Looking for things to do in Scarborough beyond the beach? Mention Scarborough to most people and they picture a day at the beach, an arcade, maybe a walk along the seafront or the harbour. Fair enough — it’s a genuinely lovely stretch of coast. But stay longer than a day trip and a different Scarborough opens up: a proper local food scene, independent health and wellbeing studios, and a level of choice most visitors never discover because they never stay past sunset.
Here’s what a longer break on the Yorkshire coast actually looks like, once you look past the obvious postcard shots: three local businesses, each doing something special.
Where to eat in Scarborough: two places doing something different
Lookout on the Pier: seafood on the harbour
Lookout on the Pier sits right on Scarborough’s harbour, with views over the water and a small balcony to eat on if you choose. It’s a cafe and bistro built around ethically sourced, local produce, fully licensed, with doors open seven days a week. The kitchen leans into genuinely good seafood: the Lookout Hot Seafood Platter and the Fruits of the Sea Platter both feature locally caught lobster, and there are Lindisfarne oysters and Thai-style seabass too. It’s the kind of menu that surprises people who came to Scarborough expecting fish and chips and nothing more (which, to be clear, Scarborough also does very well and you can have it here too — this is additional, not instead of).
In the Lookout’s own words: they opened in April 2019 with the vision of becoming a seafood bistro using local products and have achieved that while keeping 16 staff on all year round, which in a seaside town is a real achievement and something they’re proud of. They have huge gratitude for their local supplier, Townsend Shellfish, a big part of day-to-day service, supplying lobsters, crabs and the daily specials, including Dover soles, spider crabs, plaice and more. In our view, they have every reason to be proud.
Take a look at the evening view over the harbour: you could really imagine dining on a Mediterranean shoreline overlooked by a citadel, but in reality it’s Scarborough harbour at its best, overlooked by Scarborough Castle, the headland fortress that has watched over this coast for centuries.
Embers: wood-fired dining on Victoria Road
Embers, at 138 Victoria Road, is chef Dan Hargreaves’ wood-fired restaurant, built around a wood-fired kitchen that turns out signature dishes like wood-fired prawns and char-grilled flat iron steak. Menu highlights include soy-marinated pork belly and dukkha-marinated lamb rump, in an intimate setting where Dan wants guests to “feel like they’re amongst friends.”
In Embers’ own words: it’s cosy, casual dining, with most of the food cooked in the wood-fired oven at the back of the restaurant. They love cooking with fire because it adds great flavour and depth, and the menus change frequently with the seasons, as do the drinks. There’s an extensive Yorkshire spirits bar, stocked with Yorkshire’s finest gins, rums, whiskeys and more, and George’s legendary smoky old fashioned, served under smoke, is the one to try. It’s a cosy, intimate restaurant and a perfect place to share food with friends and family.
In our experience, the food and drink are excellent, the staff are welcoming and friendly, and the atmosphere is relaxed. Reserve a table to avoid disappointment.
Reset with Pilates: Bay & Body Studios
If part of your break is about resetting as well as sightseeing, Scarborough has real options for fitting a class into your stay.
Bay & Body Studios: Reformer Pilates in Scarborough
Bay & Body Studios is Scarborough’s first purpose-built Reformer & Mat Pilates studio, founded by local mum Eden after discovering Pilates following the birth of her second son. What started as a personal passion for Pilates soon developed into a vision for her own studio, with Bay & Body opening its doors in February 2026.
Located at Londesborough Business Park in Scarborough, Bay & Body offers Reformer and Mat classes for all levels, with a focus on making Pilates approachable, enjoyable and easy to fit into everyday life. The studio is now open six days a week, with classes starting from £19 and a 2 classes for £25 introductory offer for new clients.
Pilates is a low-impact way to build core strength, improve posture and ease stiffness, and it suits a wide range of ages and fitness levels. Because the movements are controlled and can be adjusted, it works as well for beginners and people returning to exercise as it does for regulars. It’s also a good way to loosen up after a long journey or a day on the coastal paths. At Bay & Body Studios you can fit a class in alongside your stay.
To find out more, you can find Bay & Body Studios on Instagram and Facebook, or search for the studio on Google. Classes can be booked via the BSport booking platform.
A local secret: open-water swimming
Not a business, just a genuinely useful local tip for confident swimmers: some locals head down to South Bay, near the chalets past the spa, particularly on Saturday mornings, for an open-water dip. It’s informal and entirely weather-dependent rather than an organised group, so there’s no guarantee of company on any given morning — but it’s worth a go if you fancy it. Wrap up warm once you’ve been for the swim though. Just don’t expect a warm welcome from the North Sea; that’s a completely different story.
Why this matters for a longer stay
Why stay longer on the Yorkshire coast?
None of this is the Scarborough most people expect. A genuinely good harbour-view seafood platter. A cosy wood-fired restaurant where the smoky old fashioned comes under smoke. A purpose-built Pilates studio that makes it easy to fit a class into a break. Each of these places offers a warm Yorkshire coast welcome to visitors old and new.
That’s the case for staying longer than a day and for staying somewhere that works as a base for it. STAY Scarborough’s Sanderling Chase is a two-bedroom apartment with a proper kitchen diner and a light-filled lounge. A proper home, through and through. Take a look at our accommodation and book direct at stayscarborough.co.uk.
Frequently asked questions about things to do in Scarborough
Plenty, if you stay longer than a day. You can eat seafood overlooking the harbour at Lookout on the Pier, try wood-fired dining at Embers on Victoria Road, take a Reformer or Mat Pilates class at Bay & Body Studios, or, if you’re a confident swimmer, ask locals about the informal open-water dip at South Bay (weather permitting, and not an organised group).
Two independent places to try are Lookout on the Pier and Embers. Lookout, on the harbour, is built around ethically sourced, local produce, with locally caught lobster on its seafood platters. Embers, at 138 Victoria Road, says its seasonal menu showcases locally sourced Yorkshire produce, much of it cooked in a wood-fired oven.
Lookout on the Pier, on the harbour, serves a seafood-focused menu using local produce, including oysters, platters featuring lobster supplied by Townsend Shellfish, and daily specials such as Dover sole, spider crab and plaice.
Yes. Embers, at 138 Victoria Road, cooks most of its food in a wood-fired oven, with seasonal menus, an extensive Yorkshire spirits bar and a smoky old fashioned served under smoke.
Lookout on the Pier, on the harbour, serves a menu with a wide range of meat and vegetarian dishes. Tables are available from 7:30am for an early, hearty breakfast, and for a coffee-and-cake stop there is a range of cakes, with teas and coffees to go with them.
Yes. Bay & Body Studios, Scarborough’s first purpose-built Reformer & Mat Pilates studio, offers classes for all levels six days a week, with a 2 classes for £25 introductory offer for new clients.
Yes. Whether it’s a long weekend, a few days midweek or an extended break, staying beyond a day trip gives you time to go beyond the seafront, with independent restaurants, studios and the harbour all within one coastal town.
STAY Scarborough’s Sanderling Chase is a two-bedroom apartment with a king-size bed in one bedroom and a super king in the other (which can be set up as two singles on request), plus a proper kitchen diner and a light-filled lounge. Book direct at stayscarborough.co.uk.