Saturday in York

[andrewc]

After last years night ride to Whitby I realized I'd not visited York since a school trip aged 11 or so....

I'll be there on Saturday, not on a bike, just wandering around on foot.    So, what to see,   where to go,  where to eat ?   

All I can remember from the previous trip is a torture museum.....       

[CrinklyLion]

Yer daft bugger - we're all going to Northallerton for the day!

National Railway Museum is brilliant, and free.  York Castle Museum also brilliant but pricey unless you happen to be a resident with a York library card.  Jorvik is, IMO, highly over-rated, and I've never bothered with the dungeons.  The open-top bus is surprisingly entertaining, especially if you get a live guide instead of the crappy taped one.  Minster is well worth a visit, although I believe they now charge an arm and a leg unless you're resident, and I highly recommend lying on the floor there to fully appreciate the view - of course, I can get away with these things because I usually have a small child in tow and you're allowed to do stuff like that without getting treated like the loony on the bus when you're engaging in childcare.  Museum Gardens (couple of minutes from the station) is a fab place for a picnic if the weather is nice - the Yorkshire Museum (again free to residents but charge for visitors) has just been redone and I'm told it's very very nice.  A cup of tea in Betty's only costs 30p more than one in BHS, and has to be done at least once IMO - their  food is great if you're feeling indulgent.  Lots and lots of great cafe's/bars/restaurants etc to cater for most tastes - I'm sure plenty of the Yorkies will have recommendations if you want summat in particular!  A walk round the walls is well worth doing, if it isn't peeing it down (the walkways get slippy if it's raining which makes it less entertaining).  I like the model railway - tiny wee thing, clearly run by obsessive geeks, pretty much in the station.  We have a 'priviledge card' for that one, if it hasn't expired, that gets half price entry and a discount on everything in the shop!  How long are you planning to stay for?

[Deano]

You could always join us in Northallerton for the YPXPR.

[andrewc]

Sorry, got a very manky throat that's had me coughing & gasping for breath, so riding the bike isn't going to happen 

[Deano]

I'd recommend Clifford's Tower, in that case.  It's a most impressive place.

Even as a kid, Jorvik failed to impress. 

York is a good place to wander around, though.  And very easy to navigate.  Especially from Sam Smith's to Sam Smith's

[Karla]

Walk round the walls, visit the minster (and make sure you check out the crypt and undercroft), climb the minster tower (you have to pay a couple of quid more but it's worth it), go to Betty's,

If you're feeling active, hire a bike from Bob Trotter and see more of the second most cycled city in the UK.  If you're an ale lover then a tour of the York Brewery is good fun, I recommend the Guzzler, though at this time of year the Centurion's Ghost is probably more appropriate.

[EDIT: Oh that's true, Clifford's Tower.  It's more fun when there's snow and you get to sledge down it.  It's not huge but it's got a grisly history]

[Deano]

The Minster goes without saying.

The Shambles is worth a visit, as is Whipmawhopmagate.  Stupid place, really. 

[Karla]

The Shambles is good, yes.  You could also go to the King's Arms and take a look at the walls inside, where they mark the level that the floods reach each year.  That's assuming that it's not flooded when you get there, of course!

The bars (gatehouses above the entrances to the city walls) can be worth a visit if you're walking the walls.  There are museums in at least a couple of them, including Micklegate, which is a good street to explore at any time of the day or night.  A local church runs quite a good coffee shop in Walmgate Bar, which is right next to Cycleworks, IMO the best bike shop in town..

[jogler]

I have promised myself that one day I'll walk round the town walls.

  a night ride on York town walls?

[clarion]

There's a lot of portage.  Oh, and a lot of it is pretty much inaccessible after dark.

And people have been arrested for it before.

[jogler]

a unicycle doesn't take a lot of carrying.
arrested:BTDTGTTS 

[CrinklyLion]

So, what did you do in the end?

[andrewc]

Walked around the walls,  walked up Cliffords Tower, then into the town centre.  Good beer & poor fish'n'chips in the Yorkshire Terrier.   Back to the Minster,  £12.50 to get in and wander around.  Down to the foundations and up to the top of the tower.... steep & narrow....

More wandering around the streets followed by more beer, a burger & chips then train home.   Pleasant enough, but probably not as much fun as your bike ride 

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

Twelve frigging fifty to get in? Blimey.

[jogler]

^^^^^
 me  too.
I declined to pay it on the basis that the church is possibly the richest landowner in the country.
I put a £5 note in the donations box & walked in.
It's free to York residents.

[pcolbeck]

I refuse to pay as I'm a (ex) Catholic and they nicked it off us. If it was Catholic I would still refuse to pay as Rome has plenty of dosh. The idea of paying to enter a church is all wrong anyway.

[Deano]

I didn't pay the last time I went in - they charged to go up the tower, though, so I didn't pay and didn't go up.

I prefer Durham Cathedral, too.

[andrewc]

Cliffords Tower was £3.50 as well.    Both Liverpool Cathedrals are free to view, though the Anglican one does charge to climb the tower. Being a fairly modern building there is a lift part of the way !
 

[interzen]

I didn't pay the last time I went in - they charged to go up the tower, though, so I didn't pay and didn't go up.

Last time I was at York Minster there was a 'voluntary' donation system in force, although you still had to pay to go up the tower or down into the undercroft.

I prefer Durham Cathedral, too.

Me too, but since I grew up and went to school in Durham I could be accused of being biased anyway. Durham Cathedral also have a slightly less fascistic attitude towards photography, too.

[Eccentrica Gallumbits]

I refuse to pay as I'm a (ex) Catholic and they nicked it off us. If it was Catholic I would still refuse to pay as Rome has plenty of dosh. The idea of paying to enter a church is all wrong anyway.

Not being religious, I don't use churches as a place of worship, but I do like visiting them as a tourist attraction. So I don't mind paying a bit for that. But £12.50's bloody extortionate.

Mind you, I'm still reeling from paying £8 to go to the flicks on Saturday night. 

[Deano]

I didn't pay the last time I went in - they charged to go up the tower, though, so I didn't pay and didn't go up.

Last time I was at York Minster there was a 'voluntary' donation system in force, although you still had to pay to go up the tower or down into the undercroft.

I might have taken the "voluntary" thing at face value

I'm not without bias in favouring Durham, either.  My great-grandad's old drinking hole is within sight of the cathedral, and there's a street under the viaduct named after the family.

[andrewc]

They tried to get me to "Gift Aid" it as well.....

[Greenbank]

They tried to get me to "Gift Aid" it as well.....

If you're going to pay anyway then why not do Gift Aid?

(And if you're lucky enough to be a higher rate tax payer it means you get money back when you do your tax return.)

[Karla]

I declined to pay it on the basis that the church is possibly the richest landowner in the country.

Blame the university.  The minster was running at a loss and was going to shut its library, but the university protested that their history students needed it.  The library was saved, with the result that the minster started charging entry. 

Services are free entry, so go to evensong if you want to see it free and aren't a York resident. 

[jogler]

This

The idea of paying to enter a church is all wrong anyway

from upthread sums it up