I last visited Scarborough when I was a child, and remembered very little of it, so when the opportunity arose for James and I to go to the beach for the day, we decided that it was a good place to visit. Scarborough is a very easy day trip from York, with regular buses and trains. However, due to these transport links it should also be easily accessible from the rest of the UK, so if you are planning on going for a few days then it is possible to do so without a car.
When we arrived, it was pretty much as I expected. The sea front was full of grand old buildings which have faded as time has gone by, fish and chip restaurants and tacky seaside shops selling brightly coloured assortments of buckets and spades. It wasn’t particularly appealing, but was everything that I expected from a British seaside resort. Our first stop was the South Bay beach, which was the main reason for coming. Having been cheated of paddling in the sea on our Northumbrian holiday (far too cold and rainy), it only felt right to go paddling in the sunshine when we arrived in Scarborough.
The next stop on the agenda was the funfair! James was delighted to catch a range of different Pokemon due to the lure at the entrance, whereas I was pleased to have a go on the ferris wheel and see the town and beach from a different height.
It was then time for a brief walk along the pier, with interesting facts being fed to us from Pokemon Go before enjoying a classic seaside lunch of fishcakes and chips.When looking for lunch, I would recommend heading back towards the beach as there were a much larger range of restaurants available to choose from, as well as some nice-looking pubs dotted about (if fish and chips isn’t really your thing).
After our refreshment break we headed up to Scarborough Castle to see some more views, and learn a little more about the history of the town. The Castle is owned by English Heritage and is free if you have membership, but reasonable prices if not. We opted not to get the audio guide, but this was a bit of a mistake. The information boards dotted around the site offer little in the way of information (other than at the entrance and in the exhibition), and so if you do want to learn more about the history then I would suggest getting one.
From the castle we headed on to see the grave of Anne Brontë – a must for an English Literature graduate! From there we walked back into the town for ice cream (despite the gathering clouds, ice cream is always necessary when you are by the sea), and then headed round to the North Bay, which is a much quieter part of town. Unfortunately by this time the tide had come in so we couldn’t admire much of the beach, except the brightly coloured beach huts in the distance.
As we returned to the train station at the end of the day, I realised that my original fears of becoming bored part way through the day had not happened, and that Scarborough actually had a lot more to it than I had known. We didn’t go on a boat trip, or go to the Art Gallery and Rotunda Museum, or even Peasholm Park and the South Cliff gardens. Perhaps we will have to go again…
