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York is a compact walled riverside city and home
to countless world-class attractions, museums and galleries. Accommodation
in York is abundant, you can stay at stunning hotels in York or browse
through a vast selection of B&B's and camping sites.
York is a year round destination
offering a lively café bar and restaurant culture and vibrant entertainment
and festivals. Ideally located as a touring base, atmospheric York is
roughly 2-hours by rail from London, Edinburgh and Manchester.
It's been the North's spiritual capital for 2000
years, and York is central to Britain's colourful history with its monumental
York Minster. Visit Stonegate and Shambles shopping and experience York's
history at the JORVIK Viking Centre, National Railway Museum and York Castle
Museum.
The city of York has been inhabited
for about 2,000 years, and its history mirrors that of England itself.
A meeting-place for the Celtic tribes, a Roman fort, a Saxon capital,
a Viking trading-post and a thorn in the side of the Normans, York was
at the heart of the story of England for centuries. The remnants of this
history lie all around you and it is easy to spend days simply wandering
the streets and exploring all the nooks and crannies. York is not just
a museum piece, though. it is a vibrant city packed with great places
to eat and drink. True, the small city of about 100,000 cannot compete
with its near neighbours Leeds or Newcastle as a shopping paradise or
a clubber’s mecca, but those who like a bit of atmosphere with their
food and drink will not have far to look.
York has been transformed in
recent years into a city of festivals. Call in at any time, especially
over the summer, and you will invariably find something going on around
the streets, whether it be a busking festival, a brass band contest, historical
re-enactments or a Christmas market, while evey four years, York’s
medieval cycle of Mystery Plays is performed by local actors from the
original scripts.
Many tourists breeze through
York in a single day, en route from London to Edinburgh, but the city
rewards a more relaxed pace of exploration, particularly as the cozy traditional
pubs are best appreciated in the evening once the tour buses have left.
York also makes an excellent base for exploring the local countryside,
with the windswept North York Moors, the craggy Yorkshire coast and the
picturesque Yorkshire Dales all within easy reach.
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