Sights in York
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York Minster
England's largest medieval cathedral and Yorkshire's most important historic building is the simply awesome York Minster that dominates the city.
The first church on the site was a wooden chapel built for the baptism of King Edwin on Easter Day 627; its site is marked in the crypt. This structure was sybolically built on the site of an earlier Roman Basilica, traces of which can be seen in the foundations. Fragments of a Norman church, built in 1080, can also be found below the Minster.
The present building, built mainly from 1220 to 1480, manages to represent all the major stages of Gothic architectural development. The transepts were built in Early English style between …
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Museum Gardens
A peaceful 4-hectare city-centre oasis which houses a wealth of medieval history, much of it in picturesque tatters. Assorted ruins and buildings include the Museum Gardens Lodge dating from 1874, and a 19th-century working observatory. The abbey ruins make a suitably evocative backdrop for the Mystery Plays held in the gardens every four years.
Take time out from York's summertime tourist hordes to wander past the abbey's Hospitium and Gatehall entrance, the Victorian Gothic Gardens Lodge and a VIP accommodation lodge dating from 1470. Then plunge into the Yorkshire Museum and its fine collection of Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Viking and medieval remains. Pride of place goes to…
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National Railway Museum
Most railway museums are the sole preserve of lone men with dog-eared notebooks and grandfathers looking to bond with their grandchildren. While there's no shortage of either here, the National Railway Museum stands apart on account of its sheer size and incredible collection.
Trainspotters and nostalgics will salivate at the massive gathering of engines and carriages from the past, but the attractions for regular folk are the gleaming carriages of the royal trains used by Queen Victoria and Edward VII; the speed-record-breaking Mallard (a mighty 2 miles a minute in 1938, still a record for a steam train); and a Series 'O' Japanese bullet train (1964-86), which you can si…
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Castle Howard
Castle Howard, the palatially Palladian Vanbrugh/Hawksmoor creation, is surrounded by the rolling Howardian Hills, landscaped vistas, a scattering of monumental follies and obelisks, and acres of terraced gardens complete with wandering peacocks.
This is one of the world's most beautiful buildings, and instantly recognisable for its starring role in Brideshead Revisited - which has done its popularity no end of good since the TV series first aired in the early 1980s.
If you can, try to visit on a weekday, when it's easier to find the space to appreciate this hedonistic marriage of art, architecture, landscaping and natural beauty. Wander about the grounds, take in the vie…
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Treasurer's House
The Treasurer's House was home to the minster's medieval treasurers. Rebuilt in the 17th and 18th centuries, the 13 rooms house a fine collection of furniture and supply a good insight into 18th-century life. The house is also the setting for one of the city's most enduring ghost stories: during the 1950s, a plumber working in the basement swore he saw a band of Roman soldiers walking through the walls; his story remains popular if unproven - but you can explore the cellar to find out.
You can get onto the walls, built in the 13th century, via steps by Bootham Bar and follow them clockwise to Monk Bar, a walk offering particularly beautiful views of the minster. There are…
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Jorvik
Interactive bells-and-whistles exhibits aimed at 'bringing history to life' usually result in the opposite, but the much-trumpeted Jorvik, the most visited attraction in town besides the minster, manages to convey the essence of the Viking settlement with admirable success. It's a smells-and-all reconstruction of the settlement unearthed in this area during excavations in the late 1970s, brought to you courtesy of a 'time-car' monorail that transports you through 9th-century Jorvik.
It is a bit of fun (for kids at least) and the staff in the ubiquitous shop go to great lengths to answer questions with great enthusiasm. To cut the queue time considerably, book your tickets…
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York Castle Museum
Near Clifford's Tower, the excellent York Castle Museum contains displays of everyday life, with reconstructed domestic interiors, and a less-than-homely prison cell where you can try out the condemned man's bed - in this case Dick Turpin's.
There's a bewildering array of evocative everyday objects from the past 400 years, gathered together by a certain Dr Kirk from the 1920s onwards for fear that the items would become obsolete and disappear completely. He wasn't far wrong, which makes this place all the more interesting.
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Clifford's Tower
There's precious little left of York Castle except for this evocative stone tower, a highly unusual figure-eight design built into the castle's keep after the original one was destroyed in 1190 during anti-Jewish riots. An angry mob forced 150 Jews to be locked inside the tower, but it wasn't enough, and the hapless victims took their own lives rather than be killed. There's not much to see inside but the views over the city are excellent.
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Dig
York's newest attraction, run by the folks who brought you Jorvik, is Dig, which is pretty much self explanatory. This time, you're an 'archaeological detective', unearthing the 'secrets' of York's distant past as well as discovering something of the archaeologist's world - what they do, how they do it and that kind of thing. Much more hands-on than Jorvik, it is plenty of fun and a little bit educational too.
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St Mary's Lodge
The ruins of St Mary's Abbey (founded 1089) date from 1270 to 1294. The ruined Gatehall was its main entrance, providing access from the abbey to the river. The adjacent Hospitium dates from the 14th century, although the timber-framed upper storey is a much-restored survivor from the 15th century; it was used as the abbey guesthouse. St Mary's Lodge was built around 1470 to provide VIP accommodation.
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St Mary's Abbey
The ruins of St Mary's Abbey date from 1270 to 1294. The ruined Gatehall was its main entrance, providing access from the abbey to the river. The adjacent Hospitium dates from the 14th century, although the timber-framed upper storey is a much-restored survivor from the 15th century; it was used as the abbey guesthouse. St Mary's Lodge was built around 1470 to provide VIP accommodation.
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Shambles
The quaintly cobbled Shambles, complete with overhanging Tudor buildings, hints at what a medieval street might have looked like if it was overrun with people told they have to buy something silly and superfluous and be back on the tour bus in 15 minutes. It takes its name from the Saxon word shamel, meaning 'slaughterhouse'.
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Merchant Adventurers' Hall
Built between 1357 and 1361, the outstanding Merchant Adventurers' Hall is one of the most handsome timber-framed buildings in Europe. This stunning building testifies to the power of the medieval guilds, which controlled all foreign trade into and out of York until 1830 - a handy little monopoly.
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Fairfax House
If 18th-century Georgian houses are for you, then a visit to Fairfax House should be on your itinerary. This exquisitely restored property was designed by John Carr and features the best example of rococo stucco work to be found in the north of England.
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Richard III Museum
Monk Bar is the best-preserved medieval gate, with a small Richard III Museum upstairs. The museum sets out the case of the murdered 'Princes in the Tower' and invites visitors to judge whether their uncle, Richard III, killed them.
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Holy Trinity
Back inside the walls, the wonky lines inside Holy Trinity almost induce seasickness. The church was started in the 13th century and added to over the next 200 years. Rare 17th- to 18th-century box pews surround a two-tier pulpit.
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St William's College
Owned by the minster since the 15th century, St William's College is an attractive half-timbered Tudor building with elegant oriel windows built for the minster's chantry priests.
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Yorkshire Museum
The classical Yorkshire Museum is linked with the Castle Museum and has some interesting Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Viking and medieval exhibits and good temporary exhibitions.
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Multangular Tower
The Multangular Tower was the western tower of the Roman garrison's defensive wall. The small Roman stones at the bottom have been built up with 13th-century additions.
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York Dungeon
York Dungeon is a series of exultantly gruesome and markedly overpriced historical reconstructions. For the especially hardened there's a lovely bit on the plague.
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Walmgate Bar
Walmgate Bar is England's only city gate with an intact barbican (an extended gateway to ward off uninvited guests), and was built during the reign of Edward III.
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York City Art Gallery
Adjacent to Museum Gardens on Exhibition Sq is the 19th-century York City Art Gallery, which includes works by Reynolds, Nash, Boudin and LS Lowry.
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St Olave's Church
St Olave's Church dates from the 15th century, but there has been a church dedicated to Norway's patron saint here since at least 1050.
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Monk Bar
Monk Bar is the best-preserved medieval gate. Richard III Museum inside.
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