Brompton

With little accommodation in the village itself, most visitors looking to stay near Brompton base themselves in Scarborough or Pickering, both under fifteen minutes' drive away, or in one of the smaller villages scattered through the Vale of Pickering. Scarborough offers the widest choice, from seafront hotels with sea views over the South Bay to smaller guesthouses in the town's Victorian terraces, and works well if you want easy access to the beach and harbour alongside day trips out to the moors. Pickering, at the southern end of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, has a good range of coaching inns and B&Bs and puts you closer to Dalby Forest and the steam railway up to Goathland and Whitby.

For something quieter, a scatter of farmhouse B&Bs and self-catering cottages in the villages around Brompton put you within a few minutes of All Saints' Church, Low Hall and the A170, while still leaving the moors, forest and coast all within easy reach. Whichever base you choose, Brompton's position on the A170 means it is rarely more than a short drive from wherever you are staying, making it an easy stop to build into a longer trip around the North York Moors and Yorkshire coast rather than a standalone destination in its own right.

Brompton itself is compact, but it makes a good, quiet base for exploring the surrounding moors, forest and coast.

• All Saints' Church — the parish church where Wordsworth married and Cayley is buried, with monuments to the Cayley family and a display on the village's aviation history.
• Dalby Forest — a large Forestry England site a short drive north, with waymarked walking and mountain-biking trails, a Go Ape course and the Dalby Forest Drive toll road running through it.
• Low Hall and Brompton Hall — Low Hall is a Grade II-listed 17th-century manor house off Barnard Lane; Brompton Hall, a Georgian building that once belonged to the Cayley estate, now serves as a special school and is not open to visitors but is an attractive landmark from the road.
• Scarborough — eight miles east along the A170, with its two beaches, castle headland and seafront amusements, easily reached for a day out.
• Pickering and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway — a short drive west, Pickering is the southern terminus of the steam heritage railway running up to Grosmont and Whitby.

The village's historic pub, the Cayley Arms — a 19th-century coaching inn on the High Street, said to have been built by Sir George Cayley himself — closed permanently some years ago, so options in the village itself are limited. Visitors are better served in nearby Pickering and Scarborough, both a short drive away, which offer a full range of pubs, cafes and restaurants, or at Dalby Forest's visitor centre, which has a café for walkers and cyclists.

The North York Moors on Brompton's doorstep make this a promising area for campers, though it is worth remembering that wild camping without the landowner's permission is illegal in England, including on the open moorland nearby — so stick to licensed sites. Dalby Forest, a few miles north of the village, has a handful of campsites and glamping options within the forest itself, letting you wake up among the pines with the mountain-biking trails and forest drive right on your doorstep. Further into the moors, sites around Goathland, Rosedale and the Esk Valley offer a wilder, higher-altitude camping experience with dramatic views, while the Vale of Pickering below Brompton has gentler, more sheltered farm campsites better suited to family stays or those new to camping.

Glamping has taken off across this part of North Yorkshire, with shepherd's huts, safari tents and converted farm buildings offering a step up in comfort without losing the sense of being out in the landscape — a good option if the British weather turns, which it often does even in summer. Scarborough's coastline, a short drive east, adds clifftop and coastal campsites to the mix for anyone wanting sea air alongside their moorland walks.

Late spring to early autumn is the best window for camping here: the ground is drier, days are longer, and Dalby Forest's trails and the moorland paths are at their most inviting. July and August are busiest, particularly around school holidays, so booking ahead is wise. Spring brings bluebells to the forest floor and quieter trails, while a well-equipped autumn trip can catch the moors turning gold and purple before the weather closes in. Whatever the season, warm, waterproof kit is essential — North Yorkshire's weather can turn quickly, especially up on the higher moorland around Goathland and Rosedale.