Frequently Asked Questions

How are the cottages at Staithes heated?

No.3 has storage heaters and electric fires in the sitting room and main bedroom, fan heaters in the bathroom and top floor staircase, and an electric radiator for the top floor bedrooms. No.4 has storage heaters in each room, plus an electric fire in the sitting room. No.5 has storage heaters in each room, plus a coal fire in the sitting room. Staithes Post Office sells cheap and easily-portable bags of Yorkshire coal. For all cottages, storage heating is included in the rental price, but the rest is paid for via a £1 slot meter.

What local information is available?

A folder with tourist information on North Yorkshire, Staithes etc is kept in each holiday cottage.

Do you offer short breaks?

Yes. During the high season (May - October) we offer only full weeks, but between November until April, it is possible to book a short break. Our short breaks consist of up to three nights over the weekend (i.e. including Saturday night) or up to four nights if a Saturday night is not included. The short break tariff appears at the bottom of the Prices/Bookings page.

Are there any pubs within walking distance?

Three - the furthest is the Cod & Lobster, five minutes walk

Where can I eat locally?

Most of the year the pubs serve evening meals. There are two cafes, a restaurant on the front and a Michelin-guide recommended restaurant called The Endeavour.

Where are the nearest supermarkets?

Co-op and Safeway in Whitby (9m s) and a smaller Safeway at Loftus (4m n)

What about parking?

There's not much spare land in Staithes and parking is hard to come by. Each of our cottages can park one car neatly - there's a free car park (basic) at the top of Cowbar Bank or paying car park on the other side of the village. We ask people to park directly outside their cottage and be considerate of other guests and Staithes residents.

Can we go there without a car?

Nearest mainline station is Saltburn, change from Darlington - and get a taxi. There are buses running along the coast from Middlesbrough to Whitby every hour (X56), from where you can catch a connection to Scarborough. There are enough food outlets to be self-sufficient in Staithes.

What time should we arrive and when should we leave?

Cottages will be ready by 3pm and we ask people to leave by 10.30am. We have had many compliments on the cleanliness at the cottages and our housekeepers can only maintain that standard if they have enough time.

What do we need to bring?

The kitchens are equipped with all the  crockery, cutlery and cooking utensils you will need, plus tea towels. There's full bedlinen (including two pillows per person) but you will need towels.

What is there to do and see in the area?

Each holiday cottage has a file full of information of what's on in North Yorkshire, which is updated regularly. Two miles south along the coast is Port Mulgrave, site of an old iron works and fossil heaven, two miles south of that is the beautifully curving Runswick Bay - great for swimming and walks. The sandy beach of Sandsend stretches three miles along the coast to the Victorian market town of Whitby, most famous for being the place where Captain Cook learned his seafaring skills and for its jet industry. Further south is Scarborough and Robin Hood's Bay.

Heading north up the coast from Staithes, you reach Boulby Cliff and the old mining village of Skinningrove with an interesting look back into the early days of the pits at the Tom Leonard Mining Museum. The Victorian seaside town of Saltburn is a few miles further on.

Staithes is a great base from which to explore the North York Moors - amazing scenery, fabulous walks and the village of Goathland, otherwise known as Aidensfield from the ITV drama  Heartbeat. Running from Grosmont on the moors to the market town of Pickering (where Francis Hodgson Burnett set his children's book The Secret Garden) is the NYM steam railway which boasts olde worlde stations, lovingly restored locomotives, theme days and a dining train.

www.yorkshireholiday.com