Overnight stop between Whitby and London?

Have you ever seen the show The Last of the Summer Wine, it was filmed in Holmfirth. You could go to Huddersfield, then a taxi to Holmfirth which is six miles. You could take the l7 or 8 am train back to London from Huddersfield, it's a 3 hr ride. We loved Holmfirth when we stayed there last year. Lincoln would be another possibility.

We stayed in Lincoln last September. We took the train there from London and then walked from the train station to our hotel - Premier Inn. The thing Lincoln has going for it is the Steep Hill with a very nice cathedral and castle up on top plus some nice shops. From our hotel we were also able to walk into the town's high street and also down to the waterfront. We did find a very good Italian restaurant and ate there twice it was so good. There are a number of other good restaurants there. That said, Lincoln was not our favorite place and I would not visit again. When we were there a Steampunk festival was going on and there were 3000 of them in the castle grounds. It was interesting to see to begin with but kind of took away from what we wanted to do. I know this festival is not there all the time, but I still think it was not my favorite place.

This is quite difficult because, aside from York, there aren't that many nice places you can get to easily on the train from Whitby and still be no more than 2 or 3 hours from London. Durham will be too far, Cambridge awkward to get to from Whitby. The same applies to Norwich, but either of these is worth a stop-off, as is Stamford.

Whitby is fantastic, but not easy to get to or from by public transport.

The good news is that there are no Bank Holidays in April so there should be normal rail services, except for any planned maintenance work.

Whilst Holmfirth is interesting (I come from the next village to Holmfirth), it is not easy to get to from Whitby and will take c 4 hours on the Sunday. Lincoln is also interesting, but to get there from Whitby involves a bus, a walk and 3 trains, taking 4 or 5 hours, which to my mind is too much hassle and risk that at least one connection may be missed. Stamford is a similar journey. Durham is much further north and would take longer to get back to London.

The Whitby trains all go via York. Could your itinerary be amended so you picked up York after Whitby? If not, unless you want a tortuous journey on the Saturday, I would suggest York or head straight to London.

Gosh that's a tough one.... as others have said. Hmmmm..... I might want to think of places on the main line from the northeast into London, but honestly I can't think of any. The places I would suggest are much like those above but they are all non-trivial to reach.

Peterborough does nothing for me although it has a nice cathedral. And a railway junction.

I might take the long way around to either Cambridge (and Ely) or Stamford.

Sorry

Durham has the finest building in Britain right in the middle of it

tell us where else are you travelling to and you might get other suggestions where to spend extra time

from Whitby you can visit Staithes, Robin Hoods Bay, Scarborough, and other towns in the North York Moors - Pickering, Goathland, Malton

fan of James Herriot? - visit Thirsk

or Harrogate

even though its in the opposite direction Durham would be easy to reach

Thanks, everyone!

We have rented an apartment in London for three weeks beginning Sunday, May 1. I believe the next day, May 2, is a bank holiday which is why I referred to the weekend as a bank holiday weekend.

We fly into Heathrow on April 25 and have the days between then and May 1 to explore new territory outside London. We decided on York and Whitby for 2-3 nights each and have booked our lodging. In checking train schedules for our return to London I realized that the Sunday schedule will have us back in London much later in the day than I want. So I thought we should take a night from Whitby (leaving two) and head closer to London for Saturday night.

We were traveling away from home when I wrote my question! and just about to lose Internet access. So I did not have time to explore options myself; I just posted what came to mind as possibilities, in case there is a better option than York.

It sounds like York is indeed the best choice ( easiest travel) and we will be happy to return there for another night. (We will be in Stamford later in the trip so I am glad to hear that is a good choice as well.)

I will go ahead and adjust our lodging reservations, and then will be ready to book our train tickets when the Advance fares are released.

I hope you will have a chance to go beachcombing for Jet, especially if there has been a recent blow, when you are in Whitby.

If not, there are several shops selling it....

Beach combing sounds like fun. So it is OK to pick up jet from the beach and keep it?

As far as I am aware as long as you don't mine the cliffs you are fine. It tends to wash out in storms. Don't expect any big pieces, but there should be some.

It sounds like you have it mostly worked out, but if you're still thinking about it, Durham is the wrong direction, but it is a lovely town with a super cathedral and would definitely match your desire for a friendly place.

I also love Lincoln, great cathedral, has one of 4 surviving copies of the Magna Carta (but check if it's scheduled for display before you go -- it's in a vault on Lincoln Castle). It takes 2 trains from York to get to Lincoln.

I also like Ely, another nice cathedral and Oliver Cromwell's house right nearby, but I don't think you can reach Ely directly either.

We enjoyed Peterborough too, another cathedral town, not a tourist town. I would check cathedral visitation hours and tours before you visit. We attended Sunday morning church service and did a tour Saturday morning.