Scarborough

Scarborough sits where the North York Moors run out of land and drop into the North Sea, and the town has been trading on that setting since long before anyone called it a holiday resort. A spring discovered on the beach in 1626 turned Scarborough into England's first seaside spa, and the Victorians finished the job, throwing up terraces, a grand hotel and a funicular railway down the cliff so that nobody had to walk to the sand. What survives is a town built in layers: a Norman castle on the headland, Georgian and Victorian architecture stacked up the cliffs, and a working harbour that still lands crab and lobster every morning.

The headland splits Scarborough into two distinct bays, and locals will tell you which one they prefer without much prompting. South Bay is the traditional resort front, all amusement arcades, fish and chip shops and the old town below the castle, with the harbour at one end and the Spa complex at the other. North Bay is quieter and more parkland in feel, built around Peasholm Park and its boating lake, with the coast opening out towards Scalby and Cayton beyond. Between the two, the castle ruins and clifftop walks give you a reason to cross from one side to the other at least once during a visit.

It is not a manicured town, and that is part of its appeal. Scarborough has had a difficult few decades economically, and you will notice the gap between the polished seafront and some of the streets behind it. But the theatre scene is genuinely first-rate for a town this size, the beaches are excellent by English standards, and there is enough within a short drive - Whitby, Robin Hood's Bay, the Moors - to build a week around.

Top things to do in Scarborough

Scarborough rewards a couple of days on foot before you start driving further afield. These are the things worth building a visit around:

• Scarborough Castle - English Heritage's clifftop ruin sits on a headland that has been fortified since the Iron Age, with a Roman signal station beneath the medieval keep and views along both bays.
• Peasholm Park - a Japanese-themed Edwardian park with a boating lake, pagoda and, in summer, the long-running naval warfare re-enactments staged on the water with model warships.
• Scarborough Spa - the Victorian spa complex on South Bay still runs as a live entertainment venue, with a theatre, function suites and gardens looking out over the sea.
• The Stephen Joseph Theatre - a working theatre in a converted Art Deco cinema, long associated with playwright Alan Ayckbourn, who premiered dozens of his plays here.
• South Cliff Tramway - Britain's oldest operating funicular railway, running since 1875, carries visitors between the clifftop and the South Bay seafront in about thirty seconds.
• Scarborough Harbour - still a working fishing harbour, with boat trips, crab lines for hire and a cluster of seafood stalls selling the day's catch.
• Rotunda Museum - a small, distinctive geology museum housed in a purpose-built Georgian rotunda, one of the oldest purpose-built museums in the country.
• North Bay beach and Sea Life Scarborough - the quieter of the two beaches, with rockpools, a Blue Flag award in most years, and the North Yorkshire Sea Life centre nearby.

Getting to Scarborough

Scarborough has its own railway station, at the end of a branch line from York with trains roughly every hour or two, taking about 45-50 minutes. There is no direct line from London; the usual route is a LNER service to York (around two hours from King's Cross) followed by the connecting local train, making the full journey close to three hours door to door. From Leeds and Manchester, TransPennine Express services also run via York.

By road, Scarborough sits at the end of the A64, which connects to York and on to the A1(M) and M1 for routes south and west. From Leeds it is around an hour and a half by car; from London, allow four to five hours depending on traffic on the A1. Whitby is roughly 40 minutes further up the coast on the A171. Parking in the town centre is metered and can fill up in summer - the multi-storey car parks near the railway station and on Northway are usually the most reliable bet, and many hotels on the South Cliff offer their own parking.

Best time to visit Scarborough

Spring, from April to early June, is the sweet spot for many regular visitors: the gardens on South Cliff are at their best, the town is far less crowded than in summer, and prices are noticeably lower. Summer, July and August, is peak season, with the beaches busiest, the Open Air Theatre and Spa hosting their main programme of concerts, and the town at its liveliest - book accommodation well ahead if you are travelling then. Autumn, particularly September, keeps reasonable weather with much smaller crowds, and is a good time for walkers heading out along the coast path or into the Moors. Winter is quiet on the seafront but the town leans into it, with Christmas lights along the harbour and a market in the town centre; storm-watching from the headland has its own following among visitors who like the coast wild.

Where to stay in Scarborough

The South Cliff, above South Bay, is the classic choice: a run of Victorian terraces and larger hotels along the Esplanade, most with sea views and many within a short walk or a ride on the cliff tramway down to the beach and harbour. It suits visitors who want a traditional seaside stay close to the Spa and the old town. North Bay and the area around Peasholm Park are calmer, favoured by families who want to be near the boating lake, the model railway and the quieter beach, without the arcades of the South Bay front. Just inland, the villages of Scalby and Burniston give easy access to the coast and to Forge Valley, useful if you want a caravan or camping base with a short drive rather than a walk into town. For a country-house stay with more space, the wooded edges of the town towards the Moors have a handful of larger hotels set in their own grounds, a good option for a special occasion or a stay built around walking rather than the seafront itself.

Food and drink in Scarborough

Fish and chips is close to compulsory in Scarborough, and the town takes it seriously - the Harbour Bar on Sandside is a listed 1945 ice cream parlour as much loved for its cod and chips as its knickerbocker glories, and there are several other long-standing chippies along the harbourfront worth queuing for. The harbour itself lands crab and lobster daily, sold straight off the boats or served in the seafood stalls and restaurants clustered around Sandside and Eastborough. Scarborough's indoor market, on St Helen's Square, is a good stop for local produce, baked goods and a cheaper lunch than the seafront cafes. Away from fish, the town has a growing run of independent cafes and bistros around Aberdeen Walk and the old town, doing everything from proper coffee to modern British small plates, alongside the traditional tearooms on the Esplanade that still do a full afternoon tea looking out over South Bay.