Spend The Day In Staithes, North Yorkshire

We recently went on our first little family holiday as a three to Staithes in North Yorkshire. It's somewhere I've always wanted to go and we loved the idea of taking our little man to the seaside, plus it's close by lots of other lovely places for day trips. We spent three nights there, but only had one full day exploring Staithes (it is quite small so you only really need a day) so I thought I'd pop our itinerary on here from that full day because it was really rather lovely! 

Early morning - view seeking

If you've heard of Staithes you probably think of that classic view down into the valley with cute houses either side. The little spot to get that great view from is from the side of the valley with the lifeboat station on it, up the hill and along to a little viewing platform to the left past some houses. As Staithes is a slow paced sleepy village, with places not really opening up until 10am at the earliest we decided to do the view first thing (we're up early enough!) It was nice to get the hill out of the way and know we didn't have to do it later! The views did not disappoint and we followed it up with a walk along the harbour to get the view up the valley as well. 

Morning - the high street 

Whether it qualifies as a high street or not I'm not sure, but we meandered around the shops and galleries once they opened. There are some really cute shops and a lovely deli and if I wasn't on no money because of maternity leave I would not have left empty handed! We stopped at Dotty's Vintage Tearoom for a coffee and a snack and had an ice cream from Cobbles. 

Afternoon - the beach 

The actual beach at Staithes is really quite small, but also pretty quiet, probably because people wanting a beach day head somewhere with a bigger beach. It's also advised to stay away from the cliffs, which makes your choice of spot even smaller! I loved it though and it was perfect with a baby. The views into the village and out to the harbour from the beach are lovely so it feels like such a calm and unique little spot. We spent the full afternoon at the beach; thankfully Bobby loved it and got stuck in playing with the sand. 

Early evening - food at the Cod & Lobster

We actually ate here the night before and just cooked tea in our Air BnB the second night, but I wanted to include this for anyone who is just spending one full day in Staithes. I think this is the pub that everyone tends to eat at; the interior leaves a lot to be desired, but you get lovely views sitting outside on the harbour and the food was great - I veered from fish and chips and had battered halloumi, which was incredible!

Evening - drinks in the sunshine

We had drinks outside our Air BnB in the evening sunshine because we had to get a certain little someone to bed, which was idyllic because the weather was amazing and the view from the patio looked out onto the valley. If you're not tied to staying in though there are two pubs in the village where people drank in the evening, both with outdoor seating. 

I'd highly recommend adding Staithes to your to-visit list if you haven't already been!