Weekend in York - Trip Report
 

Weekend in York

As I received so much help from the forum planning my last minute weekend away I though I ought to log a trip report for those interested. Thanks to all for your help!

Saturday in August - we took the 8am train up from Kings Cross London – it took 2 hours and was a fairly busy train. I managed to get advance tickets for about £23 each. It was bank holiday weekend but we only did an overnight so just a day pack each made for easy travelling.

We walked from the railway station just outside the city walls to the centre of the city. We were able to get a few good photos of the Minster on the way and cross a bridge over the river Ouse.

We planned to join an 11am walking tour with The World Tour of York http://www.exploringyork.com/. The meeting place was just opposite Betty’s Tea Shop. As it turned out we were the only 2 people on the tour and it was only £4 each. It was a very good tour with our tour guide Matthew. Just over 2 hours long in the end (longer than the advertised 1.5hrs). He showed around all the central attractions and gave us the history. We saw the Assembly Rooms and went inside (very nice – great photos), Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, Royal Theatre and the history of the building, Mansion House – mayor’s residence, the old mayor’s residence, The Shambles, King’s Manor, the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey – down to the river where is regularly floods all the buildings – and of course the Minster and its history. It was a real benefit doing this first as we had yet to visit any of the attractions, so we didn’t double count anything. I highly recommend this.

We then walked to the other side of the city walls to our hotel – The Novotel. This hotel was OK. It was a 15 minute walk to the Minster so I would have preferred slightly closer but it was OK. Rooms were great and the staff friendly. However the food was dire. But no worse than many hotels. I guess it is where the phrase “hotel food” comes from. £112 a night so a bit more than I would usually pay – but on Bank Holiday weekend you cannot always get what you want.

My husband had to watch the rugby (I protested but apparently something about him being metaphysically entwined with the rugby results…). So the All Blacks won – all remains OK and our tour of York continues.

Because of services we did not think that we had enough time to visit the Minister on Saturday we decided to walk the city walls. We started at Fishergate Tower and walked behind the Minster for photos all the way to Boothham Bar (or something like that).

The sun kindly came out for sunset. We therefore retraced our steps to take pictures of the Minister at sunset. We had reservations at Concerto Café for dinner which was very nice and I am glad we reserved on Bank Holiday weekend as several people were turned away. I also think that people eat a tad earlier than in London as we arrived earlier than our reservation of 7.30pm and a number of parties had already eaten and were leaving. We were far too tired after an early start and lots of walking to enjoy the gorgeous desserts on display.

We wandered back through the streets to our hotel – we spotted the Ghost Walk tour – it seemed very popular.

The next morning we went to the Castle Museum (£6.50 each). I am glad we got there earlier as there was a queue as we left. I really enjoyed this museum although you could easily spend a half a day here we took about 1.5 hours (because we got hungry). It is mainly devoted to everyday life in the past. However, by far the highlight is the recreated streets and shops. While we were there they even had actors in the street giving out newspapers and a school mistress who ushered people in for class. Hilarious. The staff here were wonderful and I think there is something here for everyone (I personally got stuck at the wedding dresses!) There is also a section on battles in York, WWII and the prisons. As the building used for the museum used to be the women’s and men’s prisons there are the old cells still there. Dick Turpin was held here.

After brunch at a local café we went to the Minister. We just wandered in and managed to be quite lucky because the services had just ended and they did not seem to charge – we even asked where to pay. However, later on they started charging for entrance.

Anyway – what a magnificent cathedral!!! The organ was still playing as we arrived and we wandered around in awe. Certainly a must do. The largest and most famous window is being restored and will be for the next 10 or so years so it was not quite in all its glory but the rest of the immense building is spectacular. I cannot describe it. Everyone will just have to visit.

We then paid our £3.50 to climb the tower. This is not for the unfit, large, small children or unsteady. There are 260 small spiral steps to get to the top with a very small handrail. I managed it but wouldn’t do it again. Some of the steps were very narrow and also some of the passages were narrow – at the time I thought an overweight person might not even fit. The view was very nice.

After a rest to recover our legs we walked the last part of the city walls to the train station for our trip home. Although our tickets were only £9.50 each to London there was engineering works on the main line so we had to change at Peterborough and then at Finsbury Park to the underground to get home. Took 3 hours.

So we really enjoyed York and I thought 2 days was perfect for us as we do travel very fast.

Nice report wilees. I love York and 2 days is a good visit because it is so compact.

I once spent 5 hours in the Castle Museum and still missed quite a bit. Just a great museum.

That was a nice report to read. Brought back some nice memories of York.

Thank you, wilees!

Very nice report,,,felt like I was there again,,,I agree with Janis,,,I love York too.

I enjoyed your report, wilees. We were in York for around 24 hours (afternoon, overnight, and morning) and could have used maybe another full day. I am still working on a write up(will be part of a longer trip report).

Your "private" overview tour sounded ideal, and the castle museum is something I'd like to do on the next visit (there will be one. My daughter even said she would like to live in York!)