Highwayman Tours Journal

Yorkshire Stories, Coastal Roads & Ruined Places

Practical guides, local stories and day-trip ideas from Highwayman Tours — a small family business offering private driven tours from York.

Featured Blog

Visiting York from the USA? See More of Yorkshire in One Day

Written by Kes, Owner of Highwayman Tours · Published Tuesday 26 May 2026

If York is only one stop on your UK trip, this guide explains how to see abbeys, castles, coast, villages and proper Yorkshire roads without hiring a car.

American visitors get this straight away

We have already welcomed guests from across the USA, from Kentucky and Alabama to San Francisco.

And the same thing comes up again and again.

People do not just want to say they have been to York. They want to feel like they have seen a proper bit of England while they are here.

Not just the obvious streets. Not just the standard photo stops. They want old roads, ruins, villages, coastline, castles, abbeys and stories they would probably never find on their own.

That is exactly what Yorkshire is good at.

You just need the right route.

York is a great base, if you can get beyond it

York is one of the best places in England to stay for a few days.

You do not need to move hotels. You do not need to drag luggage around. You can base yourself in the city and still reach some of the best places in Yorkshire in a day.

But only if the day is planned properly.

The real benefit of a private tour is not just getting from A to B.

It is being able to see several places in one day without losing half your time working out how to get there.

Instead of spending the day thinking about train times, bus stops, parking, directions or whether you have picked the right place, you can just enjoy the route.

That is the whole point.

Why a lot of American visitors do not want to hire a car

Hiring a car sounds simple until you are actually doing it.

Driving on the left.
Roundabouts.
Narrow country lanes.
Different road signs.
Parking rules.
City-centre restrictions.
Trying to navigate while also trying to enjoy the place you came to see.

Some people are fine with that.

A lot of people would rather not bother.

And honestly, if you are only in York for a short stay, I do not blame you.

With Highwayman Tours, you get picked up in York and taken out into Yorkshire privately. No hire car. No coach group. No waiting around with strangers. No trying to build a full day out from a pile of Google Maps pins.

Just a proper private day out.

Last-minute plans? We get those too

Not every trip is planned months in advance.

Some guests know exactly what they want before they land in the UK. Others are already here, looking at the weather, looking at their free day, and thinking, “Could we actually get out and see more of Yorkshire tomorrow?”

Often, yes.

We have taken last-minute bookings and picked guests up outside York too, including a next-day collection from Harrogate.

So if you are staying in York, Harrogate or nearby, it is always worth asking. We cannot promise every date will be free, but if we can make it work, we will.

And because a lot of our guests are coming from the USA, we know the time zones do not always line up neatly.

If you send a WhatsApp from Kentucky, Alabama, San Francisco or anywhere else in the States, do not worry if it is the middle of the night here. If we are awake, we will usually reply. There have definitely been US-time-zone messages answered at 3am.

That is the advantage of dealing with a small local tour business. You are not going through a call centre. You are speaking to the person actually running the tour.

What can you see from York in one day?

More than people think.

You could head to the coast and see Whitby, Whitby Abbey, old fishing streets, sea views and gothic history.

You could head into abbey country and visit places like Rievaulx Abbey, Byland Abbey, Helmsley and the edge of the North York Moors.

You could go grand with Castle Howard, country roads, villages and big Yorkshire scenery.

Or you could go darker, with haunted roads, ruined churches, old execution sites, ghost stories and places that do not always appear on the standard tourist routes.

That is the benefit of doing it privately.

The day can be built around the kind of Yorkshire you actually want to see.

This is not a coach tour

Highwayman Tours is not about packing you onto a bus and rushing you around a fixed route.

It is private driven touring from York, for up to four passengers.

That means the vehicle is yours for the tour. The pace is easier. The route can be more flexible. And if something is worth a little longer, we can usually make that work.

Want more time in Whitby? Fine.
Want more ruins and history? No problem.
Want the scenic roads rather than the fastest roads? Good choice.
Want a few ghost stories along the way? Even better.

You are not being herded about. You are getting a proper Yorkshire day out with someone local.

A small family business, not a tour machine

Highwayman Tours is a small family business based in York.

That matters.

You are not booking through a huge operator where nobody really knows who you are until the day itself. You are dealing with a local business that actually cares whether your day works.

The messages, the route, the timings, the little adjustments, the last-minute questions — that is all part of it.

If you are coming from the USA and trying to make the most of a short stay in York, we know that day matters. You may only get one chance to see this part of England properly.

So we try to make it count.

Perfect if York is only part of your UK trip

A lot of visitors from the USA come to York as part of a bigger trip.

That usually means time is tight.

You want to see York, but you also want to feel like you have seen Yorkshire, not just the bit inside the city walls.

A private driven tour is one of the easiest ways to do that.

You can spend one day enjoying York itself, then use another day to get out to the abbeys, coast, castles, villages and countryside.

It makes your stay feel bigger without making it harder.

See more of Yorkshire without the faff

If you are staying in York and want to see more of Yorkshire, Highwayman Tours can help you do it properly.

Private vehicle.
Local knowledge.
Flexible routes.
No hire car.
No coach group.
Several places in one day.
Last-minute enquiries welcome where availability allows.

York is brilliant.
But Yorkshire is much bigger than York.
Let us show you more of it.

Kes
Owner, Highwayman Tours
A small family business offering private driven tours from York

Open 10AM - Midnight
Private driven tours from York for up to four passengers.

Book a Private Tour Message on WhatsApp

Our Story

Born from a family holiday, built on York roads, and shaped by a love of Yorkshire.

Behind Highwayman Tours

Why I Started Highwayman Tours

Highwayman Tours did not start with a business plan. It started on a family holiday in Croatia.

We booked a private tour with a local driver, and it completely changed the way I saw the place. It was not rushed. It was not crowded. It did not feel like being pushed through a timetable.

It felt easy. We were picked up, driven through places we would never have found on our own, told stories that actually made the landscape mean something, and given time to stop, look around, ask questions, take photos, and enjoy the day properly.

That stayed with me. When I came back home to York, I kept thinking the same thing: Yorkshire is made for this.

A York Business, Built on Local Roads

I have lived in York for around 25 years. My family life is here. My children have grown up around these streets, these roads, these landmarks, and these stories.

York is not just somewhere I work. It is home.

Over the years, I have driven all over the area: out towards the coast, across the moors, through villages, past ruined abbeys, market squares, old coaching roads, hidden churches, and places that most visitors never quite get to.

Some places are famous for good reason. Whitby Abbey. Castle Howard. Rievaulx Abbey. York Minster. Clifford’s Tower. Others are quieter: a lane with a view, a village with a story, a churchyard that feels older than it looks, or a ruin where the best moment is not the history board, but the silence around it.

That is the Yorkshire I wanted to share.

Why Private Driven Tours?

I built Highwayman Tours around the sort of day I would want myself.

Private. Comfortable. Flexible. Local.

No coach full of strangers. No fixed script shouted over a crowd. No rushing back to a meeting point because thirty other people are waiting.

Just your group, the road, and a day shaped around what you actually want to see.

Some guests want castles and coast. Some want abbeys and ruined monasteries. Some want ghost stories, folklore, and the darker side of Yorkshire history. Some just want to see as much as possible in one day without having to hire a car, work out parking, or spend half their trip on public transport.

That is why Highwayman Tours offers private driven tours from York.

The Family Side of the Business

Highwayman Tours is a small business. A real one.

It is not a big company with a call centre and a fleet of vehicles. It is me, my car, my local knowledge, and a lot of time spent planning routes, checking timings, answering messages, and trying to make sure guests have the best possible day.

A lot of the business happens from the driver’s seat. Replying to enquiries. Working out whether a route makes sense. Checking if somewhere is open. Thinking about where guests might want lunch. Adjusting a day because the weather has changed, someone wants more time by the coast, or a family has arrived in York with only one spare day and wants to make it count.

That is the bit I care about.

A good private tour is not just about knowing facts. It is about reading the day properly. Knowing when to talk, when to give people space, when to change the plan, when to stop for a view, and when a guest is enjoying somewhere enough that it would be daft to hurry them along.

Seeing More of Yorkshire in One Day

A lot of people who visit York are only here for a short time.

They may have two nights, maybe three. They want to see the city, but they also want to understand what sits around it. The trouble is that Yorkshire is big, and the best places are not always simple to reach without a car.

That is one of the main reasons Highwayman Tours exists.

You can be staying in York and still see ruined abbeys, castles, coastal towns, moorland roads, historic villages, and proper Yorkshire scenery in a single day.

Not in a rushed, box-ticking way. In a way that feels smooth, comfortable, and planned.

Not Just Places — Stories

The places matter. Of course they do. But stories are what make them stay with you.

A ruined abbey is more powerful when you understand the people who built it, prayed in it, lost it, or watched it fall into silence. A castle is more interesting when it stops being just stone and starts becoming ambition, defence, power, fear, or failure.

And York, of course, has always had stories. Roman soldiers. Medieval streets. Plague, punishment, rebellion, ghosts, merchants, monks, highwaymen, kings, and ordinary people trying to survive extraordinary times.

That is the side of history I enjoy most. Not just dates and names, but the human side of it.

What happened here? Who walked this road before us? Why does this place still feel the way it does?

Those are the questions that make a tour worth taking.

Why Book With Highwayman Tours?

Because this is personal.

I do not want Highwayman Tours to feel like a standard sightseeing product. I want it to feel like being shown around by someone who actually cares where he is taking you.

Someone who knows York, knows the roads, knows what works in a day, and wants you to go home feeling like you have seen more than the obvious.

That might mean a full day out to the coast. It might mean abbeys and ruins. It might mean gothic stories, castles, villages, or a completely bespoke route built around your interests.

Whatever the route, the idea is the same: a private driven tour should make your day easier, richer, and more memorable.

That is what I experienced in Croatia. And that is what I wanted to bring home to York.

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Whitby & Coast

Whitby from York: Is It Worth the Trip?

Written by Kes, Owner of Highwayman Tours · Published Tuesday 26 May 2026

Whitby is one of Yorkshire’s strongest day trips from York — abbey ruins, Gothic coast, fish and chips, moorland roads, the Hole of Horcum and the story of Wade the Giant.

Why Whitby is worth visiting from York

Whitby has a bit of everything.

The sea.
The harbour.
Old streets and independent shops.
Proper fish and chips.
Whitby Abbey standing above the town.
The Dracula connection.
The North York Moors on the way.

It feels different to York, which is exactly the point.

York gives you walls, Roman history, medieval streets and the Minster. Whitby gives you coast, cliffs, sea air, ruined abbey, fishing town, Gothic atmosphere and a proper change of scenery.

If you are only in Yorkshire for a few days, that contrast is worth having.

Whitby Abbey and the Gothic coast

Whitby Abbey is the big one.

It sits high above the town, looking out over the sea, and it is one of the most atmospheric ruins in Yorkshire.

Even if you are not usually an “abbey person”, Whitby Abbey feels different. The setting does a lot of the work. You are not just looking at old stones in a field. You are standing above the coast, with the town below and the sea behind it.

Then there is the Dracula connection.

Bram Stoker stayed in Whitby in 1890, and the town became part of the imagination behind Dracula. That is why Whitby still has such a strong Gothic feel today.

It is not cheesy if you do it right. It is old, strange, dramatic and very Yorkshire.

Fish and chips by the sea

You cannot really talk about Whitby without talking about fish and chips.

It is part of the day.

You can sit down somewhere, grab a takeaway, eat by the harbour, or just enjoy that very British thing of being near the sea with chips in your hand and gulls watching you like they are planning something.

Is it fancy? Not really.

Is it exactly what you want in Whitby? Absolutely.

A private tour also means you can build proper time into the day for lunch rather than rushing through the town just to say you have been.

The Hole of Horcum and Wade the Giant

One of the best things about travelling from York to Whitby by road is that you do not have to make it just about Whitby.

You can take in the North York Moors properly.

One place I love working into the journey is the Hole of Horcum.

It is a huge natural hollow in the landscape, and it looks dramatic in a way that photos never quite explain. You arrive, get out, and suddenly Yorkshire opens up in front of you.

Then there is the story.

Local legend says the Hole of Horcum was made by Wade the Giant, who scooped up a handful of earth during a quarrel with his wife, Bell. He threw it, missed, and the clod of earth became Blakey Topping.

Is that the geological explanation? No.

Is it a much better story to tell on a Yorkshire road trip? Definitely.

Good in sunshine, good in rain

Whitby is one of those places that still works if the weather turns.

In sunshine, it is all harbour views, sea air, coast roads and bright water.

In rain, it does not fall apart. If anything, the abbey gets more dramatic, the streets feel older, and the whole place leans into its Gothic side.

A grey sky over Whitby Abbey is not a disaster.

It is basically part of the brand.

That makes Whitby a good Yorkshire day out because you are not completely relying on perfect weather. Sunshine gives you the seaside version. Rain gives you the atmospheric version.

Both work.

What about public transport from York to Whitby?

You can get from York to Whitby by public transport, so this is not about pretending you cannot.

You can.

But it is worth looking at what the day actually becomes.

By train, York to Whitby is not a quick hop. At the time of writing, Northern lists the average journey at around 2 hours 56 minutes, with advance single fares from £23.20 depending on booking and availability.

That is one person, one way. For a couple, family or small group, the cost starts to look different quite quickly.

The bus can be cheaper, and for some travellers it will do the job. But it still means working around timetables, fixed stops, waiting time, and a long there-and-back day before you have even climbed to the abbey, found lunch, walked the harbour or had time to enjoy the town properly.

And that is if you only want Whitby.

The real limitation is what public transport does not easily let you do.

It does not make it simple to stop at the Hole of Horcum, pause for the view, talk about Wade the Giant, take the moorland roads, add a castle, change the timing because the weather has turned, or take the scenic route because the day feels right.

You are working around the timetable.

You are not really building the day around yourself.

There is also the comfort side. On public transport, you get what you are given: the seat, the crowd, the temperature, the timing, the stops, and whether the air conditioning is doing much that day.

In a private vehicle, the day is calmer.

You can control the pace.
You can stop where it makes sense.
You can take in the moors properly.
You can build in lunch.
You can avoid the stress of parking or driving.
You can have the temperature how you like it.

Public transport can get you to Whitby. A private driven tour can turn Whitby into a proper Yorkshire day out.

What a private Whitby day can include

A Whitby day from York can be shaped in different ways.

Whitby Abbey.
Whitby harbour and old town.
Fish and chips or time for lunch.
The North York Moors.
The Hole of Horcum.
Wade the Giant folklore.
Pickering Castle.
Scarborough Castle.
Coastal views.
Quiet Yorkshire roads.

You do not have to do everything.

The point is that the day can be built around what you actually want from it.

So, is Whitby worth visiting from York?

Yes.

Whitby is absolutely worth visiting from York.

But it is best when you make a day of it.

Go for the abbey, the coast, the fish and chips, the old streets and the Gothic atmosphere.

Go for the moors, the Hole of Horcum, Wade the Giant and the feeling that you have seen more of Yorkshire than just the city centre.

York is brilliant.

Whitby is different.

And that is why the trip works.

Kes
Owner, Highwayman Tours
A small family business offering private driven tours from York

Open 10AM - Midnight
Private driven tours from York for up to four passengers.

Book a Private Tour Message on WhatsApp