When to go
It is barely 20 miles from the famed Abbey and venerated fish and chips of Whitby, yet Saltburn-by-the-Sea has all the charm, but only a fraction of the visitors that throng to its North Yorkshire coastal rival.
The black market replaces Bram Stoker for nefarious derring-do here. Saltburn was one of the great smuggling ports of the east coast before being cossetted into a custom-made spa resort by Victorian philanthropist and entrepreneur Henry Pease.
The town endured a lengthy decline in the latter part of the 20th century, but a nascent revival of interest in its unique water-balanced cliff lift and Italian gardens, along with the waves that attract surfers from far and wide in warmer months, make for a lesser-known coastal retreat with eccentricity and ebullience in (bucket and) spades.
The Saltburn Music and Folk Festivals are lively summer events, while next month, Saltburn Beer Festival invites winter visitors to sample its many brews. For more: redcarcleveland.co.uk/enjoy.
How to get there
Saltburn’s beach runs in a sweep for five miles all the way to Redcar, while the hulk of Hunt Cliff to the east protects the town from the more inclement elements in winter.
The train station is on the Tees Valley line, so if you are coming from the south, it is likely that you’ll be taking the East Coast Mainline and changing at Darlington to get here. The station is bang in the centre of the small town and you won’t need any public transport to explore Saltburn itself. To travel along the coast to Staithes, the X4 bus takes around 35 minutes. For more: letsgoteesvalley.co.uk.
Where to stay
Formerly the town’s Assembly Rooms, the Spa Hotel is perched on a vertiginous road leading out of town, and has a strong claim to having the best view from a hotel car park in Yorkshire, with the green-smothered cliffs and spume-flecked waves of the sea all in your vista. Book a superior double for sea views, although the standard rooms (from £199 B&B) are similarly demure affairs that go heavy on the Farrow & Ball to suitably placid, soothing effect. Several rooms are dog-friendly.
Saltburn has a scattering of grim bed and breakfasts but few quality options if you’re on a budget. Saltburn House (saltburnhouse.co.uk) is probably the best bet. Rooms are no more than functional but doubles start at £75 a night B&B and it is only a 15-minute walk to the beach. Some rooms are wheelchair-accessible.
Day one
Up with the sun
Rapp’s Café on Milton Street opens at 9am for the best breakfasts in town. Sprawl on the burgundy banquette and try the gargantuan breakfast burrito, stuffed with sriracha hot sauce, guacamole, sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs and cheese for £10.95.
Souvenir hunting
Book Corner on Milton Street (bookcornershop.co.uk) is run by Jenna, a tireless promoter of local authors. Check the website for book signings and talks.
The white-and-orange signage of Polyester does its best to stand out on Dundas Street, hidden down the side of the train station with a collection of retro tea towels, mugs and lunch boxes.
Don’t miss
The moniker of “Britain’s oldest surviving water-balanced cliff lift” (redcarcleveland.co.uk) sounds arcane, but the experience of riding in this bright-red atavistic contraption that takes you from the cliff top down to the sands is a blast – like a cable car sliding down the most primitive roller coaster ever built. To travel up or down costs a mere £1.60. The carriage is wheelchair-accessible. Closed Tuesdays to Thursdays in winter.
Time for a sundowner
One of the original fisherman’s cottages in what was then called Old Saltburn, the whitewashed Ship Inn has picnic tables outside that look directly out to sea. Current refurbishment work by new owners Greene King is worrying some locals – plans are afoot to “develop” the wonderfully time-worn interior with a “champagne room” and a chi-chi fish and chip shop next door.
Dinner reservation
The parmo is a dish unique to Teesside, with a local fealty that equals the ardour Sicilians have for arancini. An upmarket version of the chicken parm (essentially chicken fried in breadcrumbs and given a deep bath in béchamel sauce) can be found at Alessi’s alongside less fearsome dishes such as lobster ravioli and tortellini alfredo.
Day two
Hit the beach
Start your morning with a bracing stride along the pleasure pier – the last one left on the North East coastline. Just to the left of the pier, if you’re facing out to sea, is the austere bunker that houses the Saltburn Surf School (saltburn-surf.co.uk) where you can either take a lesson yourself or content yourself with watching neophytes and grizzled veterans attempt to catch one of the roaring, rolling waves.
Lunch time
Any lingering doubts about Saltburn’s upward trajectory are answered with a plate of crab brioche with crayfish tails and celeriac remoulade while sitting on one of the curved blue booths inside the Seaview restaurant, looking out over the sands. The Seaview serves seriously superior fish and chips, too, alongside local oysters from Lindisfarne and potted shrimp with melba sourdough toast.
Time to relax
Take the short bus ride south to Staithes. This is where a young James Cook worked as a trainee grocer before swapping satsumas for seafaring. A cobbled Escher painting of ginnels (local nomenclature for alleyways) and stairways, the routes down to the harbour are myriad and confusing but this is just the place for an aimless stroll where, much of the time, your only company will be gulls crouching on the chimney pots.
A final treat
Pop down to Chocolini’s on Windsor Street, which opens from 11am until 3pm on a Sunday, to fill a bag to take home with a dozen of its sensational, individually made chocolates. There is also a very decent vegan range, including a “dark and stormy” rum truffle.
Three things you might not know about saltburn…
1) Saltburn was home to John Andrews, “King of the Smugglers”, who, as landlord of two pubs and a master mason, was a Tony Soprano-esque figure in the town in the 18th century, with both lawmen and criminal gangs at his command.
2) Saltburn’s pier used to be double the length it is now. Various calamities have resulted in its current truncated size, including the collision of a ship called the Ovenberg with the pier in 1924.
3) Saltburn has a recherché place in Bollywood history with the pier being used as a location in the 2015 comedy flick Shaandaar.