Faceby

Faceby itself has no hotels, being little more than a pub, a church and a handful of houses beneath Whorl Hill, so anyone wanting a proper bed for the night needs to look to the surrounding villages and towns. Stokesley, four miles to the northeast, is the obvious choice, with its market-town character, a good spread of pubs and guesthouses, and easy access back out to the A172 and A19. Swainby, at the foot of the moors just north of Faceby, has a village inn within walking distance of Whorlton Castle and the Cleveland Way, making it a good option for anyone planning to walk straight from their accommodation onto the moors.

Further afield, Northallerton offers a wider range of hotels and guesthouses along with its East Coast Main Line station, useful for visitors arriving by train, while Great Ayton and Osmotherley both sit prettily at the moors' edge with their own pubs-with-rooms and B&Bs. Whichever base you choose, expect a rural, walking-orientated stay rather than large-scale hotels; this is a part of North Yorkshire built around villages, farms and moorland rather than tourist infrastructure, and bookings for the smaller inns can fill up quickly around the Stokesley Show in September and during peak summer walking weekends.

Faceby's real draw is what surrounds it. Within a short drive or walk you reach some of the North York Moors' best-loved viewpoints and trails.

• Whorl Hill Wood — a rounded, densely wooded hill right on Faceby's doorstep, reached via a footpath off Bank Lane. In late spring the woodland floor is thick with bluebells, and a circular path loops around the summit.
• Carlton Bank and Carlton Moor — a steep climb of around 1,000 feet from the village gives access to the Cleveland Way and sweeping views back across the Vale of Mowbray. It is a popular launch point for hang gliders on a good day.
• Whorlton Castle — the ruined gatehouse and earthworks of a medieval fortified manor house, a short walk from neighbouring Swainby, with a scenic route linking the two villages.
• Roseberry Topping — often called the 'Yorkshire Matterhorn' for its distinctive peak, this is one of the North York Moors' most photographed summits, roughly a 20-minute drive north.
• Captain Cook's Monument — set on Easby Moor above Great Ayton, this obelisk commemorates the explorer who grew up nearby, with far-reaching views over Teesside and the moors.
• Stokesley — the nearest market town, with a Friday market dating back to 1223, a riverside walk along the River Leven, and the 12th-century Church of St Peter and St Paul.

The Sutton Arms is Faceby's own pub, serving the village and passing walkers. For more choice, Stokesley's High Street has a good spread of independent cafes, restaurants and pubs, with the Spread Eagle a long-standing favourite and the Chapters Hotel offering a smarter dining option. Swainby, at the foot of the moors just north of Faceby, also has a village pub popular with walkers coming off Whorlton Castle and the Cleveland Way.

The moors above Faceby look wild, and in places they genuinely are, but wild camping without the landowner's permission remains against the law in England, including here on the North York Moors. The open access land around Carlton Bank and Whorl Hill is for walking, not pitching a tent, so anyone wanting to sleep out under these skies needs a proper campsite or a farmer's explicit consent.

Fortunately the area around Stokesley and the western edge of the North York Moors has a reasonable spread of small, family-run campsites and caravan parks, many on working farms within a few miles of Faceby. These tend to be simple, quiet sites rather than large holiday parks, well suited to walkers heading up onto Carlton Bank or the Cleveland Way, and to families wanting a rural base without a long drive to the coast. Facilities vary considerably from one site to the next, so it is worth checking what is included, whether that is electric hook-up, showers, or a farm shop, before booking.

The terrain here is a mix of flat, sheltered farmland in the Vale of Mowbray and the much steeper, more exposed moorland escarpment rising to the east, so choose a pitch according to what kind of trip you want. Valley sites near Faceby and Swainby are more sheltered and easier for tents and awnings, while sites closer to the moor edge put you nearer the best walking but can be more exposed to wind and weather. Spring and early autumn tend to offer the most reliable camping conditions, with firmer ground and fewer midges than high summer, though the bluebells in Whorl Hill Wood make a late-spring visit particularly rewarding. For anyone wanting the views without the groundwork, several sites in the wider Stokesley area now offer glamping pods, shepherd's huts or safari tents, giving a taste of the moorland setting with rather more comfort than a tent pitched straight on the grass.