Links

Links and sources

The official sites, data sources and local organisations this guide sends you to, in one place.

This guide tells you again and again to check an official site before you travel, because opening times, timetables, tolls and closures all move. Until now it has not always given you the link. This page does.

A link here is not an endorsement. No business has paid to be included, no business can pay to be included, and no payment has been taken from anyone for anything on this site. Nothing here carries a tracking or referral code, and this guide earns nothing if you click through.

The National Park and the land

Getting about and getting in

Places to visit that the guide writes about

  • English Heritage, Whitby Abbey, Rievaulx Abbey, Pickering Castle and Helmsley Castle.
  • National Trust, Rievaulx Terrace, Nunnington Hall and the coast.
  • Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton le Hole.
  • Go Ape at Dalby, age and height rules, which are worth checking before you book.
  • Mathewsons, the auction house at Thornton le Dale and Pickering. The Pickering site opens for advertised auction viewing days, and no visitors aged sixteen or under are admitted to the showrooms. That is their rule and it is worth confirming before you travel.
  • Whitby Goth Weekend, the dates and what is on.

Dark skies

Walking

Where the guide's data comes from

  • OpenStreetMap, every map on this site is OpenStreetMap, and the contributors are credited under each one.
  • Open-Meteo, the forecast on the weather page and the place pages.

Booking a place to stay

This guide does not list individual accommodation businesses it has not verified, and these are the established places to check availability and prices for yourself.

These are plain links with no referral code, and this guide earns nothing if you book through them.

The other guides I write

The classic car archives I write are listed on the about page.

If a link here has broken, or there is a site that ought to be on this page, please tell me and I will look at it. I do not accept payment or exchange of any kind for a listing.

Top answers for the Yorkshire Moors

All questions in the full FAQ hub →

Quick, straight answers to the questions visitors ask most. Each one links through to the fuller guide.

Can you visit the North York Moors without a car?

Yes, though a car helps for the remote moor. The Yorkshire Coastliner bus (York–Malton–Pickering–Goathland–Whitby) is one of Britain's most scenic routes, the Esk Valley line serves the northern dales and Whitby, the seasonal Moorsbus reaches the high moors, and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway links Pickering, Goathland and Whitby.

Touring Journal

What is there to do in the North York Moors in winter?

Stargazing (it's an International Dark Sky Reserve), bracing coastal and moorland walks, cosy country pubs, and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway's festive steam services. The moors are atmospheric and empty in winter.

What's on

What are the top things to do in the North York Moors?

Ride the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, walk the heather moors and the Cleveland Way, explore Rievaulx and Whitby abbeys, see the Hole of Horcum and Sutton Bank, visit Goathland and Thornton-le-Dale, and spend a day on the coast at Whitby or Robin Hood's Bay.

Things to do

What can you do in the North York Moors when it rains?

Ride the steam railway, visit museums (Beck Isle Museum in Pickering, the Ryedale Folk Museum at Hutton-le-Hole, Whitby's museums), explore abbey visitor centres, or browse the shops and tearooms of Helmsley and Whitby.

Pickering guide

What do I need to know about driving in the North York Moors?

Moor roads are scenic but narrow, with blind summits, cattle grids and sheep. Sometimes free-roaming through villages like Goathland, on unfenced roads, so drive slowly and use passing places. High routes such as Blakey Ridge can be bleak or closed in snow.

Driving routes

Is it free to visit the North York Moors, and what does it cost?

The national park is free to enter, and most walking, moorland and viewpoints cost nothing; you pay only for parking, attractions (abbeys, the railway, museums) and refreshments. Prices vary, so check official sites.

About the Yorkshire Moors