Whitby Way

Whitby Way – York Minster to Whitby Abbey – 70 miles, 7 days

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‍A thoughtfully designed route by the late Archdeacon of York, Leslie Stanbridge, who knew Yorkshire holy places intimately.

Starting at the grand York Minster, shrine of St William of York, and place of rebirth of Roman Christianity in the North in 627 [see St Hilda’s Way and Paulinus Way], you climb from the lowland Vale of York to rolling hills at Crayke before crossing the North York Moors through fields, moorland and ancient paved tracks before following the salmon-rich River Esk Valley to Whitby. You pass by famous ancient establishments in extraordinary settings like Byland and Riveaulx Abbeys and finish at Whitby Abbey.

The route also includes villages where one of the last Catholic martyrs, Nicholas Postgate, and the author of Tristram Shandy, preached. The saintly brothers Cedd and Chad were abbots at Lastingham, with its astonishing crypt. The landscapes are enough to carry this route on their own, without the holy places; but with them, and the care given to the presentation of the route in the guidebook, you will have an unforgettable pilgrim experience.

Highlights

• ‍‍High concentration of important medieval religious establishments
• Diverse landscapes of lowland vale, moorland, dales, rivers and coast
• Beautifully-considered guidebook

Holy Places along route listed in our book Britain’s Pilgrim Places: York; Rievaulx; Lastingham; Whitby.

An Unholy Pilgrimage on the Whitby Way, article in the Independent.

Buy the guidebook to York Minster in the York Minster shop.