Whitby or Pickering: which base suits you

The short answer

For a first visit with a car, stay in Pickering. It is more central for the moors, parking is easier and cheaper, and the steam railway starts in the town rather than an hour away. Stay in Whitby instead if the coast is the main reason for the trip, or if you want a town with an evening in it.

Underneath that, the conditional version. Pickering if the moors, Dalby Forest and the railway are the point, or if you are without a car and would rather be in a working town than a resort. Whitby if you want the sea from the window. Worth knowing while you picture the map: Whitby is inside the National Park boundary, it is the moors' coastal gateway rather than a separate seaside trip, and Pickering sits on the southern edge of the park on the A170, where the vale meets the moorland scarp.

The two towns compared

Everything in this table is drawn from the town guides on this site. Drive times are typical outside peak summer traffic, and the moor road is slow when it is busy.

The case for Pickering

Pickering is the southern terminus of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, which means the steam line starts at the end of your street rather than an hour away. The line runs about 18 miles up to Grosmont and roughly 24 miles in all to the coast.

Around the station is a proper market town: a Norman castle, one of the most complete sets of late medieval wall paintings in England in the parish church, a Monday market and more than a hundred independent shops. The roads suit you too. The A170 runs east and west, the A169 climbs north over the moor to Whitby, and the Hole of Horcum is eight miles up it. Dalby Forest is about fifteen minutes. York is close, with the A64 at Malton about half an hour away.

Its honest weakness is the evening. Pickering is a working town and it winds down early, and it is not on the coast, so a sunset over water means a drive.

The case for Whitby

Whitby gives you a whole town to spend an evening in, which Pickering does not. The abbey stands on the East Cliff above the 199 steps, the harbour still works, the piers are walkable and the Cleveland Way runs straight through on the cliffs. Robin Hood's Bay is 6 miles south, Sandsend 3 miles west along the sand, Scarborough 20 miles down the coast road. Trains come in on the Esk Valley line from Middlesbrough, right by the harbour.

The honest weakness is summer, and it is the same weakness every year. On a busy weekend the question of where you leave the car decides the whole day. The Park and Ride off the A171 is the sane answer from spring to autumn, the harbour car parks fill early, and the old town lanes are narrow, cobbled and mostly pedestrianised, so do not let a satnav take you down them. Before ten or after four makes for a far better day in July and August.

Without a car

These two are the realistic car free bases in this part of the park, and they are car free in different ways. Whitby has the Esk Valley line from Middlesbrough, coastal buses, the 840 Coastliner and steam services in season, plus a town where you can fill several days on foot. Pickering has the 840 Coastliner linking York, Malton and Whitby, and the steam railway terminus in the town itself, so the moors are reachable without touching a car at all.

Timetables and frequencies change through the year and I will not quote you a number that might be wrong by the time you read it. Check the railway's current timetable and the bus operator's before you build a day around either.

If you can, do both

A split stay works better here than in most places, because the two towns are joined by a steam railway rather than a motorway. Three nights inland and two on the coast gives you the moors, the forest and the sea without repeating a single drive, and the train between them is a day out in its own right, about an hour and a half each way.

Questions people ask

Is Whitby or Pickering closer to the moors?

Neither is far, which is the part people get wrong. Whitby is inside the National Park boundary and Pickering stands on its southern edge on the A170. What differs is which moorland you reach quickest. Pickering puts the A169, the Hole of Horcum eight miles up it and Dalby Forest about fifteen minutes away. Whitby puts Goathland ten miles away and the coastal moor on your doorstep.

Which is cheaper to stay in, Whitby or Pickering?

I do not publish prices, because they move with the season and I have not verified them. What I will say is that Whitby fills up completely around the two Goth Weekends and through the school summer, frequently a good while in advance, and those are the weeks an inland town starts to look sensible. Check your dates before assuming either is the bargain.

Can you stay in Pickering and visit Whitby for the day?

Easily, and a lot of people do. It is 20 miles up the A169 over the high moor, about 40 minutes, or an hour and a half each way on the steam railway if you would rather let someone else drive. The railway turns the journey into part of the day out rather than a chore.

Which is better with children?

Whitby if beach, harbour and a day that needs no car appeals. Pickering if the steam railway, the castle and Dalby Forest are the draw, with the coast an easy run when the weather is right. Neither is a wrong answer, they simply front load different days.

Do I need a car in either town?

No, and they are the two places in the area I would say that about. Both have shops, pubs and things to see within walking distance, and both are on the steam line that joins them. Everywhere else in the park expects a car for at least part of the day.