Crow's Nest

The views from Crow's Nest are frankly the main event here. You're standing high above Whitby with the town sprawled below you, the harbour, the Abbey ruins on the cliff opposite - it's the kind of vista that makes you understand why people have lived in this precarious spot for centuries. The gallery itself is small and intimate, the sort of place where you might spend twenty minutes or an hour depending on what's on and how much time you've got to kill before heading back down into town.

It works best if you're already walking the cliff path from Whitby itself - make it part of a longer ramble rather than a destination in its own right. The climb up is doable but not trivial, and the reward is genuinely worth the huffing. History types will appreciate the Abbey views and the sense of being at a proper vantage point; artists clearly do too, given the gallery's existence. Families with younger kids might find the climb off-putting, though teenagers would be fine with it.

If you're staying at Whitby Holiday Park or Broadings Farm - both just over a mile away - you can easily pop up here on a decent weather day. The clifftop location means wind can be savage even when the town below is calm, so bring a proper jacket. Allow an hour including the walk there and back from the town centre. The gallery admission details aren't clear online, so ring ahead or check when you book your park accommodation.