Beautiful Whitby named one of UK's top seaside towns

Whitby has pipped St Ives in Cornwall to be named one of the UK's top three seaside towns.

The North Yorkshire coastal hotspot proved a hit with visitors who voted Whitby third in a holiday hit parade of popular seaside towns.

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Whitby boasts brilliant beaches, mouthwatering seafood, lively activities - from boat trips to fossil-hunting - and, of course, the imposing Abbey ruins which look over the highly-voted harbour below.

Reasons to love Whitby:

Footprints in the sand on Whitby's Blue Flag beach (Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)A beautiful Blue Flag beach and easy access to the glories of the North York Moors National Park surrounding it.

Whitby is filled with friendly independent shops (Image: TONY BARTHOLOMEW)Independent shops - from the bread-and-butter bakeries, grocer’s and butcher’s to gift stores of all persuasions to cater for the constant influx of visitors. If jet jewellery is your thing, you’ll never get tired of window shopping – and the town is also home to the fabulous Whitby Bookshop

Probably the best kippers in the world - the famous Fortune's kippers (Image: © Tony Bartholomew)Fish and chips - your way ! Posh fish and chips. lobster or oysters at Andrew Pern's Star Inn the Harbour. Or join the famous Magpie Cafe queue. Or go traditional with a kipper or smoked salmon at Fortune's.

Goth glam. Whitby Goth weekends are brilliant for people watching as the flamboyant goths strut their stuff.

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The survey by McCarthy Stone, saw 2,700 people surveyed to find which of the most popular seaside towns came out as the UK’s favourite.

Winner and runner up were Salcombe and Weymouth while St Ives on the Cornish coast came fourth. Bamburgh in Northumberland completed the top five.

Discover more coastal gems here