Camping in Robin Hood's Bay

Robin Hood's Bay sits within the North York Moors National Park, where heather moorland runs down almost to the cliff edge, and the coastline itself offers some of the most scenic camping and glamping in Yorkshire. As in the rest of England, wild camping without the landowner's permission is illegal, so campers need a proper site, a farm pitch, or a bothy/hostel arrangement rather than pitching up on the clifftops or beach. Fortunately the area around the village and along the coast towards Whitby and Scarborough has a good spread of small campsites and glamping pods, many run by local farms, offering sea views, easy access to the Cleveland Way, and a much quieter alternative to staying in the village itself.

The terrain here is coastal moorland: exposed, breezy, and prone to sudden weather changes even in summer, so a well-pegged tent or a wooden glamping pod with proper insulation makes a real difference to comfort, especially outside the height of summer. The best camping season runs from late spring through to early autumn, when the moors are drier underfoot, the evenings are long enough for a walk down to the shore after pitching up, and the fossil-rich beach is at its most accessible at low tide. July and August bring the warmest weather and the busiest sites, so early booking is essential, while May, June and September often give a better balance of decent weather and available pitches.

Glamping has grown quickly around Robin Hood's Bay in recent years, with shepherd's huts, safari tents and converted farm buildings offering a comfortable base without the need to carry your own kit down the village's notoriously steep bank. Many sites make a point of their sea views or their proximity to the Cleveland Way, letting campers walk straight out onto the coastal path or down to Boggle Hole and the fossil beds without needing a car. Whichever way you camp, a night here under a big, dark, moorland sky, with the sea audible below, is one of the more atmospheric ways to experience this stretch of coast.