Visit Robin Hood's Bay, Yorkshire Moors

Robin Hood's Bay tourist information

Robin Bood's Bay is a fishing village to the south of Whitby on the coast of North Yorkshire, and on the eastern edge of the Yorkshire Moors National Park.

It was around the abbey that the original village developed, and the imposing ruins of the Benedictine Whitby Abbey still overlook the sea from East Cliff, above the town. The abbey was dissolved in 1540 (as were all abbeys in England) and fell to ruin, and in the 16th - 19th centuries the fortunes of Robin's Hood Bay depended on smuggling and fishing. The decline in these industries has given way to the rise in tourism from the 20th century.

A very attractive village, the harbour and houses that we see today in the lower, older part of Robin Hood's Bay (called Lower Bay) largely date from the 16th-18th centuries. There is a warren of narrow streets to explore, many of them steep cobbled alleys, lined with a fascinating mix of old houses in various architectural styles and with a great deal of character, with various shops and cafes and a couple of pubs scattered among the streets to fortify you as you explore.

Among the steep cobbled streets there is a small museum that relates the colourful story of the history of Robin Hood's Bay, while the natural environment is explained at the Old Coastguard Station, now a National Trust operated property - a useful stop if you are here at low tide and are set to explore the rock pools along the coast below the village.

After exploring the village and admiring the fishing boats in the harbour, and perhaps doing a little fossil hunting and rock pool exploring in the rocks around the coast, head back up the hill to see the early 19th century Church of Saint Stephen - the interior is a good example of traditional churches of the region.