Visit East Yorkshire

Blending coast, country, and culture, East Yorkshire is a triangle of England offering a diverse short break. At one end of the spectrum is this year's 25th Anniversary of the Humber Bridge, one of the longest single span suspension bridges in the world, while at the other is legendary hospitality and an invitation to explore this gentle landscape on foot, by cycle, or by car.

Chalk uplands roll through woodlands, along leafy lanes and old railway corridors, as they trace the southern end of the 79-mile Yorkshire Wolds Way. Here is a landscape that marches to the lofty 300ft headland of Flamborough above the North Sea, that blends into the golden beaches and Georgian elegance of seaside resorts, or peters southwards to the curling peninsula of Spurn Point.

In between are stately houses and museums, contemporary art, and the antique emporiums and unique shops that characterise ancient market towns, like Beverley. Songs ring out at folk festivals, Yorkshire pints are pulled, and farmers sell the fat of the land at regular farmers' markets.

On the banks of the Humber Estuary is the city of Hull with its waterfront architectural prize of The Deep heralding a renaissance of shopping and culture, sea shanties and jazz, literature and Hull Truck Theatre, home of playwright John Godber. In 2007, this historic port pays homage to the campaigning of slavery abolitionist William Wilberforce in a mammoth bicentenary celebration. But why wait until then?

Welcome to East Yorkshire

Whether taking a short break, passing through on route to the ferry port at Hull, or visiting friends and relatives, our region is easy to get around.

A great way to enjoy shopping and days out is to use the Park and Ride bus service from Walton Street in Hull (service 700) to Hull city centre £1.35* return, or from Priory Park (Service 701) to the KC Stadium and Hull city centre £1.80* return. Tel Bus Call 01482 222222.

By car: From the south, head for the M62 & Hull. At Junction 37 follow the A614 to Market Weighton. From the North, take the A166 or A1079.

By coach: Regular, long distance services operate to Hull, then connect to the main market towns. Tel: 01482 222222.

By train: Fast and regular intercity services operate to Hull, including direct services with Hull Trains. Call National Rail Enquiries, Tel: 08457 484950, or Hull Trains 01482 606388.

By ferry: A daily ferry service operates from Rotterdam Europoort and Zeebrugge to Hull with P&O North Sea Ferries. Tel: 01482 795141.

By air: Humberside International Airport, 30 minutes' drive. Tel: 01652 688456. Leeds/Bradford International Airport, 60 minutes' drive. Tel: 0113 2509696.

Visit East Yorkshire Coastal Resorts

Blessed with traditional seaside atmosphere and nostalgia, the coastal resorts of East Yorkshire have become intriguing destinations with more to offer besides sweeping golden sands, historic lighthouses, ice cream and fish 'n' chips. Hornsea is a lovely old town and seaside promenade, and Withernsea buzzes with fishing competitions and outdoor summer concerts. Bridlington boasts elegant promenades dressed with art and sculpture, and an Old Town laced with medieval narrow streets and Georgian architecture, behind which are restaurants serving freshly caught fish, art galleries and a bounty of antiques and crafts.

Visit the Heritage Coast

A quarter of a century ago, a wild and magnificent swathe of East Yorkshire coastline pounded by the North Sea was designated as Heritage Coast. Today, this strip of geographical and archaeological importance is outstanding in its beauty, history and its attraction for wildlife. Gulls soar above the awesome faces of Flamborough's chalk cliffs, their cries echoing in caves and coves, and around mighty stacks nicknamed 'The King, 'The Queen' and 'The Matron'. Puffins, gannets and kittiwakes flock to Bempton Cliffs RSPB, home to over 200,000 seabirds during the breeding season between April to August. Further south waders and warblers, moths and butterflies populate the fragile sand and shingle spit of Spurn Point, an isolated and windswept National Nature Reserve.

Beauty of this quality is best explored with time. You can drive, cycle, take the bus or follow the sound of the sea on foot. Six coastal walks take in the views of lighthouses, fishing boats, and clifftops bursting with wildflowers, above bays perforated with rock pools and speckled with fossils. Danes Dyke is a massive ditch and bank earthwork thought to date back from the Neolithic or New Stone Age. Flamborough Headland encompasses the 19th Century lighthouse, a fascinating showpiece, and the South Landing Local Nature Reserve where young artists have created sculptures out of stone, metals and wood in a sculpture trail that echoes and preserves the historical treasure of their village. Or you can take a boat trip from Flamborough's pretty bay at North Landing or Bridlington Harbour, and see up close the caves and hollows, sailing over the graves of ships wrecked and lost beneath the waves.

What to do in Bridlington

Old Town

One of Britain's most complete Georgian high streets, lovingly restored as an historic quarter where cobbled streets are edged with antique emporiums and art galleries. There are specialist food stores, an old fashioned chemist and a tasty crop of inns, tearooms and restaurants. See the old stocks in the market place and St Mary's Priory Church, one of the largest and most important monasteries in Northern England.

Old Harbour

A busy working harbour with fishing boats bringing in shellfish and pleasure craft whisking sightseers out for seabird watching, fishing expeditions or to admire the designated Heritage Coast. A great place for strolling and tucking in to delicious fish and chips, dressed crab, or waffles with cream.

Seaside Shopping

Along with a medley of traditional seaside shops selling rock and home-made fudge, shells and nautical oddments, is a new wave of individual boutiques of fine furnishings, fashion and object d'art. On Wednesdays and weekends a busy market of bargains and bric-a-brac stretches along King Street.

Bempton Cliffs

Recognised by the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) as the best place in England to see breeding seabirds, Bempton's three miles of 400ft high cliffs play host to more than 200,000 seabirds. Between April and mid-August especially, view gannets, puffins, razorbills, fulmars and kittiwakes from safe vantage points on the clifftops.

Sewerby Hall and Gardens

Linked to Bridlington's promenades and seafront by the Yorkshire Rose, Yorkshire Lass and Yorkshire Lad Landtrains, Sewerby is a fascinating diversion. Aside from an historic house of period rooms galleries and exhibitions, it has extensive gardens, the Clock Tower Tearooms and a courtyard of crafts, from candles to watercolours and jewellery.

Fancy a Swim?

Award-winning beaches mean clean sea and sand and an enjoyable day either sailing, swimming or building sandcastles. Or you can head indoors at Bridlington Leisure World with its three swimming pools and Caribbean style fitness suite and club with views over Bridlington Bay.

What to do in Holderness

Hornsea Shopping

Designer clothing and footwear at up to 50 per cent off high street prices, along with a cafe and restaurant can be found at Freeport Hornsea Outlet Village. Over at the seafront, Wilbur's Market is more than 20 years old, its stalls still weighed down by bargains.

Hornsea Mere

Just one mile from the North Sea and covering 467 acres is the largest natural lake in Yorkshire, a haven for Greylag and Canada geese, tufted ducks and reed warblers. Take a picnic and watch the craneflies dance on the water, hire a rowing boat for fun, or see the lake's 100 year old tradition of yacht racing.

Wassand Hall

Set on an estate that has belonged to the same family since 1530, this Regency hall is open on selected days during the summer. Teas are served in the summer house of the restored walled gardens and visitors can tour the hall and see 18th and 19th century paintings and collections of English and European silver and porcelain.

To the Lighthouse

Built between 1892 and 1894 the lighthouse soars 127ft above the coastal town of Withernsea. At the top is the lamp room, reached by 144 steps, while at its base is a museum telling the story of Withernsea's relationship with the sea and the lives saved by the RNLI and coastguards. On proud display is a memorial to 1950's film star and local girl, Kay Kendall.

Visit East Yorkshire Wolds

Welcome and gentle is how best to describe a landscape that has changed little since the Middle Ages. The Wolds themselves are a crescent of low, rolling chalk hills rising from the banks of the river Humber in the south of the county, curving northwards through tranquil pastures to 250-metre cliffs on the East Yorkshire Coast. Through here you encounter the past in deserted medieval villages and Bronze and Iron Age settlements, and an enviable laid back way of life. Imagine the hum of a cosy inn, the rattle of china in a tea room, music at a stately home, and a cast of hospitable Wolds characters.

What to do in the Yorkshire Wolds

Walk the Wolds Way

For walkers especially, the peace and quiet of the Yorkshire Wolds is an invitation to follow the southern finale of the 79-mile Yorkshire Wolds Way, a continuation of an underlying band of chalk formed millions of years ago beginning in South Devon. A little changed landscape of open pastures, gradual ascents and dry chalk valleys that characterise this designated National Trail as it carves an arc from Hessle Haven to Filey Brigg, a ridge of black gritstone above the breakers of the North Sea.

You can tackle the Way leisurely in sections, exploring tiny villages like Brantingham and sipping hot tea or a pint at a Wolds inn beside a crackling fire. If you go for the long-haul, wooden signposts point the way from the salt marshes and mud flats of the Humber Estuary and its view of the Humber Bridge (currently celebrating its 25th Anniversary).

As the walk heads north highlights include the deserted medieval village of Wharram Percy, an English Heritage-managed site, the beauty spots of Millington Wood, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and the monuments and follies of Sledmere. Barley grows in fields, and in spring and summer vast swathes of yellow oilseed rape and poppies colour the land. Red admiral and orange tip butterflies flit round harebells and cowslips, hawthorn hedgerows draw long-tailed tits and the bank voles lure the kestrel. A fitting prelude to the cries of the gulls that await, by the sea, at the Way's end.

Bike It

The Yorkshire Wolds is ideal for cycling, with many designated long and short routes to suit leisurely cyclists and adventurous spirits. Britain's Heritage Bicycle Route enters East Yorkshire dramatically from across the Humber Bridge, and visits Beverley, then Bridlington and threads along the Heritage Coast to the high cliffs of Flamborough Headland, before heading northwest to the Yorkshire Dales.

It's Great Outdoors

Short strolls filter through the old chalk quarry of the Humber Bridge Country Park Local Nature Reserve, on the banks of the Humber Estuary. Tackle the area's good selection of golf courses, go bird watching, see the animals down at the farm or stroll through glorious fields of purple and blue lavender. Fish for trout and carp in freshwater lakes and ponds. Shoot pheasant, rabbit, partridge and grouse in the rolling Yorkshire Wolds countryside or go clay pigeon shooting.

For a copy of the walking guide, phone Beverley Tourist Information on 01482 391672 or visit www.visiteastyorkshire.com

What to do in the Yorkshire Wolds Villages

Waiting round the corner is a necklace of villages evoking the tradition and tranquility of the Yorkshire Wolds. Each has a distinct character, perhaps a beautiful church, rows of ancient cottages, a legend or two, or simply a welcoming place by a warm fire that once found is hard to leave.

Bishop Burton

A charming rural village set in a hollow between Beverley and York, with whitewashed cottages and red brick houses, the church of All Saints and a large pond.

Huggate

Grand views across the Yorkshire Wolds, a mix of old and new houses, a church and the ubiquitous cosy village pub.

Lund

Adorable cottages huddle around a village green on which stands the old market cross, marking where a market was held in bygone days. All Saint's Church and an inn complete the scene.

Millington

Relax at the village inn or tearooms after a woodland walk through the Local Nature Reserve of Millington Wood.

North Newbald

St Nicholas Church has been described as the most complete Norman Church in the East Riding of Yorkshire and is well worth a visit.

Rudston

Birthplace in 1898 of Winifred Holtby, author of the best-selling novel 'South Riding', and base for internationally-known artist Tony Hogan who works and teaches from the Art Centre Gallery. Site also of the tallest monolith in England, at 25ft tall and 4000 years old.

Scorborough

Noted for its beautiful St Leonard's Church, with marble columns and carved stonework. In the Manor House, long since destroyed, lived Sir John Hotham who closed the gates of the city of Hull to King Charles I in the 17th Century.

Skidby

The sails of Skidby Mill, Yorkshire's last surviving windmill, can be seen for miles. It produces stoneground flour, and has a tearoom on site noted for its homemade cakes. Nearby, plus The Half Moon Inn serving legendary Yorkshire pudding.

Sledmere

Sledmere House is the focal point, home to Sir Tatton Sykes, and with finely dressed rooms of furniture, rare books and paintings. In and around the village are monuments to Yorkshire servicemen and edifices to the Sykes family.

Stamford Bridge

Site of the famous Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 when Saxons under Harold of England fought with the Norwegians, and ended the threat of Viking invasion.

Walkington

Good food at its pub and restaurant, and the annual Walkington Hayride in June, a colourful parade of heavy horses, ponies and traps, vintage cars and locals dressed in Victorian costume.

Warter

Thatched roof cottages with gabled windows, and a church with memorials to the family of Charles Henry Wilson, owner of one of the world's largest privately owned shipping companies.

Welton

Step back in time in the Green Dragon Pub, order lunch and hear about the amazing capture of highwayman Dick Turpin.

What to do in Beverley

Beverley Minster

A masterpiece in Gothic architecture and dating back to the 13th Century, the Minster is Beverley's jewel, a place of sanctuary. King Henry V came here to give thanks after the battle of Agincourt. Within these walls is the shrine of bishop, teacher and healer St John, to which pilgrims flocked in the Middle Ages. Stone carvings of medieval musicians are proof of the town's passion for music which comes alive each year at both the Beverley Early Music Festival and Beverley Folk Festival.

Shopping Spree

Among high street names are specialist and curiosity shops, and family businesses to discover. Charming courtyards like St Mary's Court with its fabulous shoes, flowers and mouth-watering chocolates, and cobbled streets livened by galleries of art and unusual boutiques. Within a Grade II listed granary, St Crispin and Vicar Lane, is a labyrinth of rooms crammed with antiques and collectables.

Horsing Around

The thrill of the race, the pounding of the hooves ... race meetings have taken place on the medieval pastures of Beverley Westwood since the late 17th Century and the famous racecourse is where meetings are held throughout the year. Horsey folk and absolute beginners can learn to play polo at the Beverley Polo Club, or watch a gripping tournament from the viewing gallery.

Visit Beverley

Medieval with a whiff of elegance, the market town of Beverley draws visitors in their thousands. Beneath the Gothic towers of Beverley Minster stretches a rich tapestry of timber beamed cottages along winding cobbled streets and grand Georgian terraces. A racecourse, with three centuries of history is as treasured as a Saturday market, internationally recognised music festivals, plus upmarket shopping in individual boutiques and emporiums selling antiques, art and handmade chocolates. Cafes and tea rooms, restaurants from Thai to Turkish, and the dreamiest ice cream ... Beverley tastes good too.

Visit East Yorkshire Market Towns

East Yorkshire is peppered with smaller market towns each with its own creaking coaching inn of local ales, tearoom, interesting parish church and the traditional market place of shops and characters. Driffield, Howden, Hedon, Pocklington and Market Weighton deserve a short visit or a longer stay. Folklore and chatter is rife here, or it could be something in the water - after all, the elixir of life flows from an Artesian spring and is now bottled as Blue Keld mineral water. Take a sip, you never know what might happen.

Driffield

Renowned bumper local produce weighing down stalls at its monthly farmers' market and an annual agricultural show of Shire horses and prized pickles, Driffield is also becoming trendy. Spa breaks and malt whiskies at an 18th Century hotel are rejuvenating holidaymakers, and continental-style cafes of good coffee and cakes have appeared between the familiar shops of this historic hub.

Hedon

The market town of Hedon is crowned by its Church of St Augustine, known as the King of Holderness. Small and lively, the town has its shops and coffee houses in charming courtyards and reflects on its rural and Roman history at the Hedon Museum.

Howden

The beautifully preserved Georgian town of Howden is dominated by its Minster blessed with remarkable stained glass windows and sculpture. A wealth of shops congregate in an attractive town centre of old streets and listed Georgian buildings, including a much talked-about cheese shop.

Market Weighton

Market Weighton, as birthplace of the tallest ever Englishman, William Bradley, uses the Bradley Trail not only to remember his birthplace and actual footprint (16 inches long) but to point the way to the old inns, restaurants and cafes of this medieval market town. Nearby is Pocklington, with walks and picnics by the canal and at Burnby Hall Gardens, Europe's finest display of waterlillies. Bradley Trail: www.giantbradley.com

Market Days in East Yorkshire

See and taste local produce fresh from the soil and kitchen, at regular farmers' markets, or snap up a bargain at markets awash with clothing, and household wares and bric-a-brac.

Beverley Market - Saturday 8.00am-4.00pm
Bridlington Market - Wed/Sat/Sun/Bank Holidays
Cottingham Market - 8.00am-5.00pm every Thursday
Driffield Market - Thursday
Goole Markets - Wednesday-Saturday from 9.00am
Hedon Market - Wednesday
Hornsea (Wilbur's) Market - Sunday, Wednesday, Friday & Bank Holidays
Howden Market - Fridays 9.00am-4.00pm
Market Weighton Market - 8.30am to 2.30pm on Fridays only
Pocklington Market - Tuesday 8.30am-5.00pm
Skirlington Market - Sundays & Bank Holidays Wednesdays (July & August)
Withernsea Market - Thurs, Sat, Sun, all year.

Farmers' Markets

Driffield Farmers' Market - first Saturday morning of every month at Driffield Showground Holly Oaks Farmers' Market - second Saturday of every month at Holly Oaks Adventure Playground in Cottingham South Cafe Farmers' Markets - second Saturday of every month in the school playground in South Cave.

Minster Sculpture

Using granite from India, China, Norway, Aberdeen, Russia, Ireland and Holland, John Maine R.A. has recently created a stunning sequence of sculptures within the grounds of Howden Minster. Maines aim was for the sculptures to "... represent a journey of growth and discovery." Originating from the medieval doctrine of natural place, the sculptures are based on the four elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water. Each sculpture has its individual character but sympathetically reflects the spirit and history of the surrounding.

Visit East Yorkshire Stately Homes

Drawing rooms of fine furniture, tapestries, paintings and sculpture, and libraries lined with thousands of books. Acres of deer parkland and lakes, woodland dotted with follies and statues, and afternoon tea and picnics on the lawn. Powerful ancestors, eccentric characters, welcoming families and a ghost or two. Tremendous backdrops for a calendar of events, from vintage car rallies and country fairs to open-air Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde. Come in, cross over the threshold to our treasured houses of East Yorkshire.

Visit East Yorkshire Gardens

Gardens are the county's oases. Picture chrysanthemum bursts beside the sea at Bridlington and Hornsea, crocuses crowding the verges of Flamborough, and the pots of sweet williams and freesias of villages in bloom. Stately homes are engulfed with expertly crafted parklands, within which are cherished flower beds, topiaries and herbaceous borders. Summer garden fairs and brass bands on the lawns, and cream teas and potted plants for sale make for a gloriously English day out.

East Yorkshire Stately Homes & Gardens

Burton Agnes Hall

Home of the Cunliffe-Lister family which lovingly cares for this incredible Elizabethan mansion filled with modern paintings, bronzes, furniture and porcelains, including works by Cezanne, Edward Lear, Matisse and Renoir. Complementing this treasured collection are works of furniture, tapestry and embroidery by contemporary craftspeople, a theme which continues with artwork and sculpture in the beautiful grounds. Here are gardens of jungle plants and bamboo, ponds with fountains, a woodland walk of sculpture and a national collection of campanulas.

Burton Constable Hall

Elizabethan in origin and magnificent in stature, with around thirty rooms of 18th and 19th Century faded splendour open for viewing and brimming with precious furniture including a Chinese Room furnished by Thomas Chippendale. As fascinating as any found in a museum are cabinets of curiosities, fossils and scientific instruments from around the world. Outside, wild fowl lakes, grassy meadows and an exquisite orangery feature in a parkland landscaped by Lancelot 'Capability' Brown.

Burnby Hall & Gardens

Two lakes display the National Collection of hardy water lilies, more than a hundred varieties, and the biggest such collection to be found in a natural setting in Europe. Ornamental fish share the lakes in eight acres of gardens created by Major Percy Stewart who died in 1963 and bequeathed his vision for all to enjoy.

Sledmere House

Sledmere House, begun in the mid 1700s and home to Sir Tatton Sykes, is known for its breathtakingly long library, some of England's finest plasterwork, and collections of furniture in the Chippendale, French and Adam styles. On certain days a mighty pipe organ is played, as visitors amble through grand rooms. Outside the 18th Century walled rose garden and parterre is a prelude to acres of woodland and lush green space.

Sewerby Hall

Out on the clifftops of the East Coast stands 18th Century Sewerby Hall in which the history of the region and its most famous heroine, record-breaking aviator Amy Johnson, are on show. The gardens ramble wonderfully, stocked with fragrant roses, monkey puzzle trees and delphiniums that erupt into glory in mid-summer.

Visit Hull

Set on the banks of the river Humber and at the threshold of the Yorkshire Wolds countryside, Hull is a transformed waterfront city. A cosmopolitan hub with a relaxing atmosphere, a vibrant blend of culture, shopping and nightlife, plus events from lively sea shanties and garden jazz, to a growing literature festival and one of Europe's biggest travelling funfairs. Throw in eight free museums, the award-winning The Deep submarium, art galleries, cafes and restaurants, and world-premiere productions by John Godber, and it's easy to see why visitors love it.

What to do in Hull

Museums Quarter

Streetlife, the Museum of Transport, its exhibition halls edge-to-edge with vintage motor cars, trams and bicycles, from the Penny Farthing to the Raleigh Chopper. Berthed permanently and restored as a floating museum is the Arctic Corsair, Hull's last sidewinder trawler from the 1960s. The region's natural history and archaeology is displayed at the Hull and East Riding Museum. Closed for major refurbishment Wilberforce House Museum, birthplace in 1759 of anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce, reopens in March 2007 to coincide with the national bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade in Britain.

The Deep

Rising from where the Humber ebbs and flows with the river Hull is the world's only submarium. An abstraction of glass and aluminium and designed by world-famous architect, Sir Terry Farrell, the oceanographic study centre supports marine conservation and hosts species such as southern stingrays, moray eels and the nation's only collection of grey reef sharks. View nocturnal creatures at the Twilight Zone and dine beside the fish at the Two Rivers Restaurant.

Shopping

All glass and steel, Princes Quay Shopping Centre rises on stilts above the waters of a former dock and is packed with high street names. The Prospect Centre has an array of stores under one roof, and check out the shopping hubs of Whitefriargate, King Edward Street and trendy Savile Street.

Hull's Old Town and guided walk

At the mouth of the river Hull where the original wooden pier juts out into the Humber, is a great place to photograph the panoramic views and break for a coffee or a beer. Follow sculptured fish embedded in the pavement in the Seven Seas Fish Trail, trailing through the hidden staithes and alleyways of the Old Town, or take a guided tour and hear of ghosts and great ships.

Art Galleries

European Old Masters like Frans Hals and works by David Hockney and Helen Chadwick, plus the latest tour of historical or contemporary art grace the Ferens Art Gallery, while contemporary art can be viewed at Red Gallery, a non-profit hideaway run by a small group of local artists.

For more information contact 01482 223559 or visit www.hullcc.gov.uk/visithull

Visit East Yorkshire Eating Out

What do you fancy? A hearty meal of pie and mash served on oak tables of an aged inn, or perhaps Italian coffee and walnut cake in a smart and shiny cafe whilst pouring over the day's newspapers. Perhaps piping hot fish and chips at the coast or pasta in a contemporary wine bar. Whatever, the region has the sweetness of Thai, the variety of Chinese, Middle Eastern flavour, the romance of Italian and undoubtedly, classical English with a regional twist. Enjoy.

Where to Eat in East Yorkshire

Just some of the region's restaurants, brasseries and pubs serving excellent food, complemented by fine wines and local ales. As an alternative, gather a picnic basket of delights from delicatessens and farm shops and head for one of the beauty spots listed below.

Local Produce

Yes this is a boast, but quite frankly, East Yorkshire tastes like this: dry cured ham, gammon and bacon, and fresh meat pies from Driffield Farmers' Market. Speciality pork sausages from Halsham, beef from Skirlaugh, Aberdeen Angus beef from Driffield, pheasant and partridge from Howden. Lobster from Flamborough Head and freshly caught crab, cockles and mussels from Bridlington. Home-made pickles and preserves from South Cave, award-winning cheese from Howden. Plus, free range eggs and honey, and organic vegetables, and pick-your-own strawberries.