Is Hornsea worth a visit? Would like to stay at a seaside place close enough for a day trip or two to York!

[Pigeonqueen]

Just that really.

I can see that obviously Bridlington is a much larger town (?) but Hornsea looks quite nice on google maps - we’d like to stay somewhere with a nice beach and a few shops etc but fairly quiet ish and then have a few days out going to York and bigger / busier places. (Ds aged 11 has autism and loves the beach but would also like to visit York for various reasons). We live in Norfolk so have no knowledge of the area!

Any experiences or recommendations gracefully received!

Hornsea is nice and not too far from Bridlington which is nice. It’s just over an hour away from York though.

I would choose Whitby and Scarborough over Hornsea and Bridlington.

We live close to Hornsea and sometimes go to the beach for an hour, but wouldn’t go there for a day trip.

Filey or Whitby would be my choice. We live just east of York but v rarely go to the southern part of the East Yorkshire coast. Nothing wrong with it but very different to slightly further north.

Missed the bit about fairly quiet, would do Filey rather than very busy Whitby.

Hornsea is quite small not much there other than the beach.

Filey is lovely.

Hornsea is grim.
Filey is by far the nicest of those places. Scarborough, Whitby, Robin Hoods Bay also nice and better tha Hornsea.
If you want busy with plenty to do then Scarborough. Quiet with miles of beach - Filey.

Yes Whitby can get busy, but just a bit further on is Sandsend which is smaller but has a lovely beach, or further again is Saltburn again smaller than Whitby but nice beach there too, or Robin Hood's Bay, Saltburn does get busy at peak times though and might add too much to a trip to York.

There is really not that much at Hornsea- it's OK but I wouldn't holiday there. I'd stay at Whitby if you really want to be by the sea. In all honesty I would stay in York and then maybe have a trip to Whitby and/or Scarborough. Loads to do in York and your DS is at the just the right age. I have an autistic DS- young adult these days but we have had loads of mini breaks in York and Scarborough/Whitby over the years.

Having spent a few days in Hornsea for a break on someone’s recommendation I would say - don’t. Quite why they recommended it we still don’t know, it’s quite run down and grim.

Slightly off topic, but the NRM in York is a fantastic place for DC with autism.

Hornsea is ok for a few hours (wouldn't call it grim at all). The beach is nice, quite pebbly. There's a couple of amusements, a few shops not much else.

Scarborough and Bridlington are your busy towns.

Filey is nice, not much there but a lovely beach and little harbour area etc. Parking not great unless you're prepared to walk a while.

I must be the odd one out as I don't particularly love Whitby like most people seem to do, find it a bit boring.

These are all brilliant replies. Thank you so much! 💐❤️

Off to google… thank you.

Staithes and robin hoods bay?

Coming on to say Staithes, we went years ago as dd liked a CBeebies program that was filmed there!

Withernsea
Hornsea
Bridlington

They're all on the same bit of coast I suppose.

I loved Withernsea. Small. You could tell there isn't the same money in the town as there used to be but I really liked it for old school SeaSide Bucket and Spade activities.

Hornsea is great too, bit more visitor friendly I suppose than Withernsea, nice though and I'd pick it over:

Bridlington. I didnt like it. Every time I've ever been there it's been overly busy with traffic and people, the beach has been crammed and parking adds £££ to your day out.

I wish instill loved up that way, I'd love to go to Withernsea again for the day.

@Girliefriendlikespuppies old jacks boats?

I live in Scarborough and I have to agree that Whitby is lovely, as are the villages around. However the road from Whitby to york , whilst pretty, is crap. If your wanting a couple of days in york I'd stay there and travel to the coast rather than stay at the coast and travel to york.

I'd stay in Hull.
I love Hull.

Then you can get to York, Cleethorpes, Whitby, Bridlington and Beverley and tons more. 😁

Yes that was it! We did a road trip, we stayed in York as have family there (loved the museum with Victorian streets!) and then headed to Staithes which was a trek I seem to remember.

We then stopped at Whitby for a night which was lovely and visited Scarborough for the day on the way back home.

Really enjoying reading your replies. Been doing a lot of googling! I didn’t realise it was about an hour to get from the coast to York, that’s a bit longer than I thought especially if the roads / journey isn’t great. Might have a think about what’s best to do. I’m half tempted to just stay in York but then I think for Ds he sort of expects a beach as part of a break (rigid thinking! 😁) so I wonder if he’d be happy with just going to York.

@Girliefriendlikespuppies my paternal family are from staithes and we have a very old staithes name. I go there at least once a year.... takes us hours as we live the other end of the country....and we love it :)

Scarborough North Bay is the quieter side and has a beautiful blue flag beach. The train journey from here to York is 50 minutes or there is a handy Park and Ride on the road from Scarborough if you're driving . You are spoilt for choice for seaside destinations along our beautiful coastline. Happy planning! 🌊☀️

You could stay in Pickering and do a day trip to Whitby on the steam train and a day trip into York.

Accommodation in Pickering would be cheaper than York and you can drive to the York Park and Ride for your day in York.