The beginnings of my Yorkshire tour…

The sun and a visit from my parents gave me the perfect excuse to ignore deadlines and head to the sea!

A Trip to Whitby – The Perfect Coastal Day Trip to Ignore the End of Term Stress!

We embarked on the hour trip through the North York National Park to the gorgeous seaside town to enjoy the rare sunshine. I am guilty of leaving the planning down to my Mum, who had found a 5-mile (ish) walk with stunning views of the abbey and a lighthouse.

We finished our walk at the Whitby Brewery, where my dad enjoyed a cold Lager and admired the view. Sadly, I am not yet well-versed enough to enjoy a beer, therefore I settled down with my lemonade – the student in me was disappointed to say no to alcohol! This was a beautiful location for the microbrewery and an even better end to a walk.

Although, we had finished the main purpose of our trip, we wanted to explore more of the town. We descended through the cobbled streets (slightly reminiscent of York’s Shambles) and window shopped our way to the harbour. Fish and chips were on the cards next – you can’t visit the coast without, am I right? Finally, we drove back to York with a detour through Scarborough, to take in just a few more views of the sea before heading back inland.

Overall, it was a glorious day exploring the quaint coastal town of Whitby and made even better by the sun!

Whitby Harbour

A Town Posher than York..?!

Our day centred around afternoon tea at the infamous Yorkshire Betty’s Tea Rooms. However, we spent our morning exploring the typical high street shops – and I took advantage of my parents’ visit by spending their money!

The atmosphere of the town was unbeatable, from the uplifting sunshine to the friendly locals, to the talented buskers in the town centre. It was an excellent day trip with my parents or potentially perfect for the older individual. However, I’m not sure how suitable it would be for student life – although, I can’t vouch for whether or not it turns into party central once the sun goes down!

Mid-morning, we became peckish and in a slightly strange turn of events, found ourselves at the St. Peter’s Church coffee morning. We enjoyed coffee and cake and felt far better giving money, all of which went towards the Ukraine appeal rather than to a commercialised coffee shop – however, my parents and I brought the average age down by a significant amount! After our conversations with the local pensioners, I kept with the age theme and dragged my parents down the street to the SPACE vintage shop. It was a treasure trove of goodies and not too badly priced (coming from someone who has limited experience of vintage shops down south and in London!).

We then wandered through the vintage market and charity shops before arriving at Betty’s tearooms for afternoon tea in the Imperial Suite. It was a tick on my checklist of my travels around Yorkshire and we were all very glad we experienced it. However, it was very pricey, and we would not be rushing back. I was very glad my parents were paying as it did not fit my student budget! That said, where else can you be serenaded by a pianist whilst eating tiny sandwiches and gazing over the picture-perfect gardens in the centre of town?

Overall, it was a wonderful day out; I will definitely be heading back to explore more of Harrogate and work my way through the many cafes on offer.

Afternoon tea at Betty’s Tearooms