York - 2.5 days

Plenty to do in York (I am an ex-resident) though it might be quiet on a Sunday evening. Plenty of buses from Rail Station /citycentre to University - it will take 30 - 40 minutes to walk into the city. Public transport info all available on line. Check Theatre Royal, Barbican and Grand Theatres, Art Gallery by Bootham Bar on north side of city centre near Minster (opposite side to the university) as well as a couple of smaller private galleries. Castle Museum well worth a visit if you want to see about life in Victorian England, and the Coppergate Museum is perhaps a bit on the "cheesy" side but none-the-less interesting about life in the Viking era get there early (before 10) to avoid the queues of day trippers.

If you want a day out, buses and trains hourly to Scarborough, bus every couple of hours to Whitby for a really scenic ride across the North York Moors, and several buses per day to Castle Howard

I would endorse mike9's comments. I have visited several times for a couple of days when my wife has been to conferences and there is always plenty to do. I would add the National Rail Museum and for a journey out of town there are rugular trains to Harrogate and Knaresborough as well.

Choral Evensong at York Minster is always a delight even if you may not be religiously inclined.

You do not want a car in the city centre!

Enjoy your stay

Brillant. Thanks for the replies.
It's funny... If I fly into somewhere I never think about hiring a car. Always seem to use public transport whereas at home, I never use public transport (I do live in the middle of nowhere so...).

I'm going to see about staying in the centre of York. Only at the uni for 1 day and walking to and from it sounds like a plan.

Thanks for the tips on things to see. I'll keep them in mind and I have a UK LP at home somewhere.... probably slightly out of date (guessing its about 4 years old) but it'll give me some more ideas. Ah. Maybe I should update that and get the kindle version (though it's not as easy to find things in e-edition).

Now to work out the trains from Leeds-Bradford. (LOL, you'd think I'd never been in England!)

Just get the bus from the airport into Leeds city centre - it runs every half hour - and either get off by the train station (it stops across the other side of City Square, leaving you about 100 yards to walk across busy road junctions) or stay on as far as Leeds Bus station. There are about 4 trains and 4 buses per hour between Leeds and York, and even the buses go to York rail station! Its about 30 minutes by train and nearer an hour by bus, and around 40 minutes on the bus from the airport to the city centre.

I spent a night there years ago but remember just walking along the old city walls was fun.

Here's a nice possible day trip (or less!), the pleasant market town of Helmsley:

http://www.ryedale.co.uk/ryedale/helmsley/helmsley.html

A shortish walk/hike from Helmsley brings you to this place too:

http://www.theheritagetrail.co.uk/abbeys/rievaulx_abbey.htm

And as for getting there don't be too concerned about the journey time, its a lovely scenic trip:

http://getdown.org.uk/bus/bus/31x.shtml

1) I live in York and my preferred airport is Manchester, not Leeds / Bradford, because frequent trains run direct from Manchester Airport to York.

2) You can hardly use a car within York’s walled city because so much is restricted motor access. The distances are tiny and you can walk everything easily.

3) For your Sunday arrival, York City Walls should be open to walk round till quite late in the evening. They close ‘at dusk’ usually and, mid-June so far north, that comes pretty late. A very nice walk. Best bit is heading clockwise from Bootham Gate near York Minster. At any hour you can walk along some pleasant sections of the banks of the River Ouse, chiefly on the opposite side of the river to the rail station.

4) An excellent Kindle book on York sights is ‘Choice Visits in Yorkshire and York’. It also gives walks and loads of day trips from York plus how to plan them via public transport. There’s far more to see in York than has been mentioned - much too much to list.

5) Accommodation. Yes, I’d rather stay very near the old walled town than out at the University. Though the latter is leafy and pretty with gardens, lakes and waterbirds and a nice walk to town, if you find this route, much of the way through pastureland and allotments. Swiftest walk to city centre is around 30 minutes. For a city centre alternative, you could try the 'accommodation finder' on the website of Visit York, the official tourist agency. But check on a map the location of any hotel which interests you, because they also advertise many which are much further away than the University, though this isn't always obvious.