Oh my gosh. There is more to do in and around York than three months will allow. We went out and saw or did something nearly every day and we still had a long list that we didn’t get to do. Here’s some of our favorites from what we managed to see – let us know what we missed!
Museums
York Castle Museum – The York Castle Museum is an eclectic mix of random bits of history, located in what was once a prison for a castle originally built in 1068 by William the Conqueror. The showpiece of the museum is Kirkgate, which is a recreation of streets and actual shops which were in York from 1870-1901. Other exhibits include stories of prisoners once held in the castle prison, an exhibit of toys, and a funky room about the 1960’s. £10 admission, free with YMT card.
Yorkshire Museum and Gardens – My favorite museum in York, the Yorkshire Museum concentrates on the very rich history of the region, from the time of dinosaurs through the Vikings, the Romans, and on to the Medieval period. Its exhibits include some important artifacts such as Iron Age torcs, and the fascinating Ivory Bangle Lady, the skeletal remains of a wealthy fourth century foreigner who lived in York. It also displays the famous Gilling Sword, discovered in 1976 by a nine year old boy playing in a stream. The museum has an army of docents who will explain the artifacts and sometimes even allow you to handle some of them. The museum hosts weekly lectures for YMT cardholders. The grounds include the very picturesque ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey and a small garden. I returned here numerous times during my three months in York. Admission: 7.50 for adults, free with YMT card.
York Art Gallery – While small and not especially compelling, the Art Gallery is worth a visit if you are in York for an extended period. A fair part of the museum is dedicated to travelling exhibits, so it’s more ‘hit and miss’ than other museums in the area. It has a large collection of ceramics and pottery. My favorite collection was of maps, drawings and early photographs of the city of York. Admission: 7.50 for adults, free with YMT card.
National Railway Museum – Even if you’re not a big railroad fan, you wouldn’t want to miss this museum. And if you have any interest in railroads, you’ll be in heaven here. It’s the largest railroad museum in the world, with over 300 locomotives alone in their collection. It is the home of the Flying Dutchman, and the Mallard, which was the fastest steam locomotive ever built. It also houses the personal rail cars of the British Royalty when they used to travel their country by train. It’s huge and a bit overwhelming, and if trains are your thing, you’ll want to spend several days here. Admission is free, but they request donations.
Jorvik Viking Center – This is really more a tourist attraction than a museum, but it’s worth a visit. We were in York in the fall of 2015, and left just as huge floods were threatening York. The floodwaters destroyed the Jorvik Center that we actually visited, but they’ve rebuilt and reopened in April 2017. The website says it’s been expanded and improved from the time we visited. The highlight of the visit is a Disney-like ride through a Viking town, complete with barking dogs, playing robotic children and even the smells of the village. Artifacts and projections completed the exhibits. It is one of the most popular attractions in York, and is often quite crowded. Avoid during half term, when school children are on break. Admission is £10.25 per adult.
Things that Make York Amazing
York Minster: Without a doubt, the most stunning and famous sight in York is the York Minster. The Minster is one of the greatest cathedrals in the world, and is brimming with history, too. Built on the site of the original Roman fort that created York, you can still see some of the Roman walls and even mosaics in the basement of the cathedral, as well as ecclesiastical displays in the Undercroft. Because of heroic efforts during WWII, the medieval stained glass in the cathedral was preserved. It is well worth going on the guided tour – in fact, it is well worth going on the guided tour several times, as each of the docents has different favorite stories to tell. Tours are on the hour from 10am to 3pm. You can also climb the tower for the highest view in all of York. One thing not to be missed is the Evensong service, held every weekday at 5:15. It is a sung service by the Minster Choir –a boys’ choir with young boys who sing like angels. (Mondays is often a visiting choir, so check the schedule) You will sit in the choir seats, with the pipes of the magnificent organ towering over you, and after a processional, the boys will sit in the center section of the choir loft. The sound will swell around you, creating an unforgettable experience. The Minster is also a working church with a vibrant congregation, and everyone is welcome to worship there. Tickets are £10 for adult admission (free to attendees during services) and £15 for admission to the Minster and the Tower, but the tickets are valid for a full year.
York has the longest City Walls in all of England, approximately 2 miles. You can walk around nearly the entire city on the walls for a magnificent elevated view of the ancient city. (approx. time 2 hours) The walls were built in the 13th
century and while the moat is mostly gone, in March and April, thousands of daffodils bloom off the ramparts on the northern side. The website is well worth visiting.
One of the best ways to learn about the City Walls – and the entire city – is to take the free 2 hour York tour offered every day, starting right outside the Art Gallery. It’s given by volunteer residents of York who are passionate about their home city. Follow the link for the times. The tour will not only explain the history of the wall, but will guide you through the city proper, offering all kinds of insights you can only get from residents.
York Royal Theatre – We were very disappointed to find that the York Royal Theatre was closed during our nesting time. We had visited York for a short time two years before and enjoyed our visit to the theatre so much that we went back the next night. The theatre closed right after our first visit for renovations, but in a town where archeologists are on every building team, it was predictable that they would find things of historic significance once they started renovations, and the site turned into a dig. It’s now open again, and from what we’ve heard, even bigger and better.
Other things we saw and did that will no doubt be in guide books were Tours of York ( both Ghost and Guy Fawkes tours), visiting the Trade house and the Fairfax House, and going to the Chocolate Story tour (touristy, but fun.)
Hidden Gems of York
Here are a few things that you may not find in the guide books, but we discovered while we were there.
Goddards House and Gardens – A beautiful Arts and Crafts style home built by the Terry chocolate magnate – the one who made those wonderful segmented chocolate oranges. A lovely place for teas and for walking the gardens, just south of the city. It’s a long but enjoyable walk or a short bus ride for a Sunday afternoon. Part of the National Trust.
Bar Convent – just outside of the Mickelgate Bar, this beautiful convent is now a hostel (and would be my number one place to stay short term in York.) It also houses a small museum and a beautiful hidden chapel. Learn how the brave sisters kept this convent operable despite horrific persecution after Henry VIII outlawed Catholicism in favor of the Church of England. You can also have a cup of tea in the gardens.
Yorkshire Air Museum – You’ll want to visit this if you’ve got any interest in aviation or WWII history. As Al is a retired Air Force pilot and my dad is a WWII history buff, this was a must-see for us, and we weren’t disappointed. The museum is located on the site of former RAF Elvington, which was an important Allied base during the war. There’s lots of airplanes, but the site also allows you to really get a flavor of w
hat it was like to be stationed at the base during wartime. There’s also a small cafeteria where a dwindling cadre of veterans hang out. While it’s a bit out of town, it is possible to get there through public transportation. There’s a lot here – it will probably take you a full day to explore.
Rowntree Park – A wonderful park along the river, donated to the city by the Rowntree family, chocolatiers who are responsible for Kit Kats and Smarties. The park has a playground, tennis courts, gardens, walking paths, a pond, and best of all, a cozy little reading room that serves cakes and tea. Community events are often held here – my knitting group met here on Wednesday afternoons. One of the most intriguing and charming things I saw in York was in the park – a park bench looking over the pond that always had fresh flowers attached to it. There must be a story, but I don’t know what it is.
Nuclear Fallout Shelter – Yes, not only is there a nuclear fallout shelter in York (weirdly situated in the parking lot of a townhouse development) but you can visit it. It’s part of the English Heritage Society, even. It’s a fascinating and eerie site, designed to seal off 60 survivors from the devastation outside the unit so that they could monitor and report on the radiation to any other surviving areas.
Attractions outside of York
You’ll need a car for most of these attractions, but if you’re going to rent one for a few days, here’s some suggestions as to where to go.
Near Middlestown: Who would think a coal mine would be one of the most fascinating side trips we found from York? But when my father came to visit us for two weeks, the trip to the National Coal Mining Museum was what he talked about the most. Here you can travel 140 meters below the ground to explore a coal mine and get a true insight to the challenges of being a miner. (Lee might want to add things here) Free, but a 3 pound donation is requested. https://www.ncm.org.uk/
Maybe you’ve seen the TV show or the movie Brideshead Revisited. If so, you know that the real star of the series – and the movie – was the magnificent palace where it was filmed. Castle Howard is that palace, located just outside of York. You can tour the beautiful grounds and gardens, and also see selected rooms inside, including the rooms used for filming. There’s a small exhibit about the movie and the mini-series. There’s also a small shop at the entrance where they sell vegetables and very wonderful sausage made on site.
If you want to take photos that will make your friends at home jealous, Rievaulx Abbey is the place to go. Incredibly picturesque, it’s the ruins of a huge Cisterian Abbey first constructed in 1131. The grounds are beautiful, with groomed walking trails around lakes and through forests. You might get a sense of deja vu here – the ruins have been painted and drawn by artists for centuries.
If you want to take a jaunt to the seaside, you might want to check out the town of Whitby. It’s a great day trip – or even an overnighter. Start out at the town of Pickering and take the North York Moors Historic Railway to Whitby, a 24 mile ride through the moors in heritage diesel or steam engine. Once there, you can celebrate being in Dracula’s hometown by shopping for jet jewelry – a beautiful coal black stone worn in Victorian days by people in mourning. Also stop by the boyhood home of Captain Cook and of course indulge in fish and chips. Folks from Whitby claim it as their culinary gift to the world.
If you’re looking for some great museums in another seaside town, Hull can be easily reached from York by bus or train. Hull’s most famous museum is The Deep, advertised as one of the best aquariums in the world. We loved the Hull and East Riding Museum, which had fantastic exhibits about Iron Age Celts who first lived in Yorkshire, and houses Britain’s largest surviving prehistoric logboat – which is much more impressive than it sounds. There’s also the Streetlife Museum of Transport, which is way fun, and the Maritime Museum, which had great exhibits about whaling. Hull is also where you can catch the overnight ferry to the Netherlands, so if you’re planning on a side trip, it’s a great place to spend the day before boarding the ferry for the nighttime crossing.
A train ride north of York is the city of Durham, a medieval pilgrimage site because the cathedral there holds the bones of St. Cuthbert, whose remains were believed to heal illnesses. The cathedral and castle are now a UNESCO heritage site. The nerd in me loved it because it also holds the tomb of the Venerable Bede, author of Ecclesiastical History of the English People, which earned him the title of the Father of British History. (and is also a really fun read full of wizards and fairies and King Arthur, once you get past the archaic language.) Anyway, it’s a beautiful walk through town to the castle and cathedral.
If you’re into armor and medieval weaponry, take the train west to Leeds and check out the Royal Armoy Musuem. It’s got every kind of weaponry you can imagine and the exhibits are dynamic and interesting. You can even shoot a crossbow! Don’t miss the vampire protection kit.
If you’re interested in a short trip to Amsterdam, you can’t really beat this deal, taking the minicruise ferry from Hull. You’ll overnight on the ferry, spend a day in Amsterdam, and then overnight back. The ferry is nearly as decked out as a cruise ship, with entertainment, restaurants and comfy cabins. (although the restaurants are expensive – you might want to just pack a bag ‘dinner’ to eat on board.) It’s a great deal and allows you to get a little taste of Amsterdam.