Itinerary
48 hours on the moors
A first-timer's weekend: abbey, steam train, waterfall, moor-top pub and a night by the sea.
Ideas & inspiration
Itineraries and guides
Ready-made plans for a weekend or a week, and deeper guides to heather, dark skies, fossils and wildlife.
Plans
Itineraries
Follow them as written or use them as a skeleton.
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.
Itinerary
A family long weekend
Trains, beaches, rock pools, a folk museum and a forest: three days that keep children busy.
Know before you go
Guides
Guide
Heather season: the moors in purple
For a few weeks in August the largest expanse of heather moorland in England turns purple. Where and when to see it.
Guide
Stargazing in an International Dark Sky Reserve
The North York Moors has some of the darkest skies in England. Where to go, when to go and what you will see.
Guide
Dracula's Whitby
Bram Stoker stayed in Whitby in 1890 and put the town into the most famous vampire story ever written. Follow the trail.
Guide
Fossil hunting on the Dinosaur Coast
The Jurassic cliffs between Staithes and Ravenscar are among the best fossil grounds in Britain. How to look responsibly.
Guide
The moors month by month
What to expect, and what to look out for, in every month of the year.
Guide
Wildlife of the moors and coast
Curlews, merlins, seals, adders and the last of the Yorkshire red squirrels. What lives here and where to find it.
Guide
Cycling on the moors
Forest trails, moorland climbs, the Cinder Track and the toughest hill in Yorkshire: where to ride.
Guide
Riding the North Yorkshire Moors Railway
How the steam railway works, where to get off and how to get the most from a day rover.
Guide
Captain Cook country
James Cook was born, schooled and apprenticed on the edge of the moors. A trail through the places that made the navigator.
Guide
The abbeys and priories trail
Five monastic ruins in a day's drive: Rievaulx, Byland, Mount Grace, Whitby and Rosedale's ghost.