Wethercote Farm Campsite

Wethercote Farm Campsite is a handy overnight stop for hikers on the Cleveland Way National Trail (15 minutes’ walk), and within a five-minute drive you are at the top of steep Sutton Bank for views of the mid-19th-century chalk Kilburn White Horse; on clear day you’ll also have panoramas right across the Vale of York. At the Sutton Bank National Park Centre (five minutes’ drive), there’s a café, small store and bike hire as well as lots of visitor information about this spectacular part of the world. You can walk to Rievaulx Abbey (an hour’s walk) for a wander around the lovely cloisters, and then move on to Rievaulx Terrace (another 20 minutes) for views back over the abbey grounds. York (50 minutes) is a treasure trove of history, from its Gothic Minster to the medieval cobbled street of The Shambles, lined with dinky souvenir shops. There’s more history to be discovered at Castle Howard (half an hour), the setting for many a TV drama, with tours of the house and gardens designed by John Vanbrugh. Thirsk has also had its moment of TV fame as home of ‘The Yorkshire Vet’ documentary series and The World Of James Herriot (15 minutes), with displays in a vet’s restored 1940s home and surgery – and for a day full of fun on adrenaline rides, head for Flamingo Land Resort (40 minutes).