Hotel convenient to train station and the York Minster
 

I am looking for a nice, affordable hotel for a couple of nights in York. Will be arriving from London by train. Are there any options that would be easy to get to from the train station and put me close to the city centre and the York Minster? Thank you all in advance for your help! I would like to keep it at around $100- 125 a night if possible.

The train is essentially IN the city center so just about every hotel in the city will be convenient or semi-convenient to the station. But $100 is only £70-ish and that is not very much for central York. $125/£85 is a little better. Cheaper accommodations can be found outside the city centre but then they wouldn't be near the station.

Try booking.com to see what specials there might be with prepayment - each listing shows a map so you can see how close to the station they are.

take care with say TA or bookings, what they call city centre may not be between the station and the minster, while it is all small, something like the IBIS is getting to the edge.

If you are prepared to exit the city walls (nb medievel cites were pretty small) you will find good deals, for instance the always safe Premierinn (use their website to book) is just out of the walls (I think) and a good price.

also take care you to monitor for breakfast pricing, at this end of the market the type of breakfast and the price is significant

I have looked into "No. 34" and another option "B+B York" (formerly The Groves) These look like they aren't too expensive for me. Does anyone know about these properties?
Safety (will be traveling solo) and cleanliness? Good location to the train and the Minster? The B+B York offers free bicycle usage :)

Safety in York should not be a problem. If you are riding the roads of England on a bike I would take great care. The UK is not Denmark or the Netherlands. You ride mainly in the road with the buses/cars.

However there are some bike paths. http://www.itravelyork.info/cycling/...ycle-route-map

Check tripadvisor, as a local I don't often stay here.

I had a quick look at TA, neither is inside the walls but both score 4.5/5 on TA and look ok. Both north of the river, my MIL used to live in this area which mixes railway terraces with victorian villas, should be ok

If the B+B York fits in your budget -- its a good location. Jump on it.

No need at all for a bike if you are only staying 2 nights (about 1.5 days) since you probably won't see all you want in the city center in that time.

I slept twice in a small hotel outside the wall (50m) for the reasons of cost. It was ok but not more.

Got a little better rate at No. 34, so that is done! Now for advice/help with the train ticket part. As we know our exact dates and preferable times, should the RT train tickets from Euston station to York be purchased ahead of time? I checked to see if we could get them printed here in the US, but that is not possible. We have a chip and sign Capital One card that will be used to buy the tickets....I don't know if those are accepted by the station ticket machines...It would be a Friday departure 6:49 am so I was hoping to make things easier by doing as much ahead of time as possible....

>>should the RT train tickets from Euston station to York be purchased ahead of time?

it will be from Kings Cross not Euston - book Advance tickets when they go on sale

https://www.virgintrainseastcoast.com/

Our flat is closest to the Euston station. I saw there was a change at Kings Cross. Would it be better not to do that and take a taxi to Kings Cross to avoid having to change trains?

Obviously very new to all of this! First timer so thank you for your patience!

You can collect them at any time while you are in London from any train station so no need to wait til 0630 that morning. Just pop into a convenient station when you are wandering around London. And yes -- it will be Kings Cross. Euston is only for the sleeper train.

So janisj should I still book the route from Euston Station to York (with the train switch at Kings Cross) or would it be better to book from Kings Cross (take a taxi from the flat there)and have a direct trip? How hard is it to change trains at Kings Cross for the York departure?

you will start at Kings Cross there's no change of trains

how you get to Kings Cross from your flat is up to you - taxi, bus, walk (about 10 mins walk from Euston to Kings Cross)

just to be clear you won't book from Euston the train starts from Kings Cross

don't know what site you're looking at that indicates a change of train coz there ain't

sofar, thank you so much! That really helps. I was just going by putting in the station that is closest to the flat. I would much rather just get to the station and take off from there straight through rather than have to get on, switch at Kings Cross and then proceed to York. You all are the best! :)

It was on the http://tickets.eastcoast.uk site....Virgin I guess (?) I put in the departure station (Euston) and then arrival at York....It sent me through with the rate and everything. Then it showed an icon with a change--click it and it said Kings Cross...Really...it did! Promise!

So glad I talked to you all first though before doing anything! :)

I think you may be mixing up the tube w/ trains. Yes - you can book from Euston . . . but you would be taking the tube from Euston to Kings Cross. Most likely (depending on exactly where your flat is) it will be faster to walk to Kings Cross

Hint -- For trains from London just plug in "London" as the starting point. The website will tell you which station is applicable.

There's 366 train stations in London, if you want to travel outside London then just type in "London" as your start point. This will give you the station you depart from in London

If you put in a specific station then it will generally say that you have to use the Tube at some point - just check the number of changes and where they are.