Top Beaches Day Trips from York
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The top Beaches Day Trips from York include Barmston Beach, Mappleton Beach, Robin Hood's Bay Beach, Danes Dyke Beach, South Landing Beach, Sandsend Beach, Thornwick Bay and Kettleness Beach.
York sits well inland, so a beach day here means a proper drive east to the Yorkshire coast, roughly an hour or more each way. It is worth the effort, and the reward is a coastline of chalk headlands, eroding clay cliffs and old fishing villages.
Down on the Holderness coast, south of Bridlington, lie the wide, quiet sands of Barmston and the sea-defended shore at Mappleton. Around Flamborough Head the chalk takes over, with hidden Danes Dyke, sheltered South Landing and the caves and stacks of Thornwick Bay.
Further north, past Scarborough and Whitby, the character shifts again to Robin Hood's Bay, tumbling down its hillside to rocky scars, the long sands at Sandsend, and remote, fossil-strewn Kettleness. Expect fossils, seabirds and dramatic cliffs rather than a quick dip close to home, and set off early to make the most of the daylight.
Here are eight beaches for a day trip from York.
Barmston Beach
Photo: habiloid via Geograph.org.uk
Barmston Beach Closest of the group at around 57 kilometres east of York, Barmston is a long, quiet stretch of sand on the Holderness coast a few miles south of Bridlington. The sand is wide and open, backed by low cliffs of soft brown clay that the sea is steadily eating away, for this is one of the fastest-eroding coasts in Europe.
Sand martins nest in holes in the crumbling cliff face through summer. Little is built here beyond a caravan park set back from the edge, so the beach runs on with room to walk undisturbed.
It is a plain, working stretch rather than a resort, open to the North Sea wind.
Mappleton Beach
Photo: Dr Patty McAlpin via Geograph.org.uk
Mappleton Beach A little further up the Holderness coast, Mappleton sits at the foot of soft clay cliffs on one of the fastest-eroding shorelines in Britain. Back in 1991, two large rock groynes and a rock apron were built at the base of the cliff to protect the village and the coast road above, and these have trapped sand to build a wider beach in front of the village.
Just south of the defences, the unprotected clay cliffs slump and wear back quickly, which has made the beach a well-known example for studying how coasts change. Visitors come to see the great rock groynes and, beyond them, the bare eroding cliffs.
Robin Hood's Bay Beach
Photo: Anthony Foster via Geograph.org.uk
Robin Hood's Bay Beach Further north, past Whitby, Robin Hood's Bay is an old fishing and smuggling village tumbling down a steep hillside to the sea on the North Yorkshire coast. You leave the car at the top and walk down a steep, narrow main street that winds between the cottages to the slipway and shore.
At low tide the beach opens into broad rocky ledges, known as the scars, full of rock pools, and it is one of the best places on this coast to hunt for fossils, with ammonites weathering out of the shale. Keep an eye on the water, though, as the tide comes right up to the sea wall.
Danes Dyke Beach
Photo: JThomas via Geograph.org.uk
Danes Dyke Beach Back around Flamborough Head, Danes Dyke is a secluded shore of chalk pebbles and sand backed by white cliffs. You reach it down a steep, wooded ravine from a clifftop car park, the ravine following the line of Danes Dyke itself, an ancient earthwork that cuts right across the headland.
At low tide rock pools open up among the chalk. The wooded walk down gives the beach a genuinely hidden feel, a pleasant surprise after the long drive east from York.
It is a quieter, greener spot than the open Holderness sands to the south, well suited to a slower afternoon by the sea.
South Landing Beach
Photo: JThomas via Geograph.org.uk
South Landing Beach On the south side of Flamborough Head, South Landing is a sheltered cove of shingle and pebble backed by grassy chalk cliffs, all within a local nature reserve. A lifeboat station stands at the head of the beach, home to an inshore lifeboat, and a chalk reef with rock pools is uncovered at low tide.
Cliff-top paths run along the coast, and there is a wildlife centre with a cafe close by. With a car park, toilets and seabirds strung along the cliffs, this quiet, wildlife-rich beach makes an easy and rewarding stop on a Flamborough day out from York.
Sandsend Beach
Photo: Andy Beecroft via Geograph.org.uk
Sandsend Beach For a proper stretch of sand, Sandsend marks the north-western end of the long sweep that runs from Whitby along the bay, at the village of the same name a few miles up the coast. It stays sandy at most states of the tide, uncovering rocky, fossil-bearing ledges at low water, with the village gathered around two becks and cliffs rising behind.
The Cleveland Way follows the old railway line above the shore. To the north lie the spoil heaps and ruins of the old alum works, a strange industrial landscape left from the days when alum was made here for the dyeing trade, well worth the drive north-east from York.
Thornwick Bay
Photo: JThomas via Geograph.org.uk
Thornwick Bay On the northern side of Flamborough Head, Thornwick Bay is a chalk cove ringed by white cliffs that the sea has worn into caves, arches and stacks. It splits into a larger bay and a smaller one, Little Thornwick, with rock pools and caves to explore at low tide and clear water for kayaking.
These are the only chalk sea cliffs in the north of England, and the wider headland holds huge colonies of nesting seabirds, with the great gannet cliffs of Bempton close by. A holiday park and cafe sit above the cove, with steps leading down to the shore, making this a fine finale to a Flamborough visit.
Kettleness Beach
Photo: Helen Wilkinson via Geograph.org.uk
Kettleness Beach The most distant of the eight, Kettleness is a remote rocky and sandy shore beneath high cliffs on the North Yorkshire coast, just east of Runswick Bay. The Lower Jurassic shale cliffs here were heavily worked for alum in the past, which reshaped the whole headland, and the foreshore is a well-known place for finding fossils such as ammonites and even the bones of marine reptiles.
Getting down is not easy: access is either down a very steep clifftop path or around from Runswick Bay, with the sand lying at the foot of the cliffs. The hamlet itself sits high on the clifftop above the beach, nearly 68 kilometres from York.
FAQs
How far are the beaches from York?
All of them lie on the Yorkshire coast, from around 57 kilometres at Barmston to nearly 68 at Kettleness, so expect roughly an hour or more of driving east from York each way.
Which beaches near York are best for fossils?
Robin Hood's Bay and Kettleness, both on the North Yorkshire coast a good drive east of York, are known for ammonites and other fossils weathering out of the shale.
Are any of these beaches good for families?
South Landing on Flamborough Head has a car park, toilets, a nearby cafe and sheltered rock pools, making it one of the more family-friendly choices for a day out from York.
Conclusion
None of these beaches is close to York, so treat a coastal day out as a proper expedition, with an hour or more on the road each way and an early start to make it count. Your reward is one of England's most characterful coastlines.
The Holderness sands at Barmston and Mappleton show the sea reshaping soft clay cliffs, while Flamborough Head serves up chalk drama at Danes Dyke, South Landing and Thornwick Bay. Head further north for the fishing-village charm of Robin Hood's Bay, the long sands of Sandsend and the wild, fossil-rich shore at Kettleness.
Pack sturdy footwear for the steep descents, check the tide times, and keep an eye on the weather off the North Sea. For fossils, seabirds and cliffs, these are the beaches for a day trip from York.
