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Old Jan 26th, 2012, 05:20 PM
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York Questions

Does anyone know what time the first tour of the Minster begins? The Minster usually opens for visitors at 9AM so when will the first guided tour be held? 9:30AM? How long does it last?

Can you walk from the York Castle Museum to the National Railway Museum easily? The website maps show a very long path to take once you reach the rail station to the museum which doesn't make sense. There must be a shorter pedestrian path somewhere, right?

Trip advisor folks give the Jorvik Viking Center some pretty bad reviews. Is that the general consensus here on this forum too?
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Old Jan 26th, 2012, 05:38 PM
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I quickly plugged this into googlemaps, chose walking option, and it shows less than a mile. That doesn't seem long to me. I haven't compared this with whatever is on their website. I use this option all the time to get rough idea of how far destinations are from each other via walking.
(btw, a better website to plan walking tours is walkit.com but they don't have all cities; they have London but not York.)
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Old Jan 26th, 2012, 05:54 PM
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I did the same thing on google maps walking option choosing cliffords tower as the starting point because google does not recognize york castle museum (It shows you the York museum by exhibition square instead of the one on tower street. Maybe that is why it showed you less walking distance.) I chosethe national railway museum as the end point and it said it takes 1.9 miles which seems odd. It also doesn't show you to go direct from Leeman Road to the museum but loops all around the perimeter which adds walking time unnecessarily if there happens to be a path or tunnel. I zeroed in via satelite image and there appears to be a walking path tunnel that you can go through to get to the museum which would make more sense.
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Old Jan 26th, 2012, 06:08 PM
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Hi Texas,

I went back to google maps and that is exactly what happened. When I type in starting point York Castle Museum it assumes the Yorkshire Museum on Exhibition Square and not the York Castle Museum on Tower Street. However, it shows a shorter route at Station Rise to Leeman Road which is more direct and a total of .6 mile. Whereas, if you start at Clifford's Tower or Tower Street, it loops all around the railway tracks to get to the museum and does not offer the more direct path. It then shows 1.8 or 1.9 miles in total.
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Old Jan 26th, 2012, 11:18 PM
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You might find these links helpful
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTop...e_England.html

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTop...e_England.html
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Old Jan 27th, 2012, 06:09 AM
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europe
To be honest, I plugged in Clifford's Tower, right across the square, instead of the museum, because I encountered the same problem it looks like you did. But the bottom line is I think it looks like a mile-ish walk even if you wander a bit. Is that what you decided too? (I have found this to be a problem sometimes with this feature of googlemaps, so I try to have another map handy with closeby alternative addresses if I'm just looking for approximate routes/times. You probably figured that out, though!)

We loved York; didn't go in the Castle Museum but loved the walls, the Shambles, Clifford's Tower, a great lunch, some shopping and of course and mostly the cathedral. And it was all very walkable; we were in a B&B outside the walls, probably about as far from the walls as the station is, and it was great. So enjoy!
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Old Jan 27th, 2012, 06:25 AM
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LOVED York also.
It is very walkable IMO.
Would go back.
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Old Jan 27th, 2012, 07:26 AM
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There are free volunteer led walks of York leaving from Exhibition Square. The one we took was in the afternoon and I believe there is a morning walk as well but not sure about that. Our walk leader knew his York history well. Check in the TI office for times. The touring buses leave from there as well. Make sure to take a walk on the walls for a different perspective. You may want to visit York Minster again in the evening and walk around when it is mostly deserted.
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Old Jan 27th, 2012, 07:53 AM
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europeannovice- since it is your first trip, I added excerpts relevant to York from our trip report of about a year ago that included London, Salisbury, Stonehenge, Avebury, Bath, Cotswolds, Stratford upon Avon, York and Edinburgh and points in-between. Although it is a bit uneven because of cutting and pasting, I hope you may find it helpful in planning your trip.

Having parked and settled into our room we saw that there was still time to walk to Exhibition Square and catch the 2:30 free walk hosted by volunteers. We made it with about 10 minutes to spare after a 45 minute walk. Again, our guide was engaging and had a deep knowledge of local history. The walk concentrated on the Roman and Norman aspects of York. Especially interesting learning how tell Roman walls from Norman by the type of stonework and the walk through the Shambles. The walk did not go into York Minster but there were explanations of outer features and ended with a long narrated walk along the top of wall surrounding York followed by the Shambles walk. Wending our way back to Exhibition Square we decided to do another hop on-off bus tour (the buses leave from there) to see some more of the city while resting our feet. We just rode the entire circuit and listened to the audio guide. Dinner time - where to eat?? Our guide highly recommended a place called Russell's Carvery. A carvery for a vegetarian? As a well known Alaskan would say, "you betcha." They had several vegetarian items on the menu, and best of all for DW, ordering an entree brought with it a visit to the hot veggie part of the carvery where there was a delicious variety to choose from. We liked it so much that we ate there again the following evening. I had the usual carvery dinner and it was very good, I thought their Yorkshire pudding was terrific, but what do I know of Yorkshire pudding? Following dinner we wandered around York for several hours but were a bit disappointed at the early closing time of the shops. I swear they have to be losing a lot of trade. We did stop by Betty's Tea Room to see what might be a good time to drop by for lunch or tea the next day without the long lines that we saw earlier in the day. More wandering about window shopping and it was back to the B&B, this time we figured how to walk part way along the river and it was pleasant. Emerging from our river walk, we were standing at an intersection near Clifford's Tower studying our map when a cyclist stopped and gave us accurate directions to our address - another example of the kindness of strangers that we found so common in the UK.

....there are 2 walks each day in York. I think the morning one is at 10 but I could well be wrong. The best thing about all of the free tours other than the price is that the leaders are local volunteers with real enthusiasm and knowledge about their city's history and buildings who enjoy sharing that knowledge and it shows. The ones in York leave from Exhibition Square just opposite the tourist info office.... York walks start at Exhibition Square and ours ended exiting Shambles. I do not know if all guides follow the same itinerary. It was about 2 hours, maybe a bit more. We had a fairly small group, perhaps 10 people. We keep our itineraries flexible too. Russells was not crowded when we were there in May, we arrived soon after it opened for the dinner hours, about 6 I believe. Their menu is on their website www.russells-restaurants.com . You can see by their menu that there are some good chices. One can also order only the veggies that are served at the carvery table- those are self service and I particularly liked the good selection of root vegetables.....

Moving on, we began our only full day in York by hiking over to York Minster. On the way, we stopped at Clifford's Tower and then yet another antique center, this one was quite large, occupying 2 floors and DW ended up buying a few old lace bobbins with the thought of making a small display of them with some antique lace we picked up in Delft on an earlier trip. This shop also has a large room of old books and maps and one could easily lose track of time in there. We arrived at York Minster just in time for a free docent led tour (there is an admission fee to the cathedral). Our docent was most entertaining with stories about those who designed and those who were associated with the cathedral throughout its history and also explained the history and use of each part of the building. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, a visit to York Minster is a must - the interior is amazing. I was particularly taken with the Chapter Room - when my photos are posted you will see that is obvious, I will let them describe the room for me. When you do visit York Minster allow more time than you think you will need, it is hard to pull yourself away. As we left, we made note to return later in the day.

When we visited Betty's tea room the day before, we were told that the best time to avoid long lines is just before three. That left time to visit the outdoor market and wander some more stopping where we found it interesting and just followed our whims. We did also scout out some restaurants for dinner. We were then over to Betty's for a light lunch. There are many descriptions of Betty's on this forum and many more in the guide books so I will say that in our opinion the long lines are for a reason. The place has an elegance to it combined with excellent service and food. We skipped the formal high tea in favor of the cream tea menu for me and a garden vegetable soup for DW. The cream tea is served with 2 scones, butter, clotted cream, jam and a choice of teas. I noticed on the menu a fruited scone called "Fat Rascal," and fat rascal that I am, I had to have it, sugar load be damned. Our server was quite willing to substitute it for one of the 2 standard scones for a nominal extra cost. When served, it was easily twice the size of the other scone, which itself was ample. For my taste, it was a bit too sweet and I preferred the standard which was perfect. My tea choice was the house blend, and it was excellent - I am sorry that I did not buy some to bring home. DW proclaimed her soup to be light, fresh tasting, and exactly what she was in the mood for. In visiting Betty's know that the upstairs and downstairs dining rooms are very different, the upstairs being light and airy while the downstairs room is dark wood paneling and formal....

Having scouted out some other restaurants, we deciding to dine at Russells once again, and again it did not disappoint. I visited the carvery table once again having a different choice of meats than the evening before and loading up on those veggies that had appealed to me, particularly the parsnip and potato mash. DW also visited the carvery, but only had the veggies which we had found could be ordered that way, but it was not listed like that on the menu. It pays to ask your server....

Before dinner, we had visited York Minster once again for Evensong which was splendid (and it's not even our religion). I was also anxious to do more photography in the cathedral when there were fewer people and also to tour the lower area of the cathedral which is an archeological exhibit of some York history as well as the cathedral underpinnings. When you visit York Minster, don't miss it. Visiting late is good not only because after evensong, we practically had the place to ourselves, but also because of the different light that enhanced photographs. There were so few people there late that I was able to take photos of the empty Chapter Room's ceiling lying on my back on the floor....

Our after dinner plan was to walk down to the river and meet "The Original Ghost Walk." There are number of ghost walks to choose from. This one has no gimmicks or costumed leaders. It is a walk around parts of York with a stories of some of the more lurid parts of the history. The leader of our walk is also a consultant to that ghost program (on the travel channel in the US) and he knew his stuff. Back to York Minster for some night shots of the exterior and then to our B&B to pack a bit for leaving York the next morning on a late morning train to Edinburgh after turning in our car, Europcar being right next to the train station.
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Old Jan 27th, 2012, 04:01 PM
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Morgana--Thanks for the links! I thought there must be some sort of pedestrian foot path to either go over or under the tracks without having to loop all around adding an extra mile. I copied the advice of how to get there from within the station. And the map will be very helpful! We are leaning against the Viking Center since we just won't have the extra time for it.

Texasbookworm--Yes--it looks like just a mile from the Castle Museum to the National Railway museum without Google's interpretation. Sometimes you can rely on it and sometimes Google is not 100% accurate as we know We are looking forward to visiting York.

Basingstoke2--Thanks so much for the excerpt from your trip report. Reading it makes me want to go there right now. We are very much interested in the free walking tour too. There are just so many things we would like to see in York but the way it looks now we will have only one full day there. It all depends what time we arrive the day before if we can squeeze anything in then or not. We did make a trip to the UK a couple of years ago but we were solely based in London the whole time and just did a day trip to Bath. This time we are looking forward to exploring more outside of London. I wish we had two weeks or more to work with but we don't this time so we will try to see the most of what we can in a short period of time.

Judyrem--Thanks. We can't wait to go and explore for ourselves.
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Old Jan 27th, 2012, 06:52 PM
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Europennovice - that trip report covered an afternoon - we arrived about 1PM and then a full day, that's all - we were there only 2 nights. The area of York within the walls is not all that big and easily walkable.
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Old Jan 28th, 2012, 01:52 AM
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Hi again
At York Station there's a huge sign pointing to the pedestrianised pathway to the Railway Museum, you can't miss it. Takes about 5 mins to walk there and it's all pedestrianised apart from having to cross a car park at the end just before you enter the museum. It's a wonderful place, and free to go into as well. However, I've never been that impressed with the food on sale in there, so a tip would be to take a sandwich or small picnic if you plan to stay long. There are places in the museum where you can eat your own food.
I took my kids to the Jorvik once and have to say we were all very underwhelmed, but I know others think it's marvellous. It's horses for courses I suppose.
I live up in North Yorkshire but don't go to York as much as I possibly should - too many tourists!! But we did go last month to do some Christmas shopping, and had a very good Tapas lunch at Ambiente, which I would recommend.
http://www.ambiente-tapas.co.uk/
There are also two branches of Bettys tearooms in York - they do breakfasts, lunches and evening meals, as well as a famous afternoon tea (with champagne if you feel like pushing the boat out). Bettys is a Yorkshire institution!
http://www.bettys.co.uk/bettys_york.aspx
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Old Jan 28th, 2012, 03:13 AM
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Thank you for starting this thread - very useful for a trip I'm planning as well.

One question you asked about the Jorvik Viking Center - I don't think anyone shared an opinion. I too have read conflicting reviews - some thought it was cool and fun, others thought it was completely contrived and tacky. I guess I don't really understand what it is and would love to hear some input.
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Old Jan 28th, 2012, 05:06 AM
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The Jorvik Centre is really designed for children, a sort of time travel trip with smells and sounds. I took my sons but they were underwhelmed as I recall.
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Old Jan 28th, 2012, 05:30 AM
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Sometimes the reviews tell you more about the reviewer than the exhibit....

It is a long time since I last visited Yorvik. It was the first, and possibly the best, of the 'rides back into history' experience.

An archaeological dig was carried out before part of central York could be excavated ad to the archaeologists excitement they found the remains of the Viking City. There was a terrific amount of publicity about this and the Yorvik Centre was built as the result. It contains a small exhibition of the finds from the dig (probably of most interest to the history buffs). There is then the 'train ride' through an historically accurate reconstruction of a Viking settlement complete with smells. The smells may be contrived but there is solid archaeological evidence to support the reconstruction.

We found this fascinating although the train went too fast to really see everything in detail. It does help if you have some understanding of how the Vikings lived to get full benefit from the trip. There is a commentary but I can't remember what it was like.

If you are interested in social history and how people lived then this is definitely worth visiting. I think many people go with their brains switched off, expecting it to be a Disney style entertainment and are disappointed.
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Old Jan 28th, 2012, 07:08 AM
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I was at the Jorvik exhibit 25 years ago. I am a history enthusiast and did enjoy it. I also admired the displays of the finds and the explanations of how they fit into the whole picture and the description of how the archeologists fit the pieces together.

I remember reading that it was supposed to include smells. I had a vague sense of smelling something but I am sure that it was nothing to what really would assault our delicate twentieth cnetury noses should we go back in time.
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Old Jan 28th, 2012, 07:57 AM
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Still not sure about Jorvik. We will have to see on the day. There are other things in York that are "must sees" for us like the Minster and the Railway museum for my train enthusiasts and both of those will eat up a good part of the day. Plus we want to walk the walls etc.

Thanks for the tip on Betty's and Ambiente. I'll keep those in mind. Where is the second location of Betty's?

Does anyone know what time the Minster offers its guided tours? When is the first or last one of the day?
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Old Jan 28th, 2012, 08:15 AM
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I would put the Castle Museum on my list of York's must-sees. Re: the cathedral. We went to evensong, a very enjoyable experience. And we thought the tour of the undercroft at the cathedral interesting.

For tour times as well as times of services, check the minster website for the most up-to-date information: www.yorkminster.org/visiting/what-to-see-and-do/
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Old Jan 28th, 2012, 08:26 AM
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Regarding Betty's, I see one is at St Helen's Square and the other is at Stonegate. Does it matter which one to go to?

We would love to fit in the Castle Museum too but just not enough hours in a day to squeeze it all in so not sure which ones we will get to and which will be skipped.

The Minster website shows opening hours but I didn't see specific tour times.
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Old Jan 28th, 2012, 09:24 AM
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Actually I am confused again. Per good old google St Helen's square and stonegate are at the same place so where is the second location of Bettys? I looked on their website but it just mentions Bettys at Helen's Square and Stonegate.

Regarding the York Castle Museum is it worth going to for an hour? I read that to do it justice you need 2-3 hours.
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