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Introduction
Located where the River Ouse and the River Foss meet, the cathedral city of York has been a settlement since at least Roman times. It’s Yorkshire’s county town and is known for its gorgeous historic buildings including the Minster, the city walls, and a castle.
On the main train line from Edinburgh to London, it’s known for Romans, Vikings, and Anglo Saxons, and has often been one of the most important cities in England since it was first founded in 71 CE as the fort of Eboracum. While the weather is often something you need to consider, given that it’s in Yorkshire, there is plenty to do and see in this exceptionally attractive city.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- National Railway Museum
- York Museum Gardens
- York Edible Wood
- Walk the Walls of York
- Rowntree Park
- York Cat Trail
- Watch the buskers and street performers in King’s Square, outside York Minster, or the Shambles
- Visit Diagon Alley in the morning mist
- York Civic Trust trails
- Homestead Park
- Honourable Mentions
National Railway Museum
What it is: The name pretty much gives it away; this is the national museum of the railway. It is free, but you’ll have a smoother experience if you book in advance. There are plenty of different collections, with lovely halls to wander through. Find out about the trains that changed the world – the Rocket, the Japanese Bullet Train, and even Queen Victoria’s “palace on wheels”. You can even see the fastest steam locomotive in the world, the Mallard. The museum is always winning awards.
Why we liked it: There are plenty of activities and trails to keep children occupied, with lots of exhibits to play with and prod and generally interact with. There’s even a station dog called Laddie, and you can see how he reunited a lost teddy with its owner. Find out about how rail travel has developed from the age of steam to the bullet train.
More information about the National Railway Museum
Address: National Railway Museum, Leeman Road, Wishaw, York, YO26 4XJ.
Opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday 10am to 5pm most of the year; 10am to 5pm every day in the summer holidays.
York Museum Gardens
What it is: It isn’t every city that has more than ten acres of stunningly lovely gardens right in the centre, but this is just one of many features that make York so special. There’s a ruined abbey, a pavilion lawn, the Artists’ Garden – oh, and wildlife and plants too to enjoy. In previous years the Pavilion Lawn has sometimes been turned into a children’s playground or a location for Roman-themed children’s events.
Why we liked it: The gardens are lovely, and in addition to spotting as many of the 40 different bird species as we could, we loved exploring the plants, squirrels, and other wildlife, and the generally gorgeous green open space, the location is also home to the Observatory and the 1811 clock – once upon a time, the clock that every other timepiece in the city followed. Maybe it’s our sense of humour, but we found it really amusing that it’s always four minutes 20 seconds behind the world standard Greenwich Mean Time.
More information about the York Museum Gardens
Address: Museum St, York YO1 7FR
Opening hours: Main gardens 9am to 6pm all year round; Artists’ Garden, 10.30am to 4.30pm all year round (check Christmas holidays). Observatory hours are limited as it’s run by volunteers, check the website for details.
York Edible Wood
What it is: We’re staying in the museum gardens for the next part of our visit, as this is where you’ll find the edible wood, which is packed with all kinds of plants and other vegetation that we can safely eat. It’s an important living library as well as a beautiful place to wander around and enjoy the colours and the scents and the layout. It was planted in 2015 so is still quite young. Like so many locations in York, it has a slightly fairy tale aspect – it’s not often you’ll come across medlars these days, for instance, which are closely related to apples and were really popular when Elizabeth the First was the Queen. You can only eat the fruit if it’s slightly rotted – there’s even a special word for it called bletting.
Why we liked it: We loved the colours and the scents and the textures and were glad to see that visitors are discouraged from picking items. That way we could still see what Jerusalem Artichokes, sea kale, and lots of different onions looked like, and we had plenty of fun coming up with new colours to describe them all and guessing whether any parts of the plants were poisonous.
More information about the York Edible Wood
Address: York Museum Gardens, Museum Gardens, York, YO1 7FR
Opening hours: 7.30am to 6pm all year round (Museum Gardens opening hours).
Walk the Walls of York
What it is: Over the centuries, York (Eboracum to the Romans). Regularly came under attack from pretty much everyone. If it wasn’t the Scots, it was the Danes – and its walls formed one of its defensive measures.
There are two miles of walls left for you to walk – they’re the longest surviving town walls in England. Keen geology students might like to know they’re made of magnesium limestone – and an interesting fact about the walls is that they were built on ramparts originally.
Why we liked it: Who doesn’t love a view over a crazy mediaeval city/ Depending on the weather, you can walk the walls at any time of year, and there will always be something interesting to see. The whole structure looks like something out of a film set, with what are called bars at every corner – they’re huge gateways. There are 13 sections in total and you don’t have to walk them all at once, you can explore them section by section.
More information about the Walk the Walls of York
Address: One possible starting point: York YO1 7LJ
Opening hours: 8am to dusk every day – depending on conditions, if it’s icy or wet, you might want to reconsider as the walls are very exposed and can get very slippery.
Rowntree Park
What it is: For centuries York was known as one of the chocolate-making centres of England if not the world, and many of the companies involved were Quakers who believed in looking after their employees. The park covers 30 acres in total and was gifted to the city of York in 1921 by two members of the Rowntree family.
This park is on a floodplain, and the River Ouse in York is known for flooding regularly, so don’t be too surprised if it isn’t open when it’s excessively wet. Otherwise, it’s usually a very pleasant place to spend a few hours.
Why we liked it: We enjoyed looking at the marks on the lychgate to see just how high the water has reached in previous flood years – it really made us think. You can see how high it got on the dovecote next to the lake as well.
The park has held a Green Flag Award every year since 2004. There are skate park areas, a children’s play area, and an ornamental lake where you’ll often see ducks and other visitors playing with model boats.
More information about the Rowntree Park
Address: Rowntree Park, Terry Avenue, Micklegate, YO23 1JQ
York Cat Trail
What it is: York has a long history of being associated with witches (good ones, obviously), and where you find witches, you’ll often find cats. Wherever you go in York, it won’t be long before you notice the cats.
They’re everywhere, often in really unexpected places. In 1920, a man called Steven Aitchison put two cats on a building that he owned in a place called Skates, and several other people started following suit. In 1979 a local architect called Tom Adams was famous for drawing black cats, and when a sculptor called Jonathan Newdick was commissioned to create the cats, they started popping up everywhere.
Why we liked it: You can pick up a leaflet at Petergate in York, and follow the cats. We loved the fact that the cats change – so you’ll almost certainly see different cats if it’s been a while since your last visit.
We liked making up stories about the various cats – there’s another possibility why there are so many of them, and that’s related to the high numbers of rats when the river floods. Cats were often kept on board sailing ships or in merchant storerooms as rat deterrents – and York was a wealthy city packed with wool stores and many other costly items.
Many of these were down by the river. Of course, there could have been no real reason – the people who put the cats there might just like cats…
More information about the York Cat Trail
Address: Various starting points including The Cat Gallery, 45 Low Petergate, York, YO1 7HT or York Glass, 34 Shambles, York, YO1 7LX
Opening hours: 24/7 all year round
Watch the buskers and street performers in King’s Square, outside York Minster, or the Shambles
What it is: Like many other touristy locations in Britain, York attracts numerous street entertainers. At any given time you might see stilt walkers, bubble artists, living statues, and acrobats. You might find yourself caught up in a flash mob, or enticed into an impromptu singalong led by a celebrity TikToker, it’s never the same twice.
Why we liked it: It’s never the same twice! And after all, there can’t be many cities where you might see Roman soldiers rubbing shoulders with Viking warriors, stilt walkers, and painted living statues all at the same time. We liked the fact that we saw buskers at the entrance to the Shambles as well as in King’s Square – the Shambles was originally a street of butchers, in mediaeval times.
More information about the buskers and street performers in King’s Square, outside York Minster, or the Shambles
Addresses: King’s Square York YO1 8BH or Shambles, York, North Yorkshire YO1 7LZ
Opening hours: It varies, as buskers and entertainers may be around at pretty much any time during the day, but around lunchtime is often a good time of day to catch a performance or two. The City of York doesn’t allow artists to use any amplification between 9pm and 8am.
Visit Diagon Alley in the morning mist
What it is: It’s often thought that York was one of the locations that inspired J.K.Rowling’s Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter books, and if you visit the Shambles or explore the snickelways of York around the cathedral early in the morning you’ll get a great insight into why this is thought to be the case. Wondering what a snickleway is? It’s a very local name for an alley, and York is full of them.
Why we liked it: The timbered shopfronts really do look like something out of Harry PotterFirst thing in the morning, before the streets start becoming thronged with people, you can really steep yourself in the magic and the history of York. The Shambles might have been known for butchers’ shops originally but in modern times it’s home to some of the quirkiest shops in York. If not Yorkshire. If not England. If not the whole of the British Isles…If not – well, you get the idea.
Website URL: https://www.shamblesyork.com/
More information about the Diagon Alley
Address: Shambles, York, North Yorkshire YO1 7LZ
Opening hours: Window shopping, 24/7. Shop opening hours vary. Check sunrise times in York at https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/uk/york
York Civic Trust trails
What it is: Cats aren’t the only creatures that you can track down in York – the York Civic Trust has put several other themed trails together. You can look for Blue Plaques, which are put up on buildings that have been home to numerous famous people who lived in York.
Book lovers will probably enjoy the literary trail; scientists-in-training will have fun with scientific York, and those who enjoy the interplay of shade and colour will enjoy the artistic option.
Why we liked it: There’s something for everyone, and the trails aren’t too long – 30 to 60 minutes, typically, and no longer than a mile. We downloaded the trails to a Smartphone, but they’d be easy enough to print out as well.
The choices are Literary York, Artistic York, Radical York, or Scientific York, and we learned more about the city from each one.
More information about the York Civic Trust trails
Opening hours: 24/7 all year round
Homestead Park
What it is: You’ve probably picked up on the fact that the Rowntree family was extremely important and generous to the City of York, and one of their gifts was this 14 acre park in Clifton. It was opened in 1904 and is a very family-friendly space. Benjamin Rowntree decided as soon as he moved into the house that the fields behind his house would be made available as a play area for children at the local elementary school, and over the years it has developed into the extremely attractive space it is today. Pedestrians can gain access to the park at Water End or Shipton Road.
Why we liked it: We thoroughly approved of the children’s play area, as well as the rock garden and the circular garden, and really enjoyed both the tree trail and the wildlife trail, both of which can be downloaded from the website. What you see will depend on what time of year you visit – we visited in spring when the cherry tree avenue was especially lovely.
More information about the Homestead Park
Address: 40 Water End, Clifton, York YO30 6WP
Opening hours: Hours vary depending on the season. Summer: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 9.30am to 7.45pm; Tuesdays and Thursdays, 12.30pm to 7.45pm; Saturdays and Sundays, 9am to 7.45pm.
Honourable Mentions
If you’re staying inside the city walls, then another way to add fun to your York visit is to pick a time period and see how many examples of architecture or costume,s or images you can find for that period. This includes cheating very, very slightly, in our experience – people dressed up in outfits from the era can definitely count towards the total! York does regularly attract all kinds of people, including living history groups, so keep an eye out for any special events or festivals taking place too.
So much of the fun in York is to be found just wandering the thoroughfares and admiring the surroundings – while the Shambles is probably one of the best-known streets in York, there are plenty of others that are also simply gorgeous, like Stonegate, which links the river to the Minster. And just window shopping in York is a treat for the senses – you don’t need to buy anything to enjoy the colour and creativity of displays like those you’ll see at various famous cake shops in the city or to enjoy the dazzling displays around Christmas time pretty much all over York.
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