york for a couple hours
 

my wife and i will travel by rail from london to edinburgh on dec. 23 and might like to stop off in york for a couple hours . will there be lockers for our lougage at the station and would any of you all have any suggestions on "to do".? also is the town compact for walking or should i expect to take cabs to get around. thanks to all who might help!

It's a short walk from the train station to the old part of the city within the walls. It's very doable by foot.

Susan

The main must see is of course York Minster. Also of great interest are the medieval streets of the Shambles and the medieval city walls. Like bellairegirl said, it's doable by foot but there's also a sightseeing bus - the hop-on-hop-off, one ticket for a whole day type, shuold yuo prefer not to explore on foot, and ti will take you to the outer city environs also. But it doesn't travel through/stop in The Shambles since that is a pedestrian area.

Sorry I can't advice on luggage lockers since we stayed two nights in York in a B & B, if you decide to go that route I recommend the White Horse.

Be absolutely sure you have a ticket that lets you to break your journey and then take a later train. Many tickets/fares would not allow that.

You might have to book two separate tix London/York and York/Edinburgh.

if you do get off in York there is no reason what-so-ever you'd need a taxi. Everything you'd want to see are w/i the medieval city walls and the train station is just outside the walls. central York is very small and totally walkable.

a great book that is set in york is "behind the scenes at the museum" by kate atkinson. wonderful dry british humor about a large family in york.

i've been there and it made me think of the city in a different way.

have a wonderful trip!

-melissa

If you have any interest, the National Railway Museum (The largest in Britain and perhaps the best in the world.) is a couple of hundred yards from the station, the Minster is about 700 yards if you go direct. To return thru the Shambles and to have tea at Betty's would add 500 to 600 yards over returning directly to the station .

Although terrorist attacks on the UK have declined since September 11, we've been under continuous terrorist threat for the past 35 years. So public luggage lockers, obviously, are pretty much a thing of the very, very, distant past. Asking for them in Britain is a clear sign of ignorance and insensitivity, and can easily cause offence.

According to the National Rail site, there is a left luggage office at York station. Check opening hours from [email protected]

flanner, I don't think there was any need to adopt that tone : I can't imagine asking after luggage lockers actually causing offence. And while they may be just a memory at railway stations, they do exist elsewhere; I used one just yesterday at one of the national galleries of Scotland.

A couple of hours won't do justice to York, but its better than no visit. A good place to stop for lunch or tea in the city center is Betty's--famous for its bakery goods.

A bit more on the left luggage question (without a lecture--what's <i>that</i> all about <i>flanneruk</i> ?) The facility in the York rail station is at the Europcar (auto rental) offices. Telephone 44 (0)19 046 5616.

Dave White
[email protected]

Hi,

We did what you are planning to do back in 2002 - stopped in York enroute from Edinburgh to London. There were lockers at the train station, it was a fairly short walk to Minster and a pleasant walk to Shambles and the museum. So we found it to be a very doable side trip.

thank you to all , please pardon my fat american ignorance. hopefully i can make it through my vacation without offending many others. also i will have a brit rail pass so the stopover should not be a big problem i assume . again thank all of you for the information.

Have a wonderful time! Edinburgh and York (however brief) in the same trip...sounds like heaven to me!