Scarborough and Bridlington get the crowds, but ten miles of rolling farmland between them sits Hunmanby — a centuries-old North Yorkshire village that works brilliantly as a low-key base for this stretch of coast. It's three miles from Filey Bay and some of the longest sandy beaches in the county, yet it feels properly rural: walkable streets, old stone buildings, and pubs that take their pies seriously.
Accommodation leans rustic. Saxdale House Farm Camping, a mile and a half south of the village, pitches tents and caravans in a hedge-lined field with showers and electric hook-ups. If you'd rather not sleep on the ground, Graffitoe Farm Holidays offers three glamping pods with kitchens, bathrooms and private hot tubs on the deck. There's also the option of a room above a pub — The Piebald Inn is the local institution, with over 50 pies on the menu (venison, fish, vegetarian) and a 4.5 Google rating from more than 2,500 reviews. The White Swan does a Sunday carvery and has a terrace for pints.
Hunmanby's surprise draw is drink. The Spirit of Yorkshire Distillery on the village's southern edge makes Filey Bay Single Malt Whisky from barley it grows itself, running guided tours and tastings, plus a coffee shop for cake or lunch. The same farming families run Wold Top Brewery on a farm four miles away, with tours on Tuesdays and selected Saturdays — the Scarborough Fair IPA is the one to try.
The coast is the real reason to come. Filey Beach runs four miles, the longest bathing beach in Yorkshire, and the Victorian town of Filey at the bay's northern tip has a promenade, gardens and ice cream stands. Fit walkers can hike a mile and a half from the beach out to Filey Brigg, a rugged nature reserve peninsula with views across the bay. Closer to the village, Hunmanby Gap is a broad, undeveloped sandy beach beneath grassy slopes, with parking at the top and a small Beach Cafe on a deck above the sea — bring what you need, because there are barely any shops.
Head south and the scenery gets dramatic. Bempton Cliffs and Flamborough Head are under 20 minutes away, and RSPB Bempton hosts hundreds of thousands of seabirds between March and August — gannets, guillemots, kittiwakes and puffins. North Landing, a tiny sand strip in a white-chalk cove, is nearby, and Bridlington offers the classic resort experience with award-winning beaches and fresh seafood.
This one's for travellers who want the Yorkshire coast without the seaside-town bustle: book a pod or a campsite, drive the cliff roads, eat pie, drink locally-made whisky, and fall asleep to nothing but farmland. A car helps — Leeds Bradford Airport is about two hours away by road — and opens up the fishing villages and nature reserves along the whole coast.
