Talk to me about Scarborough

[aloneinthenight]

We need a last minute getaway to the seaside this week and, for reasons I won't go into, Scarborough has come up as an option.

I haven't been since 1981.

Is it nice? What can we do there? Is there somewhere nearby that's nicer?

English Heritage membership sounds like a good plan!

Scarborough castle is lovely, the north bay is fairly clean & rather a lot quieter than the south bay. There's 2 open-top bus companies that do a continuous route round the north bay, round the headland, & the south bay, then back up. You can get all-day tickets, just make sure you get back onto the right bus.

I'm not a fan of the south bay, it's all amusement arcades & various food outlets. However if the weather is nice there are quite often donkey rides on the beach. TBH if you've ever been to The Deep at Hull, or a decent sealife centre, it's a bit of a letdown.

TBH, I'm not that keen on Scarborough overall - if you can find somewhere else for the daytime & just use Scarborough as a base, I would. If you can get to Whitby in less than 30 minutes, that's rather more interesting, though. Abbey, couple of little museums, lots of tiny shops & cafés.

Just to note - midday parking in Whitby in high season is a nightmare.

Also a heads up - if you are by any chance going this weekend, country file live is at Castle Howard and the A64 (main route to coast) is a nightmare. It's on from now until Sunday.

North Bay is fine. Peasholm Park seemed to have a lot going on but didn't go in it. The North Yorks Railway (steam trains) goes from Whitby which might make a decent day out.

And do go to Sandsend, the cafe on the hill bit is lovely.

Scarborough is brilliant! We had an amazing holiday there for a week - we were really posh and hired a fancy 2 storey beach hut for the week just along the North Bay from The Sands. Barely left the beach all week!! Peasholm park is lovely - they also do a cool naval warfare thing with miniature boats. I went a few times as a child and have been back with my own kids twice.

Scarborough Hospital isn't very large. They have a children's ward but oncology services on site are v limited. Are you certain it can provide the back up you need?