Five quieter corners of Yorkshire where you can stay away from the crowds, in places that still feel genuinely undiscovered.
Yorkshire draws millions of visitors each year. Most of them end up in the same places: York, Haworth, Whitby, Scarborough. Those are well-served.
But the lesser-known Yorkshire cottage getaways sit well away from all of that. Swaledale villages that see a fraction of Wensleydale’s footfall. A fishing bay where thatched roofs survived when everything else slid into the sea. A valley the Norman lords hunted that most modern maps barely label.
These five corners of the county are worth staying in.
Region: North Yorkshire
Best for: Walking, stargazing, coastal exploring, cycling
Getting there: A car is the most practical option for most of these locations. Northern Rail serves Northallerton and Darlington for access to Swaledale, and Scarborough for the coast. From those stations, local taxis or car hire reach the dale villages.
Time needed: Minimum of 2 nights per location. A week covers two or three properly.
Muker, Swaledale
Swaledale runs west from Richmond and gets quieter the further you go. Muker sits near the upper end of the dale, a stone village with a 16th-century church and flower meadows that run right down to the river. Those meadows are not incidental. They are designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest and Special Areas of Conservation. Britain has lost 97 per cent of its flower hay meadows since the Second World War, according to Natural England. What survives in upper Swaledale is among the finest remaining examples in the country, and Muker stands at the centre of it. Visit from late May to early July, and the meadows fill with yellow rattle, wood cranesbill, and meadow buttercup.
The village has a character that larger Dales settlements tend to lose to visitor pressure. In summer, you can smell the cut hay from the road. The Swale runs close and audible from most of the lanes. Walking north along the riverside path gives you the valley floor meadows at their best, with the limestone ridges rising behind.
Where to Stay: Swaledale Country Holidays offers self-catering cottages across the upper dale with direct access to the meadow walks.
Worth Knowing: The Farmers Arms became community-owned in 2024 when local residents purchased it through the Muker Community Benefit Society. It is currently open Tuesday to Sunday and takes food bookings.
Runswick Bay
Most visitors to the North Yorkshire coast head for Whitby. Runswick Bay lies a few miles north and sees a fraction of the footfall. The Times named it one of Britain’s best beaches in 2020. The bay curves in a near-complete arc, and the cliff above carries some of the last surviving thatched cottages on the Yorkshire coast.
The village has a recorded history that illustrates how precarious this stretch of coastline is. In 1682, a landslide during a funeral brought almost every house in the settlement down into the sea. One house survived. The village rebuilt slowly above the bay. The geology here is still active, and the cliffs require steady attention from the coastal path.
Stay in the bay itself, and you walk to the beach in minutes. The light at low tide, when the wet sand reflects the sky and the fishing boats rest on their keels, is particular to this bay. It does not translate into photographs.
Where to Stay: My Runswick Bay rents Starboard Cottage and Crabapple Cottage directly in the bay, both within a five-minute walk of the beach. Yorkshire Coastal Cottages carries additional properties in the surrounding area.
Worth Knowing: Runswick Bay holds one of the last thatched houses on the entire Yorkshire coast, visible from the coastal path above the bay. Whitby has none remaining.
Gayle, Near Hawes
Gayle sits one mile south of Hawes, separated by a short road and a different atmosphere entirely. Hawes is the main market town of Upper Wensleydale, well visited and well supplied. Gayle is the village behind it, quieter by the week and largely unknown outside walking circles. Gayle Beck runs through the village over a series of limestone steps, and the sound of it carries through the lanes in most weathers. In a hard winter, sections of the beck freeze across the falls.
Upper Wensleydale sits on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales Dark Sky Reserve. Clear nights here are a different experience from most of Britain. The nearest significant light pollution lies well to the south, and the ridge of Dodd Fell above the village offers a wide-open horizon after dark.
The walking from Gayle reaches Wether Fell and the route east along the dale toward Bainbridge. These are honest routes with real elevation and minimal crowds outside August.
Where to Stay: Watersdale End offers a dog-friendly cottage in Gayle with a log-burning stove and hot tub, with direct access to the beck walks and the Wensleydale ridge.
Worth Knowing: The Yorkshire Dales Dark Sky Reserve is one of a small number of sites in England where the Milky Way is visible to the naked eye on clear winter nights. The reserve is at its best between September and March.
Langstrothdale
Langstrothdale is the upper section of Wharfedale, above Buckden. The road thins to a single track, and the valley narrows. The Norman lords of the Percy family used this valley as a hunting forest, Langstrothdale Chase, from the medieval period through to the post-medieval era, and the land still carries that quality of being set apart.
The hamlets along the valley floor include Hubberholme, where J.B. Priestley requested his ashes be scattered, and Yockenthwaite, where a Bronze Age stone circle sits above the farm buildings in open pasture. The circle is small, around twenty stones in a rough ring, with the valley visible in both directions. The Dales Way long-distance path passes through the entire valley, giving you one of the finest low-level walking routes in the Dales without stepping on a road.
Where to Stay: Cozy Holiday Cottages offers Oak Cottage at Low Greenfield hamlet in Langstrothdale, sleeping six, with the Dales Way running past the door.
Worth Knowing: J.B. Priestley, who called Hubberholme “one of the smallest and most pleasant places in the world,” is buried in the churchyard. The church at Hubberholme is one of only two in Yorkshire to retain a rare medieval rood loft.
Low Row, Swaledale
Low Row sits on the south side of Swaledale between Muker and Reeth, on a shelf above the valley floor. It carries less traffic than the villages on the main B6270 through the dale. The Long Line above the village connects to the ridge that walks across Harkerside Moor.
Wainwright’s Coast to Coast long-distance path passes through this section of Swaledale, and Low Row sees walkers moving through in both directions. The route follows the river east toward Reeth before climbing out of the dale. Staying here gives you direct access to serious walking without a car once you arrive.
The light in upper Swaledale in late afternoon turns the stone walls amber. In autumn, the moorland above the valley shifts from green through to rust, and the bracken fills the lower slopes with colour that the Wensleydale side rarely matches.
Where to Stay: The Punch Bowl Inn at Low Row is a 17th-century coaching inn with eleven en-suite rooms, direct views across the dale, and a position on the Coast to Coast route.
Worth Knowing: The field barns scattered across the Swaledale valley floor are a protected landscape feature under the Yorkshire Dales National Park management plans. Low Row sits in one of the most intact concentrations of these traditional stone barns in England.
Practical Tips
- A car is essential for most of these locations. Download OS maps in advance for areas with unreliable signal.
- Use the AllTrails app to find and save walking routes before you travel. Mobile signal in upper Swaledale and Langstrothdale is poor.
- Book accommodation well in advance for the July school holidays and October half term. Cottages in upper Swaledale fill months ahead.
- The Punch Bowl at Low Row and the Farmers Arms at Muker are both worth booking for evening meals before you arrive.
- For stargazing near Gayle, the Dark Sky Reserve gives its best skies from September to March. A red-light torch preserves your night vision.
- Runswick Bay has limited parking near the beach. Arrive before 9 am in summer or use the upper village car park and walk down to the bay.
Responsible Visiting
The Swaledale flower hay meadows are Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Stay on marked footpaths from late May to July when the meadows are in active management. Keep dogs on leads near livestock across all of these locations without exception. Runswick Bay’s cliffs are unstable in sections: follow the coast path markers and do not approach the cliff edge at the bay’s northern end. Langstrothdale’s hamlets are working farming communities. Park only in designated areas, never in passing places.
Reader Q&A
Is Runswick Bay worth visiting if I have already been to Whitby?
Yes. Runswick Bay offers a different experience entirely. It is a small, contained bay with a fraction of Whitby’s footfall, thatched cottages on the cliff, and a beach the Times rated among the best in Britain in 2020. There are no amusement arcades and no ghost tour queues.
Are the Yorkshire Dales cottage getaways suitable for families with young children?
Yes, most of them. Muker and Low Row both offer gentle riverside and meadow walking suitable for all ages. Runswick Bay has a sheltered beach. Langstrothdale’s valley paths are accessible. The moorland routes above Gayle require steadier footing and suit older children better.
Is the Punch Bowl Inn a good base for walking in Swaledale?
Yes. The inn sits directly on Wainwright’s Coast to Coast route and gives access to both the valley floor paths and the moorland above Harkerside. From Low Row, you can reach Reeth to the east and the upper dale to the west without getting back in a car.
When is the best time to visit Muker for the flower meadows?
Late May to early July. The meadows reach full colour by June, when yellow rattle, wood cranesbill, and meadow buttercup are at their peak. The meadows are cut in late July, after which the colour fades. Autumn visits give quieter walking, but miss the bloom entirely.
Yorkshire Cottage Getaways: Where to Book
Swaledale Country Holidays, Muker. Self-catering cottages in Upper Swaledale with direct access to the SSSI flower meadow walks.
My Runswick Bay, Runswick Bay. Starboard Cottage and Crabapple Cottage are both within five minutes of the beach.
Yorkshire Coastal Cottages, North Yorkshire Coast. A broader range of properties across the bay and the surrounding area.
Watersdale End, Gayle. Dog-friendly cottage with log-burning stove and hot tub, on the edge of the Dark Sky Reserve.
Cozy Holiday Cottages, Langstrothdale. Oak Cottage at Low Greenfield, sleeping six, with the Dales Way running past the door.
Punch Bowl Inn, Low Row. 17th-century coaching inn on the Coast to Coast route, eleven en-suite rooms, valley views.
These lesser-known cottage getaways in Yorkshire sit within one of England’s most intact traditional farming landscapes. The further you travel from the main visitor routes, the more of it remains.
For more places across Britain that most visitors never reach, browse the Secret Britain travel archive.
