Hunmanby

Hunmanby itself has only a handful of places to stay — a few bed and breakfasts and self-catering cottages dotted around the village — so it works best as a base for travellers who want a quiet, low-key village setting with the Yorkshire coast and Wolds both close by. Don't expect a big choice of hotels on the doorstep; this is a village, not a resort town.

For a wider range of hotels, most visitors head a few miles up the coast to Filey or on to Scarborough, both well served by seafront hotels, guesthouses and chain options, while still being close enough for Hunmanby's beach, Wolds walks and village pubs to be a short drive or train ride away. Bridlington to the south is another option with a broader hotel selection. Wherever you base yourself, this stretch of the Yorkshire coast is compact enough that Hunmanby, Filey and the surrounding Wolds villages are all easily combined into a single trip.

Hunmanby is a village, not a resort, so its attractions are modest and mostly free — but that's part of the appeal.

• Hunmanby Gap beach — a quiet sandy beach on Filey Bay, a short walk or drive south of the village, with shallow tidal pools good for paddling and the remains of WWII pillboxes on the clifftop.
• All Saints' Church — a 12th-century parish church at the centre of the village, with later additions, well worth a look for anyone interested in medieval architecture.
• Low Hall — an 11th-century hall house in the village centre, one of the oldest buildings in the area and linked to the de Gant family who once held Hunmanby after the Norman Conquest.
• The market cross — a reminder that Hunmanby was once a chartered market town serving much of the surrounding coast.
• The Black Hole — a small 19th-century village lock-up, a curious survivor from the days before a proper police force.
• Yorkshire Wolds Way — the long-distance footpath passes close to the village, giving access to the chalk hills and valleys of the Wolds to the west.
• Filey Brigg and Filey seafront — a few miles up the coast, the long rocky headland and traditional seafront make an easy add-on trip from Hunmanby.

For its size, Hunmanby has a decent spread of pubs. The Horseshoe Inn is a popular village local with a large beer garden, the Grade II-listed White Swan on Cross Hill serves classic pub food in a historic coaching-inn setting, and the Piebald Inn is known for its selection of pies. There's also a village chip shop and a couple of cafés, including one attached to the church, for a simpler bite. It's honest village fare rather than a food destination, but there's enough to make a decent evening of it without leaving.

Hunmanby sits in classic Yorkshire coast-and-Wolds camping country: sandy beach a short walk away at Hunmanby Gap, rolling arable and pasture land inland, and the chalk hills of the Yorkshire Wolds rising to the west. As with everywhere else in England, wild camping without the landowner's permission is against the law here, so pitching up on farmland, clifftop grassland or the beach itself isn't an option — stick to licensed campsites and caravan parks, of which the Filey and Reighton coast just south of Hunmanby has plenty, many geared around the wide sweep of Filey Bay.

The terrain shapes what camping looks like locally. Coastal sites near Hunmanby Gap and Reighton Sands tend to be exposed to sea winds, so a sturdy tent and decent pegs matter more here than in a sheltered inland spot; sites tucked a little further back towards the village or up into the Wolds get more shelter from hedgerows and farmland. Cliff-edge paths along this stretch of coast can also erode, so it's worth checking site-specific advice on beach access rather than assuming a route is safe year to year.

Late spring through early autumn is the best window, broadly April to September, when the weather is kindest and the days long enough to make the most of both the beach and the Wolds Way footpaths inland. Peak summer weekends and school holidays get busy at the coastal parks, so booking ahead is sensible if a sea view matters to you. Outside those months the North Sea coast can turn cold and blustery fast, and many smaller sites close for winter altogether.

For anyone who'd rather skip guy ropes altogether, glamping is well represented along this stretch of coast — shepherd's huts, pods and static options at the larger holiday parks around Primrose Valley and Reighton offer sea-facing or Wolds-facing pitches with proper beds and heating, a good middle ground for a comfortable coastal break without a hotel.