Plan Your Visit
Plan your visit
A little planning makes a North York Moors trip go smoothly. Here's the practical stuff — getting here, the best times to come, bringing the dog, and a few ideas for filling your days.
Placeholder photograph — real imagery to follow.
Getting here
By car, the A64 from York and the A170 through Pickering are the main routes into the southern Moors. By train, the nearest stations are Malton, Scarborough and York; the scenic Coastliner bus links Leeds, York, Malton, Pickering and Whitby, and from Malton bus 840 runs to Pickering for the steam railway. In summer the seasonal Moorsbus reaches many spots car-free. (Check current timetables.)
When to go
Every season has its moment: spring for lambs and blossom, summer for long days and — in August — the moors turning purple with heather, autumn for forest colour, and winter for crisp walks and some of England's darkest, clearest skies.
With dogs
This is wonderful dog country — miles of moor, forest and beach, and plenty of dog-friendly pubs and cottages — but the moors are grazed, so keep dogs on leads around sheep, especially in lambing season.
A few ideas
Pair Dalby Forest with the Bridestones; ride the steam railway to Goathland and walk to Mallyan Spout; combine Pickering's castle and church with the Hole of Horcum; or run down to Whitby for the abbey and fish and chips. Then find a base: see where to stay.