Staithes

Staithes lies at the bottom of a steep bank between two headlands, a huddle of cottages and cobles around a tiny harbour where Staithes Beck meets the sea. James Cook worked here in a grocer's shop as a teenager before running away to Whitby and the sea; a century later the village drew the Staithes Group of painters, and it still has galleries and an annual arts festival.

Walk the harbour, climb Cowbar Nab for the view, hunt fossils on the rocks at low tide, and take the Cleveland Way south to Port Mulgrave, an old ironstone harbour. The Cod and Lobster on the harbour wall has been rebuilt several times after storms.

From Whitby, the X4 bus runs along the coast; by car, leave the vehicle at the top and walk down.