Is it better to stay in Whitby or Scarborough?

[GlitteryGreen]

Thinking of doing a week in North Yorkshire in May, getting an Air BnB and visiting a few places from there. Just me and DP, we will have the car with us.

Just wondering whether anyone could advise on whether it's better to be based in Scarborough or Whitby?

I've always wanted to visit Whitby but it seems like Scarborough has a lot more going on so could potentially do more locally on foot there, and drive up to Whitby for the day.

Any advice would be great as we haven't been to either place before :)

Thanks!

Whitby is lovely,lovely things to see and do but it’s tiny,very gothic and much more slow paced
Scarborough has a lot more going on but I’ve always found it tacky and dirty
If I had to choose then it would be Whitby-I love a walk round the Abby

If you’re in N Yorks for a week I’d probably base myself inland a bit - Whitby doesn’t have a weeks worth of things to do, and to anywhere is quite slow, as is Scarborough to be fair. Somewhere like like Pickering / Helmsley / Malton would give you cafes, restaurants, access to various parts of the moors and be in easy enough reach if Scarborough and Whitby / Robin Hoods Bay. If you actually want to be by the sea for a beach for multiple days it probably has to be Scarborough not Whitby.

There's a lovely hotel in Whitby called La Rosa which would make it a suitably quirky/romantic trip.

I would do 2 nights and 2 full days in Whitby then a few nights inland as already suggested.

Whitby over Scarborough or inland a bit. Out to Pickering maybe and then you are in a of triangle and then you've got Whitby, Scarborough, Helmsley and York all within about 20 miles.

Scarborough high street isn’t what it was but Whitby is sooo busy. I’d probably go for Scarborough but stay in a better part such as near prince of wales terrace. You can still walk into town
Filey is nice.

Come to Scarborough. We try our best not to be too tacky and downtrodden 😂

Of the two, I'd go for Whitby too. Like PPs have said though, I'd go for somewhere like Pickering. Although there won't be much going on there either, it's a good base to drive to Whitby and Scarborough, and really good for the Moors.

We are biased but Scarborough is a great base for a week’s holiday . Plenty to walk to but only a short drive away from Whitby, Filey, Pickering, Malton, Robin Hood’s Bay etc when you feel like venturing out. You are also really spoilt for choice with eating out: we some fantastic restaurants and pubs on our doorstep.

All the places suggested in this thread are lovely so you should have a wonderful time wherever you decide.

We like Filey - it's quieter.

Know Whitby and Scarborough really well. Have a soft spot for Scarborough but for someone unfamiliar would probably advise Whitby, but if you can see beyond glitter, Scarborough. They’ve done the market up in Scarborough a treat.

If it's just you two then I would definitely choose Whitby; Scarborough might be preferable if you were stuck in in the evenings with small dc.
It's so nice to sit looking at the view after all the day trippers have gone home.

@Antarcticant another vote for Filey.

8 miles south of Scarborough, much nicer beach and quieter as well. Whitby is amazing to visit. It's a few years since I've been but it always used to be so busy.

With the car you'd be able to do all of these. Scarborough, Whitby, Flamborough, Bridlington, Pickering etc., are all within driving distance.

Whitby is great.

We did the guided ghost walk at dusk. Very interesting.

The ice cream parlours are great, I think 'Holy Cow' was a good one with Groovy Moo ice cream. If you like black semi-precious jewellery, Whitby jet is lovely.

Fish and chips was great. The Captain Cook museum was interesting.

We were self catering in a converted piggery ! It was deeper in the countryside so Whitby was a day trip and so was Scarborough.

Scarborough was disappointing. Although we had tea in a quaint tea-shop then went and found the grave of one of the Bronte sisters.

Seagulls are huge and the amount of seagull poo around the place is, um, phenomenal ! The gulls are cheeky as well, they roost on the rooves of cars.

We walked from Boggle Hole to Robin Hood's Bay and had lunch at a nice pub.

The Whitby Museum is really interesting especially with the, 'Hand of Glory' preserved human hand.

Oh, and walk through the, 'Screaming Tunnel.'

Nearby there is the only public bench not modernised since Bram Stoker wrote his Dracula story book.

I like both but prefer Scarborough, loads of places to eat , from chain pubs like weatherspoons , to really nice independent cafes and restaurants. Is also not as expensive as Whitby.
Bridlington is only about a half hour drive away and has a nice beach .

Scarborough is also flater !

To add Scarborough is not flat, just flater and has a cliff tram

You could stay in York? Trains to Scarborough are regular or it's a 40 min drive. Lots do do see in York itself and the surrounding villages and what not

Definitely Scarborough. We stayed in a lovely holiday home on Scarboroughs north bay called Breakspeare House - they have a website you can book on. Home from home, kids loved it and walking distance to lots of things.

Thanks everyone for the fab suggestions.

I have been leaning towards Scarborough tbh as my DP likes to be around 'stuff' to do, and it just seems like there is more locally there?

Whitby is gorgeous and we definitely want to go, but from watching Jane McDonald (LOL) it seemed quite little and perhaps more of a weekend visit than somewhere you could spend most of a week.

We have been to York a couple of years ago, which we loved, so we'd definitely spend a day there too, but would prefer to stay somewhere new.

Will take a look at the suggested in-land options too :) Thank you!

Rose Dale Abbey is a little village (and I mean little) there's no Abbey there. One was meant to be built but it never happened.

Bell End farm is nearby too. There were bell mines in the area. A long shaft with a wide end ? There's a camp site there as well.

We went to Whitby at Xmas and to be fair struggled. It was fabulous in the day but a bit rough early afternoon to evening.
We tried to go for a drink and snack in the evening and couldn't find a pub to accommodate. Either they were no kids, or no dogs, or no kids or dogs. Or in another no kids, dogs or mobile phones!!!
It then got busy and full of loud groups looking for trouble.
I loved the wider area but if visited again base myself elsewhere

Whitby is much more expensive in terms of accommodation. You can get some very cheap hotels in Scarborough. Scarbs is more run down and "British seasidey" but there are some nice bits.

We had a week in Whitby last Summer with our teen DS and friend in a fabulous apartment. The streets had free parking- although thank goodness DH was there as getting a space was generally quite tricky and involved lots of manoeuvres on a hill.

I really enjoyed it. There was a steam punk convention on the first couple of days so we enjoyed looking at all the costumes. We found The Magpie offered gourmet level fish dishes at very reasonable prices and even if you hadn't booked, they had a great system where you put your name down and they'd give you a ring once a table was free.

The side of the bridge with the abbey is more gentrified than the side we were on and there are some nice little shops to visit.

We had some great day trips - electric bike hire at Dalby Forest was particularly popular.

We did visit Scarborough and the bit around the lake was very nice, but the centre seems very tacky and run down to me ( I may be biased after a bad hotel stay there with an Ex many years ago).

I'd definitely go for Whitby and I'd be happy to visit again as there were a few walks we didn't do because of the teens.