Long before a certain 2023 film put the name on everyone's lips, Saltburn-by-the-Sea was doing its own thing on the North Yorkshire coast — and unlike the movie, it's thoroughly pleasant. Often dubbed Yorkshire's answer to St Ives, this small town punches well above its weight: an award-winning beach, the last surviving pier on the Yorkshire coast, and a working Victorian cliff railway, all within a short stroll of each other.
Saltburn started life in the 1700s as a fishing village with a smuggling habit, then reinvented itself as a Victorian railway resort. That heritage is still the town's main draw. The Grade II listed pier, opened in 1869, stretches 200 metres into the North Sea and is the only one left on the Yorkshire coast. Just as charming is the Saltburn Cliff Tramway, built in 1884 to connect the town to the beach below. It's still a practical way down the cliffs, and the carriages keep their ornate Victorian styling — a bit of living history that happens to get you to the promenade.
The beach itself, which runs from neighbouring Redcar to the Ship Inn pub, mixes sand and shingle and holds a Seaside Award for cleanliness. Families like it, dog walkers like it (though marked sections are dog-free from May to September), and surfers genuinely rate it: there are year-round breaks for all levels, and Saltburn Surf School rents boards and teaches everything from surfing to windsurfing and surf ski. Fossil hunting is another option, along with a bracing swim — the North Sea doesn't really do warm. Above the beach, the town perches on dramatic cliffs, so the views are good from almost anywhere.
For a quieter hour, head into the Italian Gardens within Saltburn Valley Gardens. Laid out in 1860 by the Saltburn Improvement Company, they're at their best from late spring to early autumn, when the planting is lush and the sea views open up. One caveat: Historic England has placed the wider Valley Gardens on its at-risk register due to deterioration in recent years, though visitors still describe the Italian Gardens as a peaceful walk.
Logistically, Saltburn is refreshingly easy for an English seaside town. It's under 90 minutes by car from York and under two hours by TransPennine Express train; even from London, rail travel takes under three and a half hours, making it a viable weekend escape as well as an add-on to a Yorkshire itinerary. Accommodation ranges from hotels and inns to holiday cottages.
Who's it for? Anyone who likes their seaside towns historic rather than hyper-commercial — think piers and funiculars rather than arcades and inflatable dolphins — plus surfers after an uncrowded break and walkers exploring the Cleveland Way, which passes right through. If you've done Whitby and Scarborough and want somewhere lower-key, this is the one.
