Whitby

Whitby takes 1 day to see: the ruins of Whitby Abbey, atop a cliff that inspired Bram Stoker to set Dracula's arrival in England there in his famous novel, is the main reason to visit. April-October is best. It's inexpensive by British standards. It was the port where Captain James Cook learned to sail before his Pacific expeditions, and its 199 steps up to the abbey remain, as in the novel, the required climb to reach the ruins.