In the past handful of years, I've managed to visit the United Kingdom a grand total of 5 times. It's officially the country (outside of North America) that I've visited the most.
I've spent time in quite a few cities in the good ol' UK, from Edinburgh to Glasgow to Belfast to London to Oxford to Chester to Liverpool. But somehow I'd never managed to visit York.
Kind of crazy, considering that every single person I know who's been to York just raves about it.
So when I was planning my mom's “When I'm 64 Tour” around the UK, I knew I wanted to include at least one day in York.
As it turns out, you can actually see a lot in just 24 hours in York.
Here's my guide to York for the first-time visitor:
What to see in York
YORK MINSTER
The number one attraction in York is undoubtedly York Minster, the towering gothic cathedral that can be seen from many points in town. The church – full name “The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York” – is one of the largest gothic cathedrals in Northern Europe.
The current gothic construction dates back to the 1200s, though there's been a church on this site since at least 627. Visiting this site, then, is kind of a must, even if you aren't that religious.
My mom and I spent some time gawking at the architecture inside the main nave, transepts, and the chapter house. We listened to the famous York Minster choir preparing for their evensong. And then my mom headed down to the historical display in the church's undercroft while I climbed up the 275 steps leading to the top of the central tower.
From atop York Minster, you can see all of York and beyond. The ascent up the tower's steep, winding steps isn't easy (and definitely not for the claustrophobic), but the view is SO worth it.
Even on an overcast day, I could appreciate how pretty York is from this vantage point.
THE SHAMBLES
York's history dates back for centuries – millennia, even. It was founded in 71 AD by the Romans, and has been a major trade city ever since. Strolling through the city's old center is a must, but my favorite part was the Shambles.
This short, narrow street has timber-framed buildings that lean over the street and make you feel like you've walked into a scene from Harry Potter.
This once would have been where you would go to buy fresh meat in York. Today, though, the Shambles is lined with restaurants, pubs, shops, tea rooms, and more.
GO ON A GHOST TOUR
With so much history, York also has a lot of ghosts. Or, so they tell me. If you take a stroll through the old city center and Shambles in the later afternoon/early evening, you're guaranteed to see at least 2 or 3 people dressed in gravedigger outfits passing out pamphlets for ghost tours.
There are several nighttime walking tours of York to pick from, but since it was a little drizzly my mom and I decided to buy a ticket for the Ghost Bus. It's a mixture of ghost tour and comedy show, which takes place aboard an old routemaster bus painted midnight black. We learned about the history of York as we drove around the city and got made fun of by our conductor/tour guide.
Was it scary? No. Was it entertaining? You bet.
Where to eat in York
I'm by no means a foodie and will never pretend to be, but I got a recommendation from a friend from York and decided to take him up on it. He said we HAD to stop in at Bettys Cafe and Tea Rooms for tea at the very least.
This Yorkshire staple was opened in 1936 by Frederick Belmont, who, after being inspired after traveling on the maiden voyage of the Queen Mary, had the interior of the tea rooms designed to resemble a luxury ocean liner.
The cafe in St. Helen's Square is almost always packed, but we decided it was worth it to wait in line for 15 minutes for a table. We ended up having lunch – and delicious desserts off the treat trolley!
If you want to have afternoon tea here, you should probably book in advance.
Where to stay in York
There are actually quite a few hotels in York. However, my mom and I managed to visit multiple UK cities when special events were going on during this trip. For example, the York Races were happening on the day we arrived, meaning packed trains, long taxi queues, and absolutely booked up hotels. When I went to start looking for accommodation 3 months before our trip, every single hotel in town was already sold out.
We ended up booking an apartment through Airbnb instead (get some free Airbnb credit here!), which worked for us.
But if you're more of a hotel type, here are the ones we would have checked out if they hadn't been booked solid:
- The Parisi Hotel – A boutique hotel that's rated #1 in York on TripAdvisor.
- Dean Court Hotel – A central hotel near York Minster.
- The Grand Hotel & Spa – A 5-star luxury option within the city walls.
How to get to York
York is well-connected to most other major cities in the UK by train. The train station is within walking distance of the main part of town (and taxi rides are short and affordable). We came in on the train from Edinburgh and left on the train to head to Liverpool – I highly recommend train travel in the UK!
My best tip is to book your tickets in advance. You can usually buy train tickets up to 12 weeks in advance, and the sooner you buy your tickets, the more you save. We paid less than 15 GBP each for most of our tickets by booking 2 months in advance – definitely a deal!
The best tours in York
We only had 24 hours to explore York, but if you have more time to spend, here are some more tours worth checking out:
- The York Pass Including Hop-On Hop-Off Tour
- York Walking Tour including York Minster
- York Walls Private Walking Tour
- York's Chocolate Story Guided Tour
READ NEXT: The Adorable Town of Beverley, England
Have you ever been to York? What else would you suggest doing there?
Amanda Williams is the award-winning blogger behind A Dangerous Business Travel Blog. She has traveled to more than 60 countries on 6 continents from her home base in Ohio, specializing in experiential and thoughtful travel through the US, Europe, and rest of the world. Amanda only shares tips based on her personal experiences and places she's actually traveled!
Hi Amanda, visitors from the USA to York may be interested in a detour to Selby, a small town nearby. Selby Abbey was founded in 1069 and is beautiful inside and out. Of particular interest is the Washington Window, a stained glass window dating from the fourteenth century featuring the coat of arms of the Wessington family, John Wessington was the great, great, great.. .. grandfather of George Washington. It is considered to be the possible origin of the Stars and Stripes; the stars depicted in the window are actually five-pointed spurs, the stripes another heraldic device. The Wessington family were from the North East of England and had connections with Selby Abbey, John’s daughter was married there. I think John was an architect and also designed nearby Heminborough Church. Yours, John (a Selebian!)
Oh what a neat bit of trivia! Thanks for sharing that, John!
York looks lovely, beautiful pictures and post.. view from atop York Minster is worth the climb for sure. Will be adding to our list for our next visit to UK.
Great to hear, Priya! It’s a city I’d definitely love to visit again!
Wow, the interior of the York Minister looks awesome!! The architecture and statues must have taken quite a while to build. York sounds like a lovely and cozy place! 🙂
York Minster was everything I was expecting it to be, and then some! Such a gorgeous church!
What a lovely post Amanda!
Yes, I’ve been to York. I’m from Manchester and York is just literally next door LOL! The best part about Yorkshire is the fact that it’s pretty huge (by British standards) and is a Roman and Viking county. Yes, Vikings!
Plus, if anyone is interested in the British monarchy then you might have heard of the War of the Roses – red and white. The red rose represented the House of Lancaster and the white rose represented the House of York. In the end the Red Rose won with Henry Tudor defeating Richard III (White Rose) and the rest as you know, is history!
When we were young, even though Manchester is actually part of Lancaster (see what I did there!) we nevertheless, always used to go to the Yorkshire Dales, the Yorkshire Moors and the Peak District which are some of Britain’s best countryside. Lots of wild rugged land, cliffs, rocks and sea. When I get homesick, this is what I think of!
I always think it’s so fascinating to find Viking history in the UK! York is very cool, though – I totally understand why you like it so much!
Hey Amanda: You removed my comment. 🙁
Your post features a picture of a building and you share that the building is older than the US…but you don’t share what was actually in the building! haha
Did you jump in and explore it? A restaurant perhaps?
Perhaps my train of logic wasn’t clear and you suspected comment spam? 🙂
Sooo…was there anything of interest in the building or was it the spectacle of being older than the US that appealed to you?
Didn’t go inside the building! (It was just shops on the bottom floor.) But yes, I just thought it was cool that it was so old!
Lovely stuff. And soooooo sorry I couldn’t come to meet you! Next time for sure.
Re. getting to York, if you’re on a budget, there’s a Megabus+ service from London (St Pancras station), which comprises of a train-ride half the way, and a bus the rest of the way – for prices ranging from £5 to £13 (that’s the complete price, train+bus). Insanely affordable, but not as comfy (or fun) as taking the train the whole way – although yes, book those train tickets at least a month in advance…
Glad to see you got into Betty’s. 🙂 Best scones in England – and they even serve them warm, with fresh clotted cream….
Regarding The Shambles: “Shambles” is the medieval word for “butchers” – and it’s a curious fact that this street, now so gorgeously picturesque, once ran with blood and offal and all sorts of other horrible things, because five hundred years ago it’s where all the butchers had their shops (the cattle market was next door, now called Saturday Market and selling very different things to tourists).
Halfway down The Shambles is a shop that sells Yorkshire confection. Nobody should ever leave York without a bag of cinder toffee and peanut brittle in their hands. Nobody.
Well, I’m going to have to go back to York to get some of that toffee and peanut brittle then!
great pictures, thanks for sharing. i love everything about the uk!!
Thanks, Jen! I love everything about the UK too!
Ghost Bus sounds so cool, I wish I had done that when I was there! I love the really little streets in York, so beautiful.
Haha the Ghost Bus was fun – we laughed a lot!
I’ve visited York during my first trip to the UK, in 2006 and I don’t remember it that pretty! Actually I remember being really disappointed with the city as everyone keeps raving about it and I just didn’t feel it. But it looks and sounds so much different in here! Now I’m really thinking of revisiting, just to see how much it has changed!
Maybe you missed all the good bits! I definitely really liked it and would go back again.
York looks lovely. There is so much of the UK that I haven’t even thought about visiting and then a post like this pops up and I think- wow the UK surprises me.
I do love Chester though! My aunt, uncle and her three kids live there and I’ll be spending Christmas with them there this year, like I did a couple of years ago. It’s a beautiful city! I also think its my safety blanket a bit for my trip in Europe that is coming up- if I get really sick, or get a bit of travel burn out I think I’ll be rocking up on my aunt’s doorstep so she can look after me 🙂
Chester is a pretty great safety blanket! Such a pretty city! But yes, the UK has lots of surprises – way more to see/do than you would expect since it’s a relatively small country.
Love York, it’s such a great city – love the walk around the city walls and the Castle Museum is one of my favourites, it has a really bizarre mix of totally unconnected exhibits but somehow it works really well!
Great suggestions! I didn’t get to do either of those things – but I have no doubt I’ll be back!
I know somebody who stays near York. So, whenever I’m in England I am sure I will be visiting York, too. Looks like a lovely city – sophisticated architecture, lovely walking lanes and great eateries.
It’s a beautiful city for sure! Hopefully you’ll like it as much as I did.
I have a pretty pathological dislike of England (well, the English mostly) and I have avoided the UK for years. Decades, actually. Including the psychotically “designed” imitation of an airport that is Heathrow. I did like Edinburgh and Glasgow well enough the few times I have visited, so perhaps it’s time to revisit southern Scotland too. York certainly seems nice from photos. And I’ve heard good things about Wales. And then there’s Ireland, north and south..
I love Edinburgh, too! York is similar in architecture in some ways – you might like it!
As for England/the English… well, my boyfriend is technically a UK citizen, so I like them pretty well. 😉
So jealous of your photos. When I visited York it was pouring rain and all my photos have rain drops in them! *facepalm*
Aww boo! It drizzled a bit while we were there, but for the most part we had some of the best weather in the UK!
I’m so thrilled to read a blog entry about York! When I studied for my Master’s in the U.K., I lived in Leeds (which is roughly 30 minutes by train from York) and visited the city several times. During my first week in Yorkshire, my coursemates and I visited York and we played a fun little game having to do with the sites in the city.
Did you visit the National Railway Museum? I’ve been there twice (when my father came to visit me, I took him there) and it just might be my favorite museum. It helps that the NRM is free.
I also cycled through York once and it certainly is a very lovely city. Great place to cycle in.
I really loved York, too – both me and my mom were sad that we didn’t plan more time there! I’ll definitely be back.
And no, we didn’t have time for the railway museum, but thanks for letting me know it’s worth visiting! Next time for sure.