ten favourite places, Whitby would be in the top half.
From where I live, its only about a ... Read review
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Advantages: Its just a beautiful little town Disadvantages: Too many people agree and it gets busy!
Whitby is a special place for me. I've been going there for over forty years since I was a child. I'm fairly well travelled and have seen famous places around the world, but f I had to list my Top Ten favourite places, Whitby would be in the top half.
From where I live, its only about a 90 minute drive. One of the things I also look forward to is the drive there across the North Yorkshire Moors which are pretty spectacular by any standards. ... ...the things I like about Whitby is how unspoilt it is compared with many other places. Yes there's new housing on the outskirts but the heart of the town looks just like it did when I was six years old.
It can be a bleak place, especially in winter. I'm sure the people who over the years have earned a living from the sea would agree. I'm sure some of those people have lead hard lives in many respects.
Whitby is a special place for me. I've been going there for over forty years since I was a child. I'm fairly well travelled and have seen famous places around the world, but f I had to list my Top Ten favourite places, Whitby would be in the top half.
From where I live, its only about a 90 minute drive. One of the things I also look forward to is the drive there across the North Yorkshire Moors which are pretty spectacular by any standards. If you take a detour through Goathland en route, it makes it all the more pleasurable. You might even catcfh a glimpse of a steam train on the North Yorkhire Moors Railway, especially in summer.
One of the things I like about Whitby is how unspoilt it is compared with many other places. Yes there's new housing on the outskirts but the heart of the town looks just like it did when I was six years old.
It can be a bleak place, especially in winter. I'm sure the people who over the years have earned a living from the sea would agree. I'm sure some of those people have lead hard lives in many respects.
Take a walk along either of the harbour piers and look at the lighthouses. The stone they are constructed from shows many years weathering from lashing seas and driving gales - that part of what I love about it. I remember as a child being shown the waves bouncing over the pier ends and being mesmerised by it. I always have a healthy respect for the sea and I'm sure it's in no small part due to my experiences at Whitby.
Walk around the town, and you'll find a host of small gift shops, cafes and good old English pubs, Yorkshire style of course. There are several very traditional pubs in the town, and several good places to eat. I never worry about what there is to do, I just like being there, its a great place just to walk around.
The Magpie Cafe is one of the best - renowned all over England. Whether you eat in the restaurant or get a take away, you have to try the Fish and Chips, they are excellent. We Yorkshire people know a thing or too about fish and chips. There has to be a limit on how well you can actually cook fish and chips and for me, The Magpie Cafe has reached the limit, they really are first class. Eat in the restaurant and with drinks you'll pay about £10 to £25 a couple. Take out prices are cheaper from the Fish and Chip shop attached.
For a good pub meal, try The Dolphin pub located alongside the swing bridge. The last steak I ate there cost £12. Theres a good menu choice and good beer.
There's a tiny excuisite little restaurant on the same side of the river as The Dolphin pub although unfortunately, its name escapes me. I think is on Church Street and it only has a handful of tables inside but its a great little place. As for pubs to experience Whitby, try them all! You see many of the same locals in different pubs, a few recognise you and pass the time of day once you've been a few times.
Ladies especially may like to visit local jewellers where they sell a wide selection of Whitby Jet Jewellery and amber too. Whitby Jet is a locally founs stone (type of coal I believe) which when highly polised makes stunning shiny black jewellery.
10 things to do in Whitby in no particular order include: -
1) Find the Whalebones and Captain Cook Statue. The Whalebones make a frame for a classic Whitby photograph with your subject under theWhalebones and Whitby Abbey in the background.
2) Walk along the harbour piers to the end for some great sea air and super views of the town and coastline - respect the sea though if its a bit choppy!
3) Find out about Captain Cook and Count Dracula!
4) If your fit enough, climb the 199 steps up top Whitby Abbey and vist the Abbey along with the church and graveyard at the top. Theres some great local history items inside the church, and the church itself is well worth seeing with all its old wooden pews.
5) Buy some Whitby Seafood to nibble whilst walking along the harbour side. Cockles, mussels, crabmeat - lovely.
6) For the taste of Whitby, find the old Kipper shed up Henrietta Street, beyond the foot of the Abbey Steps. Buy some kippers and smoked bacon if you are staying somewhere where you can cook them.
7) Take a trip out to sea on the small motorised replica of Captain Cooks ship.
8) Support the local lifeboat. Like many other lifeboat towns, Whitby has seen tragedy in its time. The brave lads who man the lifeboats deserve everyones support.
9) Whitby's great, but dont forget the other great nearby little places too - Sandsend, Statithes and Robin Hoods bay.
10) Eat and drink well and support the local businesses to help keep Whitby just the way it is.
Advantages: Beautiful. Quaint. Historical. Links to Dracula, Disadvantages: Hard to think of any
...What a delightful little town Whitby is. As you approach it from the moors the first dramatic sight is that of the 11 th century Whitby Abbey,sacked during the days of King Henry VIII th. Now this building is under the auspices of English Heritage and to get to it from the town,you have to climb no less than 199 steps. Entrance is one pound,seventy pence.
Whitby is forever assciated with Count Dracula. The author, Bram Stoker,lived in the town. ... ...You can eat well in Whitby and the fish n'chips here are delightful, and,as ever in Yorkshire, you get value for money. This much visited town also has several good hotels, friendly guest houses and bed and breakfast places.
A great place. Whitby,in my view, is one of the loveliest coastal towns of its type anywhere in England and no wonder more and more discerning foreign visitors are discovering its charms.Despite its growing popularity I dont ...
ashford 17.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Whitby in General
Advantages: abbey, dracula, scenery Disadvantages: gets busy in the summer with the tourists
...as I can remember. Whitby is a seaside town, in the North East of England. The town split into two the east side, and the West side. The East Side, is the more modern part of the Town, with the amusement arcades and the more modern shops, such as Woolworth’s, Boots and Boys (if your not from the North, then the shop Boys, wont mean anything to you, but basically it’s a cheap shop which sells crap!!). The two sections are split by the ... ...shop (you can’t come to Whitby and not get a lucky duck), there’s a small fudge shop, which is very reasonable. It’s been there as long as I can remember and is a favourite with the locals. As well as confectionery, Whitby is famous for FISH. There’s a small shop/hut in the West Side of Whitby, which sells the best Kippers in the world (or so my dad says!). If you ever watched the Two Fat Ladies Cooking programme you may have ...
itscharlotte 11.04.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Whitby in General
Advantages: The abbey! beautiful scenery, the sea, nice shopping Disadvantages: not very happening
...the sea! I lived in Whitby from 7 to 9, and it was a great place. Even in the cold icy winter the sun shone, deeper and redder and the air was just as clean , something completely characteristic to northern england seaside towns and their seasalt air! I lived in a huge house with a view onto the sea on a good day in a friendly village.
Whitby town spills onto the sea-side itself, around the huge bridge that rose when the boats and their sails had ... ...The shopping around Whitby centre was good, with lots of traditional businesses selling bears and books. There are a lot of fish and chip shops, and the part of town which stretches out onto Whitby Pier always smelt of fish batter and vinegared chips. Whitby had excellent scenery, and you could see Whitby abbey from the town centre and the pier. These are just ruins, but a tour around them with a tour guide allows you to share in their formidable ...
judithritchie 27.12.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Whitby in General
Advantages: Lots for old and young Disadvantages: none
Whitby is situated in the North of England and is a seaside resort; it’s classed as a Town and is very busy during the summer season.
It is divided really into two parts the East Side, which is the older part, and the West Side, which is the more modern part.
These are separated by an old Swing bridge, which regularly opens to let passing fishing boats through. There is a cobbled Street that contains the more Olde Worlde shops, gifts that are a ... ...top and visit the famous Whitby Abbey. It is situated at the very top along with Saint Mary’s church which in itself is well worth a visit as its never been updated and has no electricity at all. Gravestones, which are mainly 18th Century, surround this and most can still be read. Back to the Abbey, it is of course a ruin but its lovely to look round, you almost feel you are in a time gone by, it’s a huge ruin and as it’s the highest point in Whitby, ...
broksababe 27.07.2000 (28.12.2000)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Whitby in General
Whitby is a place that offers surprises and delights at every turn. It is essentially not a glitzy kind of place , but a historical treasure trove just waiting to be discovered.
The East side of town has quaint old streets such as Church Street that leads to the market square a location which is often used for filming Heartbeat.
The cobbled street also takes to to the extrematies of the east side headland .And it is now possible to walk along the ... ...you to the highlight of Whitby for many the eleventh century Whitby Abbey.
Now owned by English Heritage this magnificent building although crumbling steadily , still has much to offer , by way of sights and the view from the Abbey headland has to be one of the best in Yorkshire.
The cost to enter the abbey is currently £1.70 per adult.
One of Whitby's key landmarks such on the West cliff , is the Royal Hotel. This hotel was built in the 1860' ...
Gardenex 08.01.2001 (29.05.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Whitby in General
Value for Money
Sightseeing
Shopping
Nightlife
Ease of getting around
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Advantages: Chilled out, peaceful, good food Disadvantages: Can take a while to get to
I have been to Whitby a few times since I was a teenager. I used to hate it, found it boring, small and nothing much went on there.
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I love the gothic aspect of it, being a bit of a goth on the quiet. Whitby Abbey is a national treasure, and you can see why Bram Stoker chose for his Dracula to make his blood lust entrance to England inWhitby. Entrance is everything, after all.
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