Help with York
 

I'm visiting York in May 2024 and am wondering whether to stick to York city centre or add a day trip. I'm planning a few days on my own (or maybe longer) then joining a group for a week. I like beautiful old buildings, book shops, charity shops, theatre, guided walks, art galleries, markets. Is there anywhere you'd recommend for a day trip by bus or train?

Also do any trains go to York from Heathrow?

The easy visits from York are Hull and Leeds. Hull has some interesting galleries but at the end of the day is a small city based on port work, fishing and windturbines and would be, only just, in my top 200 places in England to visit. Leeds, on the other hand, is full of architecture, art galleries, shopping etc etc and would soak up a long day. Based more on banking and lawyers the place has a wealthy historical background. You could go onto to Bradford (see Hull, but maybe in top 300), Saltaire (which has what was at one time the largest factory in the world, but is now one massive shopping and gallery experience.)

The obvious place, which I think you may have already visited(?), is Ripon and Fountains Abbey. This is harder to visit by public transport. Basically you either take a tour, or a train to Thirsk (itself a pleasant market town) and then a taxi.

York requires probably 2 days if you want to do everything including the railway museum and the chocolate factory. The ancient Shambles street/area is a thing to behold, the cathedral is wonderful (almost as nice as Salisbury), the walls are... circular, and then there is Yorvik (think Disney if the Simpsons took on the ownership). I assume there are also ghost walks etc etc. If anywhere has ghosts then York does.

From Heathrow directly, no. But with one change the easiest trip is 3 to 3.5 hours by the underground to KX (Kings Cross) and then a train to York station (which is a wonderful building in its own right (as is KX))

Great info, thank you. Leeds and Saltaire both sound good. I haven't seen Fountains Abbey but my tour focuses on grand historic buildings so I don't want to make a special trip to one on my own time. A bit of variety is good. There is no way I'd do a ghost walk, I wouldn't sleep for months. Yes, I'm a wuss. I'm assuming York is flat and walkable, is it?

I need to get over jetlag on arrival so might stay for a few nights near Kings Cross, then train to York.

York is flat, but a fair bit of cobbles.
If you do a day tour try and include Ripon Minster as well as Fountains, both very good. There are day tours from York but they often include Castle Howard, itself a good visit, but maybe a bit rushed. Fountains is built into a valley with steep sides. So while the walking on the valley bottom is easy, the steep sides require a bit of puff. I'm not sure where the tours stop, but the gift shop/cafe is on the top of the northwest wide. The views while walking in the grounds are pretty good, the abbey itself special, the water gardens and deer park goodish and Studley Royal (built by an escapee from a major financial fraud, bitcoin?? of those times) is a bit more meh.

The area around KX is a bit more boho than 20 years ago after major investments. I've spent a bit of time waiting for a train there and there is always something new to discover. St Pancras station is a good visit with multi-level shops, the main hall and its amazing ceiling and the redeveloped hotel next door. https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotel...e-hotel-london not where I would stay but worth a drink to sit in the bar.

I hadn't thought of doing an organised day tour. Instead, I was thinking of catching the train and going to anything of interest. A day tour might be good though, I'll check it out.

I love the old St Pancras building, it's stunning. I imagine staying there would be very pricey. Does anyone know if they do a tour of the inside of St Pancras (not the train bit, the historic hotel bit). What is Coal Drops Yard like?

The train route from Heathrow would be to get into central London to King's Cross station. Probably not by HEX unless you have booked cheap tickets well in advance. The most comfortable way is now the Elizabeth line to Farringdon and then a Thameslink train to St Pancras and a walk across the road to King's Cross. From there it is 2 hours + to York so more like 3.5 to 4 hours from Heathrow. The time going via Reading would require a change at Hayes & Harlington and would take a lot lot longer.

The Spa town of Harrogate is a short train ride from York. Regular trains but avoid the morning and late afternoon rush hours when the train can get a bit busy.
Harrogate has good shopping, a theatre, gardens, a Pump Room museum, small art gallery etc as well as its famous Turkish Baths.

At the Fountain Abbey estate it’s the Studley Royal Watergarden which gives the place its UNESCO World Heritage status. I volunteered as a tour guide in the gardens for many years and admit that they are one of favourite places in the world. Temples, pools, statues, ponds and lakes, even a Banqueting house. Beautiful place.

hi John, welcome to Fodors

the trouble with the Cross Country train link is it tends to get delayed as it goes across the country rather than radiates out from London so the signallers always hold it up when radial trains are passing.

Leeds is probably my favorite city in England. York has tourists galore, London is cosmopolitan but rushed (and touristy), but Leeds remains so very English. Glassy old arcades, a gloriously festooned market, great old ironwork wherever you go, unique if very plain-people-centered civic buildings, cobbled-together center architecture, nice pubs, OK food - - and it's not for the tourists, it's all for you! (and the locals). Here are some Leeds pix (from December, which makes all the lights glorious) but May will be sweet too:

Thanks everyone, this is great information. Though I can see myself needing a lot more than a few days in that area :). I might stay in Leeds for a couple of nights, before or after York. The arcades look beautiful, that's the sort of thing I love seeing. The Watergarden sounds lovely, I'll check it out online and see how to get there.

On Google Maps, Leeds looks a lot bigger than York. Is Leeds a bigger city and is it easily walkable if I stay somewhere central?

Leeds is much bigger and has a lot of unpleasant urban sprawl and poverty that comes with that. If I was visiting I'd stay roughly within the inner ring road (not circular more trilobed) (should be clear from google maps) though a few nice places to stay are opening to the west of it. Since I live here I cannot guide on hotels as I just don't use them.

Outside the inner ring road are a few great visits, (most are inside), these include the Wakefield Barbera Hepworth gallery (name escapes me) and the West Yorkshire Sculpture park, they sort of bond with the Henry Moore gallery in the centre of town (make sure you visit the Design Centre under the Henry Moore and the Victorian art gallery beside the Henry Moore). Both the first two are visitable by bus. Then there is the Armories Leeds which is full of all the stuff from the back of the cupboards in the Tower of London. Well worth 4 hours visit if you want to learn how we killed people in history. In the summer they have jousting there and actors wandering the place in costume chatting to people. Most or all are free but they all have a coffee shop/cafe (the Victorian art gallery coffee shop is extraordinary) and are plonked down in an area requiring gentrification in one way or another. You will also find Kirkstall Abbey (a ruin as per usual) and the odd industrial museum to the west.

If you can get access to the Town Hall... the main room is a fantastic display of Victorian art, with some of the most faultless decoration in praise of Industry/Agriculture I've ever seen. I was able to go to a Chick Corea concert there and it was a bit like listening to the French Horn while eating lampreys....

The Victorian art gallery coffee shop sounds right up my alley. I love the grand one at the V&A. I checked on Google and the Leeds Art Gallery is next to the Henry Moore Institute. So I guess the extraordinary coffee shop is at the Leeds Art Gallery?
I'm learning about places I've never been, and want to see, and learning new words as well. Had to look up trilobed and lamprey:)

So I guess the extraordinary coffee shop is at the Leeds Art Gallery?

yes, just to the left at the entrance to the LAG or from the Leeds Library, which is to the left of the Tiled Hall and itself has a wonderful, if slightly damaged staircase

I don't know if this aligns with your interest, KayF, but what I would definitely do if I was staying in York (or surroundings) longer than a day would be a day trip on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, on vintage steam or diesel trains, from Pickering to Whitby and back. It should be possible to catch a bus from York to Pickering, the heritage train to Whitby, and do the reverse journey after a couple of hours in Whitby. Whitby is really lovely, and so is the scenery of the North York Moors, and of course the heritage railway is its own attraction; I regret not finding the time to ride the train when I was in the area.

Thanks for all this information on the area, I'm busily researching and checking where things are. It's not going to be possible to fit everything in, even though I will probably extend the time spent in York and Leeds.

You asked about Coal Drops Yard; very nice shopping center, great architecture and not your average chain-stores. There are some good restaurants, such as Coal Office and the German Gymnasium. You are going in May, hopefully the weather will be good and you can enjoy some of the outdoor seating.

Re the St Pancras Renaissance hotel. - O'm not sure they do any tours -- but you don't need a tour to see the public rooms. Lobby/etc are all open to the pubic. Staying in the Historic rooms is (VERY) pricey, but the modern rooms in he Barlow wing are cheaper and depending on the specific date can be fairly 'moderate'. I got to stay in one of the amazing historic rooms (didn't pay for it -- they upgraded me from the Barlow wing -- have no idea why but it was a really special treat)

I'm not sure I'd stay in Leeds -- for visiting the gallery(s) etc you could do an easy day trip from York by train. Less than half an hour each way.

Have you thought about a day trip to Whitby (ruined Abbey, St Mary's Church, harbour, Dracula connections....) It's a lovely ride across the North York Moors and dropping down into Whitby. Timetable here.
https://bustimes.org/services/840-le...on-dale-whitby