Whitby walking tour in photos: 199 steps, harbour and Whitby Abbey

I fell in love with Whitby long before I’d ever been there.

As a kid, I read Robin Jarvis’s The Whitby Witches trilogy over and over until the spine cracked and the cover ripped off.

I finally visited the town in the summer of 1999, when I was 18, seeing with my own eyes the landmarks like the 199 steps (yes, I counted them…), the whale bone arch and the iconic Whitby Abbey ruins I’d read about and imagined in my head.

But in the years since, I had forgotten the layout of the town. I had only a memory of seeing the swing bridge between the two banks of the river Esk, but that was about it.

Twenty-seven years later, I walked into the Whitby Bookshop and bought a copy of The Whitby Witches again. I’ll reread it and I’ll be able to picture the places as they truly are.

That’s because this time I brought my camera, and I had a day photographing this seaside town with its rich gothic architecture and atmospheric links to the past.

The following photos are what caught my eye, but if you’d like to see and hear more of Whitby, check out my YouTube walking tour.

And explore Postcards From Dan for more photographic guides such as my guide to hotspots in Rome, and travel inspiration like visiting San Marino for the day.

Whitby: a photographic journey

Climbing the 199 steps to Whitby Abbey and the view that earns them

I climbed the Whitby 199 steps twice that day. Once in the afternoon to reach the Abbey, and again in the evening to watch the sunset glow over the town – 398 steps in total, and I wouldn’t take a single one back.

Here, I set my camera on a trip and set a 15 second shutter speed to capture the starbursts of the light from the lamps across the river.

View looking down from near the top of the 199 steps in Whitby, showing rooftops and chimneys descending toward the harbour

And looking back down from near the top of the steps, you get a sense of just how the old town stacks and layers on top itself up the hillside.

It’s the view that made Whitby famous, and it more than earns the climb.

Chasing reflections: Whitby old town and harbour at golden hour

Long exposure night photograph of Whitby harbour, with lights from the town reflected in the still water

Down at the harbour as the light faded, I was after reflections – the theme this month for my photography club. Another 15-second exposure, long enough to smoothen the water into glass and let the lights of the town double themselves on the surface.

Pink clouds reflected in the calm surface of Whitby harbour at sunset

A few minutes later, I was chasing a streak of pink cloud that had appeared low on the horizon. The water was just still enough to catch it.

15-second long exposure looking out to sea from Whitby harbour past the two piers at dusk

Turning 180 degrees and facing out past the two piers toward the open sea. The long exposure smoothens the water completely here, which I think works. It helps to give the image a quiet, almost gothic calm that suits Whitby.

Whitby east pier photographed during the day with calm sea and clear sky

The east pier earlier in the day, before the crowds had thinned and the light had turned. A different mood entirely.

Whitby Abbey clifftop views: gothic and unforgettable

Whitby Abbey ruins on the clifftop, with Gothic arched windows silhouetted against the sky

The ruins of Whitby Abbey, perched on the clifftop above the town. Whitby heavily inspired Bram Stoker on a visit in 1890, and it fed directly into Dracula. You can feel why.

In The Whitby Witches, Jarvis compares the houses on this side of the town with swimmers gathering nervously at the water’s edge.

Stone archway and walls of Whitby Abbey ruins up close, showing the detail of the medieval stonework

Details of the Abbey up close. What’s striking is how much of it is still standing, and how much isn’t, and the interplay between the solid stonework and the sky where walls once were.

Sadly, the ticket office was closed when I got there, so I could only stand outside, but another time I’ll go inside. You know what they say: Leave a hook, so you have to come back to a place.

Detail of Whitby Abbey ruins, with collapsed walls and open sky where the roof once was

View from Whitby Abbey clifftop looking back across the beach and town below

Looking back from the graveyard on the clifftop across the beach and the town below. On a clear evening, this is one of the finest views on the Yorkshire coast.

Reflections on Whitby

The Whitby Bookshop reflected in a shop window, creating a dreamlike double image of the shopfront

And finally, the places and people of Whitby reflect – more images for the photography club reflection theme.

If you’ve been to Whitby, I’d love to know if there is there a place or a book that made you fall for somewhere before you’d ever visited?

Or if you’ve made a long-overdue return to somewhere from your past, did it live up to the version you’d been carrying in your head?