🏰 History & heritage
Whitby Abbey
Gothic ruin high on the East Cliff, with 1,300 years of history, a museum in Cholmley House and the view that helped inspire Dracula.
North York Moors National Park & Coast
Heather, coast, steam and stone.
Five hundred square miles of purple moorland, wooded dales, ruined abbeys, steam railways and a coastline of fishing villages and fossil beaches. Come and see it for yourself.
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Don't miss
All places
Highlights of the moors
🏰 History & heritage
🏰 History & heritage
Rievaulx Abbey
One of the most complete and beautiful Cistercian abbeys in England, in a wooded valley near Helmsley.
🎈 Family days out
North Yorkshire Moors Railway
Twenty-four miles of heritage steam and diesel railway from Pickering through Newton Dale to Goathland, Grosmont and the sea at Whitby.
🌿 Moors & nature
Roseberry Topping
The distinctive mini-Matterhorn peak on the northern edge of the moors, with huge views for a short climb.
🌿 Moors & nature
Sutton Bank and the National Park Centre
James Herriot called this the finest view in England. Easy walks, cycle hire and a cafe on the escarpment edge.
🌿 Moors & nature
Hole of Horcum
A vast natural amphitheatre in the moors, said to have been scooped out by the giant Wade.
On foot
Walks for every pair of legs
From a flat lap of a reservoir to the 109-mile Cleveland Way, with waterfalls, ridges, abbeys and pubs along the way. Every route here has distance, time and a difficulty rating so you can pick one that suits.
Browse the walks
Moderate
Roseberry Topping circular
Short, steep and hugely rewarding: the classic climb to the moors' most recognisable summit.
Moderate
Hole of Horcum and Levisham Moor
A full circuit of the great amphitheatre with views into Newton Dale and a possible steam train below.
Where to base yourself
All places to stay
Towns and villages
Ideas
All guides
Itineraries and guides
Itinerary
48 hours on the moors
A first-timer's weekend: abbey, steam train, waterfall, moor-top pub and a night by the sea.
Itinerary
A week on the moors
Seven days that cover the coast, the dales, the escarpment and the high moor without rushing any of it.
Itinerary
A car-free weekend by train and bus
Middlesbrough to Whitby on the Esk Valley line, the steam railway to Pickering and back by bus: no car needed.
Through the year
When to visit
A place for every season
Spring
Wild daffodils in Farndale, lambs on the greens, bluebells under Roseberry Topping.
Summer
Steam trains, long evenings on the coast and the heather turning purple in August.
Autumn
Steam galas, agricultural shows, golden bracken and Goth Weekend at Halloween.
Winter
Dark skies, empty beaches, open fires and the Plough Stots dancing in Goathland.
In pictures
Full gallery
The moors in photographs
What's on
All events
Coming up
Wed 4 Nov 2026
Weave a festive willow star
Willow weaving workshop at Sutton Bank: make a star for the tree or the wall
Sat 7 Nov 2026
NYMA walk: Commondale
5.5 miles over the moor to Hob on the Hill and Hob Cross, returning on the Quakers Causeway
7–8 Nov 2026
North Yorkshire Winter Open Studios
Artists across the county open their studios for Christmas shopping
7 Nov 2026 – 10 Jan 2027
50 years of our National Park Centres: exhibition
Art celebrating half a century of the Sutton Bank and Danby Lodge centres
“The finest view in England.”James Herriot, on Sutton Bank
See it all on the map
Every place, walk and village on this site plotted on one map, so you can see what is close to where you are staying.
Open the map