We’ve been to Whitby Abbey a few times now but we haven’t been for a few years so when we woke up to blue skies and sunshine last Sunday we decided to have a drive to Whitby and visit again.
Here’s what the English Heritage has to say about Whitby Abbey:
Perched high on a cliff, it’s easy to see why the haunting remains of Whitby Abbey were inspiration for Bram Stoker’s gothic tale of ‘Dracula’. Sink your teeth into years of history, amazing views and a packed events programme, just a short climb away from the picturesque Yorkshire seaside town of Whitby.
We drove up to the Abbey but you can climb the 199 steps which wind up the hillside from beautiful Whitby down below if you’d prefer to arrive that way (more about the steps later).
If you do drive there (and that’s definitely my preferred option) then you’ll be pleased to hear that the car park for Whitby Abbey is right next to it but don’t forget to take change to pay for parking as it costs £5 for the day and there was a traffic warden walking around while we were there paying very close attention to all of the tickets!
Since the kids were a bit older this time around I thought they might want to learn a bit about the history of the Abbey so we took advantage of the free audio guides that you can get from the entrance but it wasn’t to be. Don’t get me wrong, they listened for a few minutes but then handed me their audio guides to put in my bag because it was interfering with their climbing and games of hide and seek!
Obviously I had to photograph them climbing and playing hide and seek which left Mr Frugal on his own to wander around listening to the guide tell him all about the history of the Abbey.
For those of you feeling sorry for us missing out on all that history and culture, you needn’t worry – he waited until we were in the tea room with our muffins before sharing all of his new found knowledge with us! Yeay!!
We had a quick look around the Visitors Centre but we really wanted to go climb down the 199 steps into the town (actually Miss Frugal wanted, I most certainly didn’t) so we headed that way after not very long.
The 199 steps are just a short walk from Whitby Abbey and she really was determined to do them but the number of people climbing back up them looking close to collapse at the top along with this little sign put me off:
She managed it on her own though, getting down and back up again in just a few minutes barely breaking a sweat….
We waited at the top for her enjoying the view from the cemetery of St Mary’s Church which is slightly older than the Abbey itself.
We used our English Heritage membership to visit Whitby Abbey but if you don’t have a membership or you don’t want to get one (we love ours as it costs less than £8 a month) then it will cost you £19.50 for a family of 2 adults and up to three children including gift aid.
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