Special, memorable things to do in York?

Juliav_2

Hi all

We are taking my mum for a surprise few days away in York in June. Money is tight and have already managed to secure a family room in travelodge for three of us to share, for £70 for two nights!

Still on the look out for bargain things and want to do really special/memorable things on a budget.

Any ideas from those you have been/or live in York please?

C_J

My husband and I spent a week in York last summer, and absolutely loved it. It's such a beautiful city.

I think it's worth doing the open-top bus tour first, to get your bearings and to know what you'll want to go back and see in more detail (the commentary is v. informative). I seem to remember the ticket was valid for two days, so you can hop on-and-off if you don't want to walk much (though the city is quite compact).

I heartily recommend the Railway Museum .... we are certainly not train enthusiasts, but found it very interesting. And it's **free**! We spent hours there, as they have a huge room filled with artifacts from trains over the years (such as the posh china and silverware) etc etc so there's a lot of interesting social history stuff. Nice cafe, too.

http://www.nrm.org.uk/events/index.asp

The York Castle Museum is fabulous too - it's one of the most interesting museums I have ever seen, with displays from every era made into actual room or shop settings, so it had more impact than just looking at dull cabinets of things! They had lots of live demonstrations too, such as showing how the Victorians made ice cream. Fascinating stuff.

http://www.yorkcastlemuseum.org.uk/Page/Index.aspx


You *must* have afternoon tea at Betty's Tea Rooms. It's expensive, but amazing. Queues will be long, but it's worth the wait. It's like taking tea on a 1920s Cunard Cruise Liner.

http://www.bettys.co.uk/

We also did day trips out to neighbouring places, such as fish'n'chips on the seafront at Whitby (Penguin Fish Bar is totally fab) plus bought some Whitby Jet jewellery.

yippee_kye_yay

there is loads of musuems to see at york depending on your likes. as well as thoe mentioned above, there are the york dungeon, jorvik the viking museuem, the full sized victorian maze (never been myself but heard good things about it)
then of course there are all the ghost walks that are usually held on a night, which i am dying to go on!

theres loads and loads to do

leachyd

Second that, CJ, Railway museum is well worth the free visit.

fletty

third it my son (3) loves it we went when there was a thomas day out at the museum it cost us extra to get in but he loved the rest of the museum better. He still asks to go just about every day infact we are off there today

Birdie85

The Railway museum is a good one, especially since it is free so very MSE!

I'll second what CJ said about the Castle Museum too, it is very interesting; I've been a few times over the years and loved it every time!

Betty's is always worth a vist but be prepared to pay that little bit extra!

One of my favourite things to do in York is to walk along the river with an ice cream, you can get onto a boat trip if you fancy that kind of thing or just have a look around and follow the tourist trails.

fletty

Well we went to york yesterday used there park and ride system they are having A LOT of problems with traffic at the moment we thought it was a great service to get into York but our return trip was a nightmare. At 4.00 we decided the kids had had enough so went to get the bus back to the car no bus came till 5.45 it was raining and we were at the side of a busy road and the que was HUGE. We decided to try walking but a bus inspector type man came along and told us there was 3 on the way so we waited ( my son is 3 and was very tired) it was another 30 mins after that, so I don't think we'll use the park and ride again.
On a happier note we went to railway museum and it was just as enjoyable, we also went to jorvick viking experince I was pleased we'd pre booked tickets otherwise it would have been a 40 min wait. Got to say I wasn't that impressed with it though the sets are dusty the ride slow and squeaky and over far too quick - wish we went to the york dungeon istead well maybe next time.

Enjoy your holiday x

I_am_mad

I have been to York and i liked it, but the york dungeons scared the live out of me and im 22. I had to be taken out through a side door as I couldnt cope and started to hypervenilate. I know its all pretend but its so well done, its very believable and the fact that they pick on people made it a whole lot worse for me.

Hippygirl

All CJs suggestions are fab. fat rascals in Bettys - can't be missed! One thing we did and really enjoyed was walk round the walls - great views. depends how active your mum is tho. Also, we went to York Minster, and OH climbed the tower (my excuse for not doing so was being 7 months pregnant!)- he thoroughly enjoyed that.

falady

Hi there,

I spent my birthday in york a few years ago and we did a horse and cart ride around the city. Think it was about £5 each and we got on somewhere close to the cathedal. We decided that we couldn't stretch to tea in betty's, but enjoyed a cake to take away very much!

lindadykes

York Minster, and a trawl around "The shambles".

Just looked at Betty's tea room website - I wouldn't pay those prices. Near where I live in the Durham Dales we have the White monk tea rooms in Blanchland, (a medieval village) http://whitemonk.co.uk/ where afternoon tea consisting of scones, bread, butter and jam, a selection of sandwiches and a piece of homemade cake served with a huge pot of tea for around £6 per person.