16 Best Sights in Yorkshire, England

A must for train lovers, Britain's biggest railway museum houses part of the national collection of rail vehicles. Don't miss such gleaming giants of the steam era as the Mallard, holder of the world speed record for a steam engine (126 mph), and a replica of the prototype steam engine, the Rocket. Passenger cars used by Queen Victoria are on display, as is the only Japanese bullet train to be seen outside Japan, along with railway-related art, posters, and memorabilia. You can climb aboard some of the trains and occasionally take a short trip on one. There's also a miniature railway, very popular with kids (£3.50). Admission is by pre-booked ticket only.

The city's focal point, this vast cathedral is the largest Gothic building north of the Alps and attracts almost as many visitors as London's Westminster Abbey. Inside, the effect created by its soaring pillars and lofty vaulted ceilings is almost overpowering. Binoculars may be helpful for viewing the loftiest of the 128 dazzling stained-glass windows. While mere numbers can't convey the scale of the building, the central towers are 200 feet high while the Minster itself is 519 feet long, 249 feet across its transepts, and 90 feet from floor to roof. Among the especially notable contributions to the building's uplifting splendor is the ornamentation of the 14th-century nave: the east window, one of the greatest pieces of medieval glazing in the world; the north transept's Five Sisters windows, five tall lancets of gray-tinged 13th-century glass; the enormous choir screen depicting stylized images of every king of England from William the Conqueror to Henry VI; and the masterful tracery of the Rose Window, with elements commemorating the 1486 marriage of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, a union which ended the Wars of the Roses and started the Tudor dynasty. Don't miss the exquisite 13th-century Chapter House, with its superb medieval ribbed wooden roof and fine traceried stained-glass windows; the Treasury; the Crypt; and the museum in the undercroft, where you can see the remains of a Roman barracks, the Minster's Norman foundations, stained glass, and the 10th-century Horn of Ulf carved from an elephant tusk and donated by a Viking nobleman. After exploring the cathedral at ground level, climb the 275 winding steps to the roof of the great Central Tower, which offers both close-up glimpses of the cathedral's gothic grotesques and panoramic views over the city. Allow 45 minutes for the Tower tour, which is by timed admission only. Don't miss the restored great east window, Britain's largest expanse of medieval stained glass, with its 311 stained-glass panels dating back to the 15th century. To experience the cathedral at its most atmospheric, attend one of the evensong services with organ and choir.

In an 18th-century building whose elegance belies its former role as a debtors' prison, this quirky museum includes a replica York street that re-creates the Victorian shopping experience, notable domestic interiors, more than 100 historic patchwork quilts, a toy gallery, and Christmas cards sent during World War I. You can also visit the cell where Dick Turpin, the 18th-century highwayman and folk hero, spent the night before his execution and an exhibition that looks back on 400 years of fashion.

Almost 3 miles of original medieval town walls remain around York, more than any other city in England. In the 9th century, invading Vikings buried the original Roman defensive walls, built some 1,900 years ago, under earthen ramparts topped with wooden stakes. These in turn were replaced by the current stone walls in the 13th and 14th centuries. In the mid-19th century, the walls, which had fallen into disrepair, were restored and maintained for public access, and you can now walk along a narrow paved path at the top and enjoy outstanding views (the whole circuit takes about two hours). In spring, the remains of the Viking embankment at the base are alive with daffodils. The walls are crossed periodically by York's distinctive "bars," or fortified gates: the portcullis on Monk's Bar on Goodramgate is still in working order, and Walmgate Bar in the east is the only gate in England with an intact barbican, although one scarred by the cannonballs fired during the Civil War. Bootham Bar in Exhibition Square was the defensive bastion for the north road, and Micklegate Bar, in the city's southwest corner, was traditionally the monarch's entrance. To access the path and lookout towers, find a staircase at one of the many breaks in the walls.

This rather battered-looking keep at the top of a steep grassy mound is the largest remaining part of York Castle, once one of the greatest fortresses of medieval England and the administrative center of northern England. The squat stone tower, used as a treasury and then a prison, dates from the mid-13th century. The timber Norman tower that preceded it, built in 1068 by William the Conqueror, was destroyed in 1190 when more than 150 Jews locked themselves inside to protect themselves from a violent mob. Trapped with no food or water, they committed mass suicide by setting their own prison aflame. From the top of the tower, you have good views of the city. Following a major conservation project, walkways now open up rooms hidden since a fire in 1684 and there's a viewing platform that offers wonderful vistas.

This reproduction of an archaeological dig in and beneath an old church is a great way to inspire an interest in history and archaeology in young people. A venture by the people behind the Jorvik Viking Centre, DIG is supervised by knowledgeable experts. Kids dig in the dirt to "find" Roman or Viking artifacts, and everyone heads to the lab afterwards to learn what previous archaeological finds discovered on the site have revealed about former inhabitants.

This elegant, beautifully decorated Georgian townhouse, with its crystal chandeliers, silk damask wallpaper, and one of the country's finest collections of 18th-century furniture, provides a glimpse of how polite 18th-century society lived. It particularly highlights their tastes in architecture, interior decoration, food, and furnishings. Entrance on Fridays is restricted to guided tours at 11 and 2.

This tour for "boils and ghouls" takes a slightly tongue-in-cheek approach to the haunted locations, employing props, illusion, jokes, and audience participation. The tours start at 7:30 pm nightly in the Shambles.

This child-focused exhibition re-creates, based on extensive research, a 10th-century Viking village, with everything from a blind storyteller to the slaughter yard awash in offal. The olfactory element is especially popular with children (even the open sewer), as is the Disneyesque "travel through time" machine that propels you above straw huts and mannequins wearing Viking dress. Commentary is provided in six languages. Kids get a lot out of it, but adults are unlikely to learn anything new. A small collection of Viking-era artifacts is on display at the end of the ride. Admission is by pre-booked time slot only.

Built between 1357 and 1361 by a wealthy medieval guild, this is the largest half-timbered hall in York. It has fine collections of silver and furniture, along with paintings that provide insight into the history of the Hall and its founders. The building itself is much of the attraction. A riverfront garden lies behind it.

York's best-preserved medieval street and one of the best-preserved medieval shopping streets in all of Europe, Shambles has shops and residences in half-timber buildings with overhangs so massive you could almost reach across the narrow gap from one second-floor window to another. Once a hub of butchers (meat hooks are still fastened outside some of the doors and the street was deliberately kept narrow to prevent sun from falling on the meat), today it's mostly filled with independent shops and remains highly atmospheric.

This narrow, pedestrian-only street lined with Tudor and 18th-century storefronts retains considerable charm. First paved during Roman times (the original Roman road lies 6 feet below), it's been a central thoroughfare for almost 2,000 years. Today it's lined with interesting independent shops including upscale boutiques, jewelers, and quirky one-offs. A passage just off Stonegate, at 52A, leads to the remains of a 12th-century Norman stone house attached to a more recent structure. You can still see the old Norman wall and window.

Look out for the little red "printer's devil" at No. 33, a medieval symbol of a printer's premises. And above the doorway of No. 35 at the intersection of Stonegate and High Petergate, Minerva reclines on a stack of books, indicating they were once sold within.

Surprises await inside this large townhouse built during the 16th and 17th centuries. With an eye for texture, decoration, and pattern, industrialist Frank Green—who lived here from 1897 to 1930—re-created 13 period rooms, including a medieval great hall, as a showcase for his collection of antique furniture, ceramics, art, and textiles. Delft tiles decorate the former kitchen (now a shop), and the dining room retains its original 16th-century paneling and 18th-century plasterwork. Stumpwork from the 17th century is the highlight of the textiles in the Tapestry Room. There's an actual Roman road in the cellar, plus a display about Roman York and one resident's account of seeing a ghostly Roman legion in the 1950s. Access to the house is by guided tour only.

This history-themed attraction takes a tongue-in-cheek approach to exploring the more violent and gory aspects of York's history. Lurid lighting, lots of fake blood, special effects, and costumed actors enliven episodes from the careers of infamous residents like highwayman Dick Turpin, revolutionary Guy Fawkes, Viking king Eric Bloodaxe, the Lost Roman Legion, and more, all to a soundtrack of wailing, screaming, and agonized moaning. As you might imagine, it's popular with kids, though not suitable for those under 8. Admission is by pre-booked timeslot only.

Located on a 22-acre former World War II Bomber Command base, this independent museum showcases more than 60 historic vehicles and aircraft, many of which are still in working condition and are certain to delight aviation enthusiasts. Planes range from early-20th-century biplanes and gliders, such as the Eastchurch Kitten (the only surviving one in the world), to Spitfires, other World War II–era planes including a German Messerschmitt, and contemporary fighter jets like the Mirage 4. There are also exhibits devoted to military vehicles, aircraft weaponry, and Royal Air Force uniforms. The museum is home to a memorial and gardens commemorating British and Allied service members who lost their lives in conflict.

The ecological and archaeological history of the county is the focus of this museum in an early-19th-century Greek Revival–style building with massive Doric columns. Themed galleries focus mostly on Roman, Anglian, Viking, and medieval periods, with nearly 1 million objects, including the 15th-century Middleham Jewel, a pendant gleaming with a large sapphire; a Paleolithic hand axe; and an extremely rare copperplate helmet, a 1,200-year-old Viking artifact. The oldest working observatory in Yorkshire (from 1833) is in the gardens. Another exhibition documents Yorkshire during the Jurassic period.