My Original City Adventure in York: Part One!
I was recently invited to experience a thrill-seeking adventure in York. I took my friend Becca who’s from Derby along on the trip and she had never visited York before. York is basically my second home as it’s my closest City. I used to go to college there so I was pretty excited to show her around. Visit York had kindly given us a York Pass which gives you access to over 30 attractions across the city. It’s safe to say, Becca fell in love with York pretty much straight away. Who could blame her? It’s one beautiful city!
After checking into our hotel, which was the Best Western at Monkbar (more on that soon!) we headed to the York Castle Museum. After a slice of cake in their cafe, we started the journey around the museum, which covers so much of the history of the city. It really reminds me of Beamish as they have a recreated Victorian Street but also exhibits on the sixties, world war 1, fashion through the years, and so much more. The museum is actually housed in the Castle Prison and still has original cells.
After freshening up, we went for dinner at Stonegate Yard Bar & Grill. Despite it been pretty cold outside, we decided to dine al fresco! It’s a really cute spot and I’ve been a few time for beverages but never food. Becca went for the fish cake salad which she really enjoyed but my Chicken Burger wasn’t the best. In the words of Mary Berry, it had a soggy bottom!
When it comes to all things ghostly, there’s a variety of Ghost Walks and also The York Dungeon. Becca and I aren’t particularly great when it comes to getting spooked. We once actually visited Madame Tussauds in London and decided to brave their dungeons. We were absolutely petrified, clinging on to each other and screaming our heads off. It actually turned out we were still in the que area! We swiftly made our escape before it was too late.
Instead of opting for one of the Ghost Walks, we decided to go on the Ghost Bus Tour. These tours take place daily twice a day from the train station. I’ve seen the bus many times and it reminds me so much of the Knight Bus from Harry Potter so I knew we had to give it a go. The tour was spooky in parts but on a whole it was hilarious! The tour actually went around all of York City Centre and lasted for 90 minutes. I would really recommend doing it as we had such a laugh on board and actually learnt a lot about the streets of York.
En Route back to the hotel, we stopped off at my favourite bar in the city; Judges Lodging. I’ve raved about this place before on my blog and it’s secret rooftop courtyard is perfect for Summer. There’s so many nooks and crannies in Judges Lodgings and is perfect for a couple of drinks by the fire. At the moment, the Christmas Market has a couple of stalls outside in their front courtyard making it super festive! After a couple of drinks, we headed back to our comfortable beds at the Best Western Monkbar before embarking on day two of our Thrilling Adventure in York.
I had originally planned to visit the iconic York Minster which for me, is an iconic building – a must see. Unfortunately, it was closed due to graduation ceremonies all week! One of our thrill-seeking activities was going to be to climb the Central Tower and experience the view from the rooftop. Next time, we will be sure to do it!
Christmas in York is my favourite, it’s all decorated so beautifully. I’ve also recently visited Yorkshire’s Winter Wonderland at York’s Designer Outlet which is home to the largest Ice Rink in the North. If you’re looking to read about more attractions in York, check out this post I wrote last year featuring the Minster, The Chocolate Story and Jorvik (which is currently closed but has gone on tour around the city).
Stay tuned for Part Two! Have you visited York before?
XOXO
*I was invited by Visit York as a guest and provided with a complimentary stay and York Passes, all opinions are my own
York is so beautiful, my daughter studies in Leeds so we visit York often as its close by.
I live in York! Well, just outside – it’s a lovely city 🙂
I love York, my husband and I went a couple of years ago and absolutely loved it! Such a lovely city, thank you for sharing your post, beautiful photos!
Looks like you had a great time. I’ve never been to York x
It’s too bad York Minster was closed while you were there, it looks so grand and beautiful, it would have been wonderful to have been able to explore it. It sounds like you had a wonderful time while you were in York, the Ghost Bus Tour must have been lots of fun!
It looks like a great city to visit, I’ve never been but I should see more of the UK! x
I have york on the cities I plan to do staycations on in 2017 so this was a lovely introduction to it. What a lovely city, so much to see and do.
I love York too. Still a lot of history. Not been to a lot of these places but love touring the cobbled streets. Was gutted when the purple man retired! X
I love York, my ex went to Uni there so I was a frequent visitor and I could sit inside the Minster for hours it is just so stunning x
We loved visiting York a couple of years back and our hightlights were York Dungeon and Betty’s Tea Rooms! Looks like you had a good start to your trip!
I’ve visited York so many times and I still find new things to see and do, it’s such a beautiful city. =^-^=
Sam | Momentarily Dreaming
I am so desperate to visit York – it looks like an incredibly beautiful city! xx
Jessie | allthingsbeautiful-x
Read it as New York to begin with and was insanely jealous – still looks really cool though! Will have to visit ?
I’ve never been to York but it looks beautiful!
It looks like a lovely place to visit, I haven’t been there before. Sorry to hear about your soggy bottom, or to be precise your burgers soggy bottom it is annoying when that happens. The fish cake salad looked good, you should have sent back the burger and got one of those.
I’ve never been to York before, but the ghost walks and dungeons sound like such a great idea x
I have wanted to visit York for so many years now, but have never made it there yet, Reading your blog makes me want to go even more, so I will be adding it to my things to do in 2017!! Thank you for all the places I need to visit, and the bus tour too xx
We had a day trip to York a few years ago when up north visiting friends. We went to the railway museum up there, and bought some cakes from Bettys. I do love visiting England’s cities, so hope to return one day.
I went to York 4 years ago and did the York Dungeons, it literally petrified me. Gorgeous place to visit. Sorry to hear about the ‘soggy bottom’ I hate it when that happens to my food. Jo x
Such a pretty blog hun.
Love this post – looks like you guys had fun. Ive never been to York before, defo on my list.
Thanks for sharing
Charlotte x
York is such a beautiful city! I loved it when we went a few summers ago.
I have never been to York, but my mum loves it there and often goes on day trips. I love the sound of the ghost bus tour!!
I love York! It’s probably one of my favourite cities in the UK x
York is on my list of places to visit next year … I am dying to visit the retail outlets and my boyfriend is keen to visit the railway museum!
I love York. It’s so beautiful. I have always wanted to go a ghost tour there, but I usually spend all my time in the tea rooms haha.
I went to uni in York and I love the city! Need to go back and visit soon!
I love York! I like the small little ally streets and all the unique shops!
It looks like you had lots of fun. It is a very long time since I visited York so I must be due a visit again. Mich x
No I haven’t but would love to visit. Looks amazing.
I haven’t visited York, but I would love to go. Especially if we could find some child friendly places to visit with my 4 year old.
I haven’t been to York in YEARS but it’s such a great city with so much to do. What a great sounding pass you had!
I have never been to York before, it does sound like such a nice place and like you guys had a great time x
I love York. However I really need to do the ‘touristy’ side of York.
I generally just go and shop.lol
Caroline.x