The best base villages in the North York Moors

The short answer

If this is your first visit and you have a car, stay in the south of the park, Thornton-le-Dale, Pickering or Allerston. From there, Dalby Forest is ten minutes, the steam railway is on your doorstep, and Whitby and the coast are about 45 minutes over a beautiful moor road.

If the sea is the point of the trip, stay on it, Whitby or Robin Hood's Bay. If you want to walk out of the door onto heather, go central: Rosedale Abbey, Hutton-le-Hole or Levisham.

Parking: see the parking guide for car parks, charges and EV chargers in each village. Without a car, see getting around by train and bus.

The villages compared

Drive times are typical door-to-door times outside peak summer traffic; moor roads are slow, and a wet market day in Pickering can add twenty minutes to any of them.

The pub figure counts the pubs written up in this guide, not every pub in the village. Larger places such as Pickering, Helmsley and Whitby have many more than are listed here.

Two of these choices come up more often than all the others put together, so each has a page of its own: Whitby or Pickering, which is really a question of coast first or moors first, and Helmsley or Pickering, which is a question of which end of the park you want to wake up at.

Best all-rounder: Thornton-le-Dale and Allerston

These two neighbouring villages on the southern edge give you the widest choice of days out for the least driving. Dalby Forest is ten minutes, Pickering and the steam railway five to ten, the coast three quarters of an hour, and the central moors half that. Thornton-le-Dale has the shops, cafes, the beck and the famous thatched cottage, and the crowds that come with them. Allerston is the quiet version a couple of miles east: no queue for parking, and the same reach, see where to stay for accommodation options, or camping and caravanning if you are bringing a tent, caravan or van.

Best without a car: Pickering and Whitby

Pickering is the southern terminus of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, has a castle, a market and plenty of pubs within walking distance, and buses to Malton for the mainline. Whitby has the Esk Valley line, coastal buses, the steam railway in summer, and a whole town's worth of things to do on foot. Everywhere else in the park needs a car for at least part of the day.

Best for walkers: Levisham, Rosedale Abbey and Hutton-le-Hole

Levisham puts moorland at the end of the street and the Hole of Horcum within a short drive. Rosedale Abbey sits in a bowl of hills with the old ironstone railway circling above it, some of the finest high-level walking in the park. Hutton-le-Hole is the prettiest of the three and the closest to Farndale in daffodil season. All three trade convenience for scenery. See the full walks section before you choose.

Best for the coast: Whitby and Robin Hood's Bay

Stay on the coast and the moors become the day trip rather than the other way round, which is the right call if fossils, cliff paths and harbour towns are what you came for. Whitby has the beds and the amenities; Robin Hood's Bay has the atmosphere and the parking problem. Both are covered in our coast guide.

Best for food and the western moors: Helmsley

Helmsley is the handsomest market town in the park, with the best eating, a castle and a walled garden, and Rievaulx Abbey and Sutton Bank a few minutes away. The catch is distance: the coast is well over an hour, so it suits a western-moors trip rather than a touring one. Our food and drink guide has more.

Questions people ask

What is the best village to stay in the North York Moors?

For a first visit with a car, Thornton-le-Dale or Pickering in the south of the park are hard to beat: the steam railway, Dalby Forest and the coast are all within an easy drive, and there are shops and pubs on the doorstep. For quiet self-catering with the same reach, Allerston is a minute or two further out. For a coast-first trip, stay in Whitby or Robin Hood's Bay.

Is it better to stay in the middle of the moors or on the edge?

The edge, for most people. Villages like Thornton-le-Dale, Allerston, Pickering and Helmsley sit on good roads with everything within 45 minutes, whereas central villages such as Rosedale Abbey and Hutton-le-Hole are gorgeous but add slow moorland miles to every trip. Stay central if walking straight from the door matters more than driving times.

Can you visit the North York Moors without a car?

Yes, but pick your base carefully. Pickering and Whitby are the two realistic car-free bases: the North Yorkshire Moors Railway links them via Levisham, Goathland and Grosmont, Whitby also has the Esk Valley line and coastal buses, and both towns have shops and pubs within walking distance. Elsewhere the bus service is thin, especially on Sundays and in winter.

Where should you stay for Dalby Forest and Bangers & Cash?

Allerston and Thornton-le-Dale are both about ten minutes from the Dalby Forest gates, and Mathewsons of Bangers & Cash is in Thornton-le-Dale itself with the Pickering saleroom nearby. See our separate guide to where to stay near Bangers & Cash for auction-week advice.

The village and classic-car sister sites linked here are also written by the author of this guide.