9 Top Things To Do In East Yorkshire

 

There’s a wealth of great things to do in East Yorkshire. Also known as the East Riding, the area is renowned for its historic ports, historic market towns and gorgeous countryside,with a generous helping of chalk cliffs and sandy beaches thrown in for good measure.

In Hull, named England’s City Of Culture in 2017, you can ride on a vintage tram at the Streetlife Museum of Transport, climb aboard the 1927 Spurn Lightship in Hull Marina, or walk across the Humber Bridge, the longest single-span suspension bridge in the UK. 

For a day out by the sea, try the dramatic coastline around Bempton Cliffs and Flamborough Head, where there’s a little something for the kids at nearby Bondville Model Village. Prefer the countryside? Wander the fields and lanes in the Yorkshire Wolds that inspired David Hockney’s watercolours. And if you love historic buildings, try Elizabethan Burton Agnes Hall, or medieval Beverley Minster.

Whether you love history museums or art galleries, village tea rooms or fish and chips on the seafront, they’re all here. Check out our top things to do in East Yorkshire.

Streetlife Museum Of Transport

The extensive collection at this immersive museum traces 200 years of local transport history. Wander galleries filled with veteran steam-powered cars, horse-drawn carriages, municipal buses and chopper bicycles, or stroll down a recreated 1940s street with chemist and cycle shops. Climb aboard a tram or a goods train, visit a reconstructed 1930s railway shed complete with an original signal box, or take a simulated trip on the horse-drawn mail coach from Hull to York. And watch out for the Rhinoceros Wheelbarrow…

The museum is set in leafy gardens in Hull’s Museum Quarter, where you can take a break before moving on. It’s open seven days a week, and admission is free.

Humber Bridge

Opened by the Queen in 1981, this huge suspension bridge links East Yorkshire with North Lincolnshire; it’s the longest in the UK, and carries 20 million vehicles every year. A stroll (or a bike ride) across its pedestrian walkway takes about half an hour and rewards you with memorable views of the city and the river estuary. It’s illuminated at night too, so come along around dusk for a different view.

The walk starts at the car park in Humber Bridge Country Park, a wooded area on the Yorkshire side with chalk cliffs, nature trails and wildlife ponds. If you still have some energy, it’s worth exploring when you get back.

Ferens Art Gallery

Housed in an impressive neoclassical building on Hull’s Queen Victoria Square, the Ferens Gallery has an extensive collection of paintings and sculptures including European Old Masters and contemporary British art. There’s a free audio guide to the highlights, which include works by Frans Hals, Antonio Canaletto, David Hockney and Gillian Wearing. 

The permanent collection is supplemented by themed temporary shows, including digital art and an eclectic open exhibition, held every summer, that gives amateur and professional artists the chance to exhibit and sell their work.

The Yorkshire Wolds

Encompassing rolling chalk hills covered with wildflowers, flat-bottomed glacial valleys, agricultural land and an escarpment, the Yorkshire Wolds are a huge favourite with walkers and cyclists. Numerous hiking routes spin off from the Yorkshire Wolds Way, a long-distance footpath that runs all the way from the Humber Bridge to Filey. Some of the highlights to take in include spring snowdrops around Fridaythorpe, the Iron Age burial sites at Danes Graves and Staple Howe, and a deserted medieval village at Wharram Percy. 

Fans of local artist David Hockney might like to seek out some of the locations that inspired his work in the lanes and fields around Bridlington, including Woldgate Woods, the tree tunnels in farmland around Kilham, and Elizabethan Burton Agnes Hall.

Burton Agnes

If you love visiting historic country houses, you get two for the price of one in Burton Agnes. Burton Agnes Hall is an Elizabethan house with Tudor Renaissance architecture, Georgian furniture and a collection of Impressionist paintings. Kids will be in their element here too – the extensive grounds are home to a yew maze and a woodland playground with a zipwire, plus giant versions of chess, draughts, and snakes and ladders.

Neighbouring Burton Agnes Manor House was the original dwelling on the site, built in the 12th century. Open from April to October and free to visit, its highlights include a vaulted Norman undercroft and the old water wheel in the grounds, once powered by a donkey.

Beverley Minster

Dominating the market town of Beverley and putting some more famed cathedrals to shame, this medieval church with elegant twin towers was built in 1425, and is a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. Things to look out for in its cavernous vaulted interior include medieval stained glass, a magnificent 18th-century organ and a Norman font. A statue commemorates St John of Beverley, the 8th-century bishop who founded the original monastery on the site.

The church has guided tours on Wednesdays and Saturdays in summer, with separate visits going up a spiral staircase into the roof on Saturday afternoons. Alternatively, you could try to time your visit to coincide with a choir service on Thursday evening.

Flamborough Head

You’re guaranteed an active day out at Flamborough Head, a clifftop peninsula and nature reserve with dramatic coastal views. Miles of footpaths give you the chance to see basking seals, wander through colourful fields of pink sea thrift and red campion, or gaze up at an octagonal 17th-century lighthouse. Below the cliffs, North and South Landing beaches have rockpools and sea caves to explore, but be aware of the tide. If you’re a competent canoeist, you can also view the whole area from the water.

While you’re here, you could give the kids an extra treat by dropping in to nearby Bondville Model Village. Set in pretty clifftop gardens with a tea room, it’s home to more than 200 handcrafted buildings including half-timbered cottages, a castle, thatched pubs and a lighthouse.  

Bempton Cliffs

Five miles along the coast from Flamborough, these towering cliffs are worth a visit in their own right. The big draw here are hundreds of thousands of nesting seabirds, including puffins, guillemots and gannets. A two-mile clifftop nature trail guides visitors to six specially constructed viewing platforms, where helpful volunteer guides explain about the birds and their habits.

Seabirds nest here from March to October. The Visitor Centre has a picnic area and binoculars to hire, and the RSPB runs three-hour cruises from Bridlington Harbour, giving photographers the chance to get a view of the action from the water.

A Day Out At The Beach

In list terms perhaps this is cheating a little, but the East Yorkshire coast has so many beaches that it’s really worth mentioning a few. Bridlington is a classic sandy seaside resort with a busy promenade, beach huts and deck chairs for hire, while Mappleton’s long stretch is a favourite with dog walkers and fossil hunters. Meanwhile, Hornsea is renowned for watersports and Barmston Beach is the place to go for fishermen. 

 

If it wouldn’t be a holiday without bringing your hound along, try these dog-friendly beaches In East Yorkshire.

All this activity is likely to give you an appetite too, so have a look at our guide to the best places to eat in East Yorkshire.

Looking for somewhere to stay? Have a look at our list of the best campsites and holiday parks in East Yorkshire,  or our Ultimate North East Region Camping Guide.