A Luxury Weekend In York

As someone who is often dreaming of visiting far flung places, it is easy to forget how many beautiful places there are here in my own country. Whilst hopping aboard a plane bound for somewhere exotic, or maybe, just somewhere where a different language is spoken, often helps create that ‘holiday feeling’, there are plenty of towns and cities here in England that I have yet to discover. The northern city of York was one of these and back in mid-July I had the pleasure of spending a luxury weekend in York, one of England’s ‘most historic’ centres.

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Although York is not comparable in size to many of the UK’s cities, there is still plenty to see and do. With less than 48 hours in York in total, we, my boyfriend and me, were keen to use our time to best effect, and cram as much as we could into our itinerary. After checking into our luxurious bedroom at the Hotel du Vin, we set off into town ready to see the sights.

City Walls

Our first touristy activity was a walk around the 13^th century city walls, most of which are still intact even today. Our walk began at Micklegate, one of the four gatehouses and took us around the edge of the present city centre towards the River Ouse.

The great thing about the wall walk is that you can break off at any point to explore the city, or even for refreshments, which is exactly what we chose to do after crossing Skeldergate bridge.

Just beside the bridge, in what was presumably an old toll house, is Dyls Cafe Bar where we stopped for a cooling beverage. We were right on the river and it was a very pleasant way of spending some time, absorbing the sun’s warm rays and watching the boats sail by on the water.

From there, we left the walls behind for a while to cut through the town centre, but later on in the afternoon, we re-joined the wall by the memorial gardens and continued around the loop back to where we had started.

Taster Menu at Middletons

Having arrived in York mid-afternoon, the evening was soon upon us and we headed back to our hotel to ready ourselves for dinner.

We had booked a table at Middletons Hotel & Restaurant, just a short walk away from where we were staying, to sample their taster menu, and I can safely say it was a great way to spend an evening. The menu was made up of six courses and was an opportunity to try a variety of dishes all offering different textures and flavours. We had everything from foamy nettle soup, to a lobster claw on crab puree, and even carrot sorbet!

But that’s enough for now, there is a blog post dedicated to my foodie experience coming up soon!

Clifford’s Tower

A new day arrived and we were looking forward to a full day out exploring the remaining sights. First stop was Clifford’s Tower, a fortified complex on the south side of the River Foss which was once part and parcel of York’s Norman castle. Nowadays the ruinous fortress offers wonderful views across the city from its panoramic wall walk. Despite the fact that I am really not a fan of heights, my adventurous nature took over and I braved the gusty wind to see the views for myself!

Jorvik Viking Centre

Once we were back on level ground we set off to learn more about York’s Viking past at the Jorvik Viking Centre. The museum that stands today is actually built on the site where the York Archaeological Trust, in the 70s , found the extremely well-preserved remains of part of Viking town of  Jorvik (York).

I have to say that I was really impressed by the museum as it was incredibly interactive, and involved much more than just a few exhibits and information to read off a board. But I won’t spoil the surprise; you’ll just have to visit for yourselves.

The Shambles

From Viking Jorvik, we jumped forward a few centuries and arrived at the Shambles, perhaps the most famous street in the whole of York, renowned for its chocolate-box appearance, boutique shops and often referred to as the most picturesque street in Britain.

The Shambles dates all the way back to the fifteenth century, when the timber framed buildings acted as a home to butchers shops and houses. Nowadays the street is full of quaint little shops, cafes and restaurants, not to mention the crowds of tourists all wanting to experience Europe’s best preserved medieval street.

 York’s Chocolate Story

Did you know that York is in fact the UK’s home of chocolate? Well neither did I until my trip to the York Chocolate Story, a fantastic museum based in the centre of town. Our guide led us through the museum, informing us all about York’s sweet past, how chocolate is made, and just as important, we even had the chance to sample some goodies as well as decorate our own chocolate lollies.

York Minster

After much excitement and a definite sugar boost, we made our way through the city’s cobbled shopping streets bound for the awe-inspiring Minster. York Minster is one of Europe’s largest cathedrals and it is truly incredible to think that something so colossal could be built by masons lacking modern day tools and machinery.

We headed inside and spent a good half an hour, maybe more, wandering around taking in the beautiful stain glass windows, the intricate structure of the organ and also making a short trip into the spherical Chapter House where important ecclesiastical meetings would once have been held.

Afternoon Tea at Betty’s

What better way to mark the end of a successful trip that with a spot of Afternoon Tea. We opted for a trip to Bettys, a fantastic traditional tea room, the reputation of which has now spread around the globe. As I’m sure you can imagine, it was delightful!

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Our trip to York very quickly came to a close but I think that, on the whole, our sightseeing had been rather successful and we left with scores of memories.

Have you been to York? Where are your favourite spots?

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