Scarborough to Filey coastal walk

Easy access from Beverley to stunning seaside scenery

It's just an hour's train ride to Scarborough from Beverley to pick up what is the first/last leg of the coastal section of the Cleveland Way (depending on which way you're doing it). This 9-mile walk is mainly on the flat, with the path leading you along the tops of cliffs, with breathtaking views of beaches and the North sea.

Starting in Scarborough

Having caught the 8.37am train from Beverley we arrived in Scarborough around 9.45 am on a rather grey, but dry, Wednesday. To begin with, we found getting to the Cleveland Way a bit confusing. The signage points you towards South Cliff Gardens. But at the moment (Spring 2022) there is a lot of working being done there and so all access to the coastal footpath to Filey seems to be blocked. We finally realised that the best thing to do was to get down to beach level and walk south. Eventually, the path for the Cleveland Way becomes obvious. You can see it in the distance in the image above (top right of the picture). And the great thing about walking down at the beachside is you walk past the Victorian Spa in all its glory and looking back towards Scarborough, you get fantastic views of the ruined castle on the headland and the Grand Scarborough Hotel up high on the seafront.

The first couple of miles

We found this first stretch of the walk had the steepest sections. They weren't too long or frequent but they were enough to get us out of puff now and then. And it's also in this section that we found ourselves walking a bit further back from the coast than we'd expected. We could still see the sea but through trees. At one point we even had to follow the path inland around a small housing estate, which seemed to be teetering very close to the edge of the cliffside.

Beautiful Cayton Bay

Things really started to get interesting as we arrived above Cayton Bay. With the tide out, it's a huge crescent of yellow sand hugged by steep cliffs. On a weekday in April, the beach was almost deserted. However, I'm sure that changes with good weather and during the summer holidays.

Lucy's Beach Shack

We also took the opportunity here for a welcome cup of coffee, served in a seaside mug, from Lucy's Beach Shack. A tiny place on the route down to the bay, it seems to provide for all essential seaside needs - with windbreaks, beachballs, windmills and fishing nets for sale. You can get yourself a tea or coffee, a bacon buttie or a piece of cake too. And most importantly, there's a loo if you need it.

The owner (I presume the eponymous Lucy) has a couple of friendly doggos at her shack if you happen to love dogs, like we do. And during our visit we met a whole host of four-legged friends stopping there with their owners. From what I can glean online, Cayton Bay is a dog-friendly beach all year round - but you might want to double-check if you're taking your pooch there.

Holding your nerve on the cliffside path

About a mile from Cayton Bay you start to get the really spectacular views of the sea and the coast. But you are very close to the edge in places. Although the path is fairly wide, it can make your stomach churn peering down to the sea far below. At one point, the path disappears completely over the side, clearly due to a recent landslide. But there is a wide grass verge to walk around at this point so no need to worry.

In this section of the Cleveland Way, you're up high. And this is where the walk tends to remain on the flat. There are just the odd undulating sections but nothing that we found challenging. You also have great views of the different rock formations along the coastline.

Finding Filey

It felt a surprisingly long haul from Cayton Bay to Filey. But as I said, the views really helped distract us from the distance. And we felt such a sense of achievement walking over the Brig and into the town.

Having set off from Scarborough at 9.45 am with a few false starts to find the Cleveland Way footpath - and lots of photo stops, coffee and a picnic along the way - we arrived in Filey around 2.30 pm.

I've only been a couple of times but already I love Filey. There are the usual seaside shops on the seafront with ice creams, cockles and fish and chips in plentiful supply. But up above in the town centre (you access it via seaside gardens like in Scarborough) it's quite sleepy with sweeping Georgian crescents standing cheek by jowl with more modern properties. There are a few shops, cafes and bars but it's not bursting with commercialism. Apparently, Charlotte Bronte rather liked Filey too back in the day.

With fewer stops and a less leisurely pace than ours, this 9-mile walk should normally take no more than a morning or afternoon to do. And we wondered whether next time we'd jump off the train at Filey and walk north. That's because you can see Scarborough in the distance long before you get there - so perhaps a bit more interesting being able to see your destination almost from the start. And then of course, it's still just as easy to catch the train back to Beverley.