HeleneW

My husband and I will be traveling to Scotland and England this July. We are staying in York for two nights. Do you recommend staying outside of York and traveling into the city for a day or are we best staying in the city? Thanks. Helene

melissa19

i'm looking into going to York myself, and for two nights would stay in the city. we're thinking of a week! but, two days seems to be enough time to see most of the attractions in York itself. if you're more interested in something else, i would stay closer to that and take a day trip to the city.

have fun!

desertduds

Definitely stay in town, everything will be within walking distance.

jjkbrook

two nights in york should be adequate - and staying in the city is a good idea - its a walking town. Definitely take the walk on the walls. We liked both Lincoln and Durham more(more interesting cathedrals and towns, less impacted by tourism) but York is definitely worth seeing. Hope you are stopping in the borders region around Hadrian's Wall - its totally breathtaking.

dfr4848

Agree with desertduds. Stay in the city. Center of York is very manageable on foot (and we found it an easy walk from train station).

tod

We found clean comfortable accommodation at The Novotel. Its situated on the banks of the River Foss just where it meets the River Ouse.
It may look out of town but it's a lovely stroll along the river in either direction which took us 20-30 min.
I see it got a better customer rating(4.16 out of 5) than The Elmbank Hotel.

xxxx

If you are arriving by train, I would stay in the city.

If you have a car, I would choose to stay outside the city. We stayed at the Granary in Stearsby (approx. 15 miles from York) and used one of the park & rides outside the city. Our lodging was also convenient to Fountains Abbey and especially to Castle Howard.

HeleneW

Thanks for all of the information. Staying outside of York and using the Park and Ride sounds like a good idea, especially in order to visit other places. Other than the Granary, do you have suggestions for a B & B outside York? Thanks.

xxxx

If you search, you'll find other comments regarding The Granary. This is where I found the suggestion.

HeleneW

Thanks. I was having some difficulty finding a website for the Granary but was able to finally find an email address to a Mr. Turl, and I emailed him with an accommodation request. Thanks again for the suggestion. Helene

Rastaguytoday

You will be able to find a plethora of hotels just outside the York city gates (< 20 minutes walk)that have car parks. I've been to York 3 times and love the place. Durham is a beautiful city as a day trip. Check out the cultural museum, unlike any other museum that I've been to, and a lot of fun. Depending on your level of interest, York is a 2-3 night city. 3 nights give you 2 full days and this is what I usually do.

flanneruk

What is the point of visiting a medieval city, then staying in some pokey suburb - as charmless as its equivalents in Philadelphia or Brisbane, only with smaller rooms in its hotels?

With practically no local catering facilities except the grisly hotel restaurants, so you've got to get the (infrequent and slow) bus back into York if you want anything beyond sweet and sour pork from the local Chinese takeaway for supper?

Parts of central York do often have rather more of England's hideous youth on stag and hen nights than is good for any town. But you can get away from them easily, and by staying inside the walls - even at the otherwise charmless Viking - you get a real sense of what real city life was once like.

Come midnight, once the hordes have disappeared, or on the streets they're too drunk to get to, you really can convince yourself you're back in the 13th century. And few towns anywhere rival central York early in the morning for a breakfast-time stroll.

bilboburgler

For me if you want to be in the city stay there and ensure you get a place to park the car (you are unlikely to use it in the city) then when you want to move outside for the castle howard, Fountains abbey, Bolton abbey think check into a B&B near there.

If doing it all be train it works another way. As you can stay in central York but need t orent to get to any of these places.

Just a thought, don't forget the railway museum (yawn) andthe York Wheel which gives you a good view of the very flat surroundings.

Finally as a test for explorers and web surfers when was York offcially forgiven for the massacre of the Jews?

xxxx

Yes, Mr. Turl is the proprietor.

I see I'm in the minority with my suggestion. Oh well, to each their own. We are not city people, and while we enjoyed York, were not unhappy to stay somewhere quiet. The park and ride met our needs and we were able to spend several days in the same lodging.

FYI--Just so you are aware, we loved the Granary, but it IS in the middle of nowhere. It is wonderfully quiet and serene, but will require you to drive to a nearby village for meals.

kleeblatt

If I were to fly from Zürich to York, which airport would be closest to land at?

alanRow

NEAREST airport is Leeds/Bradford but the EASIEST airport is Manchester where you can get a train direct from the airport to the centre of York - plus there are direct flights from Zurich to Manchester with Swiss

kleeblatt

Perfect! Besten Dank!

noe847

We stayed at the Dean's Court right in the center of York and loved being right next to the Minster. We arrived from Edinburgh) and departed (to London) by train.

Flanner's right - it is fantastic to be in a city as old as York. York is very walkable and you really can <i>feel</i> the history. I took a lovely early morning walk and had the Shambles all to myself. Being able to spend time among all the old buildings was a huge treat for me as I'm from a section of the American South where there's really nothing older than the late 1800's.

We went in August, and the center was quite crowded during the day - the line for Betty's Tea room was out the door and down the block. We were there mid-week and saw no hen/stag parties, but there was quite a crowd on the ghost tour we saw go by.

The Minster is amazing - I'd advise touring the part below as well, as you will see excavated foundations and walls from the Roman settlement (the audiotape is good.) We didn't have time to walk the entire Wall, but really enjoyed the part we saw. One night wasn't enough for us - would have liked 2 or 3.

HeleneW

Thanks for all of your recommendations.We decided to stay in York and have accommodations near the Minster. By the way, Mr. Turl did return email. He is not in the B &amp; B business anymore. Helene

bilboburgler

You may also like the treasurer's house behind the Minster