Robin Hood's Bay - downhill then up

Whitby left me a little underwhelmed - too busy and commercial - but just a few miles south is the utterly charming village of Robin Hood's Bay, where houses tumble down the hillside to the sea, and there still seems an echo of smugglers moving their goods silently along the narrow alleys which pass between them.

One road leads down through the village but cars are only allowed down for access, so it's another place for walking.

 Downhill first this time, then the long slog back up.

I survived all this unusual exercise by stopping  for lunch on the way down at a lovely cafe called The Cove, situated on one of the side paths. At this point of the day it was warm and the interior coolness felt more appealing than the sunlit terrace with views over the sea.

Returning to the 'main' road we headed down to the sea.

When you've reached the bottom though you have to walk back up ... Thunder was rumbling around in the distance and rain starting to fall but not enough to have us dashing for the car (though with a hill to climb I've not sure I could have dashed) 

So we ambled back along the winding paths among the cottages

Stopping to look in shop windows or at the view out to sea. Fortunately I had my umbrella handy for when the rain DID start to fall, and we didn't get very wet.

And then the sun came out again.

Wandering side to side on the flatter streets, zigzagging up the hill instead of tackling it straight on, the walk back up didn't seem as difficult as I expected it to be.

It's a place I'd love to return to and explore further, perhaps even stay there and really get to know the back-ways away from the mass of visitors.