Brigholme

Situated in a truly stunning spot along the Yorkshire coast, the picturesque village of Robin Hood’s Bay is a delightful gem with quaint cottages set beneath towering, brooding cliffs. This idyllic destination is perfect for a cosy retreat where you can embrace the village’s unusual architecture and uncover the fascinating secrets of the smugglers of yesteryear. Strolling down the street, you can call in at the well-stocked shop and the friendly pub for some delicious traditional fish and chips. The surrounding region offers a multitude of beauty spots to explore, including Sneaton Forest with its famous Falling Foss Waterfall, or you can take a walk along the beach to Ravenscar.

This colourful, fresh and spacious cottage is approached via a little passage which is just off the main street of this idyllic coastal village. Take the low stone steps up to the entrance and go through the welcoming vestibule, which is a handy place to leave behind your coats and muddy boots. The bright and welcoming lounge/diner invites you in with its airy interior where you will find comfortable sofas, a selection of books to browse and a choice of DVDs to watch on the TV on a lazy evening. The dining area is perfect for getting together to enjoy all your favourite dishes which you can prepare in the small but fully equipped kitchen. This features everything you might need to rustle up a delicious home-cooked meal including an electric oven and hob and a useful fridge. Behind the door, a narrow staircase leads up to the first floor where you will find a sweet bedroom with a super-king-size bed which can be made up as a twin room on request. This charming room also has a feature fireplace and ample space to unpack and store your things. Start your day in the large walk-in shower in the refreshing shower room next door. Head up a second staircase where you will find a relaxing double bedroom with a TV and a skylight set in the low sloping ceiling.

Go outside and step across the passage and into the charming separate annexe: perfect if you want to extend your group up to six guests. The self-contained annexe makes a cosy bolthole and features a comfortable sofa bed,  a kitchenette with a fridge and microwave, and a handy en-suite shower room.

The property doesn’t offer private parking, but you can purchase a long-stay permit from Scarborough Council.

• 2 bedrooms - 1 super-king-size zip-and-link (can be twin on request), 1 double bed
• Sleeps 4 + 1 (via Annex)
• 1 shower room with shower and WC
• Electric hob/oven, fridge
• Flat-screen TV with Freeview in lounge and TV in double bedroom
• Electric fire
• Parking in the pay and display car park (the top car park offers free parking from 1st November - 1st March)
• Pub, shop and beach within walking distance
• Please note the stairs are steep and winding in places
• Additional annexe available with:
• Sofa bed sleeping 1
• 1 en-suite shower and WC
• Kitchenette with microwave, fridge
• Arrival: 15:00 onwards
• Departure: before 10:00, unless otherwise stated in your arrival details
• 1 dog allowed. Dogs are charged at £20 each per full or part week

Robin Hood's Bay is one of the most popular coastal locations in Yorkshire, or the whole of the UK for that matter. Once home to the busiest smuggling trade on the Yorkshire coast, said to involve fisherman, clergy and gentry alike, today the village has adopted a much more sedate pace of life. The village is a maze of cobbled streets and higgledy-piggledy houses which seem to tumble down towards the sea. Walkers can delight in the fact that Wainwright's famous Coast to Coast Walk starts (or finishes, depending on which way you look at it) in the village. And the bay itself is just one of the many charming locations on the coast.

For dinner, head down to one of the romantic bistros or nautically themed inns where you can soak up the atmosphere with a candlelit dinner over a bottle of wine or two. If you want to dine in, take advantage of the well-stocked local stores, including an excellent fishmonger selling the freshest locally caught crab. Traditional sweet shops stock all your old favourites and there are several little boutiques selling all manner of delightful things.

As hard as it will be to drag yourself away from Robin Hood’s Bay, you really ought to explore the rest of the coast. Much like its Cornish counterpart, the Yorkshire coastline is a heady mix of rugged cliff tops, peaceful bays and friendly fishing villages. With long sandy beaches and all the traditional seaside trimmings of yesteryear, this is the ultimate bucket-and-spade territory. That's not to say it's stuck in the past; in fact, the coast's villages and towns combine the traditional with the contemporary effortlessly, with trinket shops and tearooms sitting alongside upmarket champagne and oyster bars.

This region is best known for the gorgeously Gothic town of Whitby (6 miles). Playing host throughout history to Romans, Saxons, Celts and Danes amongst others, the town's rich heritage is immediately obvious. Straddling the River Esk and dominated by the 13th-century ruins of St Hilda's Abbey on the East Cliff, Whitby's crooked cobbled streets and picturesque harbour have been a magnet for artists and tourists alike for centuries. Providing the backdrop for some of Lewis Carroll's work, it was also famously the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula. For a real sense of the town's atmospheric ambience, climb the 199 abbey steps at dusk and wander around St. Mary's churchyard on the headland. You can further indulge a desire for the macabre on one of the regular ghost walks from Whale Bone Arch on West Cliff.

Although you could happily spend the weekend mooching about the independent shops, bars and cafes along Whitby's bustling medieval streets, it's well worth striking out to sample some of the other lesser-known coastal villages nearby. Sandsend, Staithes and Runswick Bay are all within 16 miles, and each has its own unique charm. Ravenscar (11 miles) is also a great spot to go seal watching as they bask in the sunlight around the headland.