We'll be staying in York for 3 days. Wanted to know how easy it is to get to the Yorkshire moors by public transport on a Sunday. Or would it be better to rent a car or hire a driver. I want to see some desolate landscape...
Posted by
New York City, NY, USA
5678 posts
Betsy, I'm hoping one of the locals will post, but I highly suspect that to really explore the moors or the dales you'll want a car. I did rent a car in York and it was easy. The county roads do not have a lot of traffic so you'll probably be fine if you're worried about driving. Check out Rivaulx Abbey if you get the chance. I loved it.
Posted by
near Ringwood, Hampshire, UK
521 posts
Not easy, but not impossible. The last time I was there was 30 years ago on my 6th Form geography field trip, and before that in the back of my parents' Triumph Herald, so this is just Google knowledge, but here goes: There are Sunday bus services from Moorsbus. Go to the following website and click on the link that says "Downloading the Moorsbus 2013 Timetable". That includes a map of the routes and timetables, and I see there is a service that starts in York - http://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/visiting/public-transport/moorsbus Also take a look at the main Yorkbus website, such as this page which covers route 840 that goes through York, up to the moors via Pickering, where you could switch to Moorsbus services (although I haven't cross-checked the timetables so I don't know how practical that would be) - http://www.yorkbus.co.uk/times.jsp?routeID=2
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
1068 posts
Good advice from Kevin! And a caveat from Kira. I did that. With my mother. And we MISSED THE LAST BUS. So we ended up hitchhiking back to the hotel, which took a very very long time. Not a whole lot of cars went by. Luckily, we didn't look too scary, and ended up getting a ride from a very nice couple who thought we were hilarious eccentric Yanks and couldn't have been more pleased to have been able to help out. Just sayin' - read time time table three times, and get to the bus stop 10 minutes early, at a minimum.
Posted by
San Diego, CA, USA
237 posts
We ended up having a car for our last day in York so we did the drive from York to the tiny town of Goathland to see the sheep wandering in the street. There aren't many destinations in the moors but we got super lucky and saw the real historic steam train running through the station they used in Harry Potter. Whitby is the only kind of city in the moors and there is both a train and a bus out there. I know Rick covers some public transit and tours in his book but I don't have a copy at hand. Having done it I have to say that driving and parking in York should be avoided at almost any cost. Have a great trip,
=Tod