Campervan Stays in North Yorkshire: Where to Park, What to Skip, and When to Book a Room Instead
2 The Square Grassington: Is This North Yorkshire B&B Worth Booking in 2026?
A practical look at campsites, pub stopovers and farm pitches across the Moors, the coast and the Dales — plus the nights when a hotel is simply the better call.
Coast and Moors: The Whitby and Pickering Run
Whitby is where most campervan trips start, and the honest answer is that you should not try to park one overnight in the town itself. The council-run car parks at Marina Back and Endeavour Wharf allow motorhomes but fill by mid-afternoon in July and August, and height barriers catch anything over 2.1 metres. Better to base yourself at a proper site. Several working farms around Sleights and Ruswarp, three to four miles inland on the A169, take vans from roughly £18–£30 a night with electric hook-up, and the 25-minute walk along the Esk into town beats fighting for a space.
Pickering is the natural second stop for the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, but the station car park has no overnight vans and the town centre is tight. Look instead at the campsites along the A170 towards Kirkbymoorside, or the two certified sites near Sinnington. From there the steam train to Grosmont takes about 50 minutes, and you can ride the whole line to Whitby in an hour and 45 minutes without moving the van. Best months are May, June and September: the heather peaks in late August, which is also when every pitch between Helmsley and Goathland is booked solid.
The Dales: Skipton, Malham and the A65 Corridor
The Yorkshire Dales National Park is stricter than the Moors about wild camping — it is effectively not permitted on access land, and the rangers do move people on. Skipton makes a sensible gateway, with a couple of sites within a mile of the town centre and a market on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Malham is the honeypot: the walk to Gordale Scar and Malham Cove is about four miles round, and the village has one main car park where overnight stays are not allowed. Stay at a farm site near Airton or Kirkby Malham, two to three miles out, and cycle or walk in.
Further west, Settle and the Ribblehead viaduct are worth a day. The B6255 from Hawes to Ribblehead is one of the best drives in England but it is narrow, single-track in places, and not fun in a long-wheelbase van after rain. If you are hiring, a standard Transit-based conversion handles it fine; anything over six metres, take the A684 through Leyburn instead. Prices across the Dales run about £20–£35 a night for a van with two adults and hook-up, and most sites close bookings for bank holidays by February.
City Nights: York and Harrogate
York is the one place in the region where I would genuinely skip the van. There is no campsite within the ring road that takes casual overnighters, the park-and-rides at Askham Bar and Grimston Bar have height barriers, and the nearest proper site is out at Rowntree Park — which is tents and caravans only for most of the year. You end up driving in from a site near Stamford Bridge or Naburn, which is fine, but you lose the point of the van. A hotel inside the walls, five minutes from Micklegate Bar or the Shambles, is cheaper than you would think and saves you the parking roulette.
Harrogate is easier — there is a site at Ripley, four miles north on the A61, and another near Knaresborough. Both put you 15 minutes from the Turkish Baths and the Stray. But note the season: the Great Yorkshire Show in mid-July fills every pitch within 20 miles, and the Harrogate Autumn Flower Show in September does the same. If your dates land on either, book a room in town six to eight weeks ahead rather than hoping for a cancellation on a campsite.
What to Skip, and When to Book
Skip wild camping anywhere in the national parks; skip the A169 between Whitby and Pickering on summer Sundays, when it becomes a slow queue; and skip the idea that you can turn up at a popular site on a Friday in August. You cannot. What is worth doing is booking two or three fixed bases for a week rather than moving every night — fuel and pitch fees add up faster than most people expect, and you spend the holiday packing.
My own call: three nights on the coast near Whitby, two in the Dales around Malham or Settle, and then a hotel for the York leg. The van earns its keep in the countryside and costs you money in the city. If you are travelling in October or March, when sites are quiet and rates drop, reverse it — stay on campsites and day-trip into York by train from Malton or Thirsk, where parking is free and the service is quick.
Before you book
The questions people ask about Grassington, answered with this month’s numbers.
Not legally on most land. The Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors national parks prohibit overnight stays on access land and rangers do enforce it. Use certified sites, farms or pub stopovers, which cost about £10–£30 a night.
Late May, June and September. The weather is decent, pitches are available and rates are lower. Avoid the last week of August and the Great Yorkshire Show week in mid-July, when every site within 20 miles is full.
York and Harrogate. Both have height barriers at park-and-rides and no central overnight van parking. A city-centre room for one or two nights is often cheaper than a distant pitch plus taxis and parking.
