A day trip to York

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
2
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
8
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
6
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
4
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
6
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
6
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
60 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
288th/454
Top 70%
continent
Europe
country
UK
Length of time
1 day or less
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$50 ($30-$50 in 2020 prices)
Time of year visited
December
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Christian site City Walls Old town
All Tags
Ancient ruins Restaurant recommendations Romans
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐

Summary

York is definitely worth a stop when in the North of England based on its rich and well preserved medieval history, the pretty Harry Potter-style lanes to wander through and the immense York Minister Cathedral.  5 basic tips:

Tip #1 Can do as a day trip – you only need a day, so this is a simple trip from anywhere in the North of England.  You could even push it as a day trip from London as its only 2 hours up the east coast train line.

#2 Walk the City Walls – a great way to see York is by walking along the City Walls.  They’re 3.4km / 2miles in length, so a decent walk, and are in place for around 3/4 of their total length, meaning you only have to walk off them 3 times to cover a section that isn’t walkable.  Friends of York Walls do a great simple guide for the walk here – York Walls Route.

#3 Be sure to visit York Minister Cathedral – the largest Medieval Cathedral in Northern Europe and a must.

#4 Have afternoon tea and scones – its the quintessentially York / English thing to do.  There are heaps of tea rooms to try, but Betty’s is the favourite.  Wandering around there also gives you that Harry Potter vibe you may be looking for.

#5 Try to learn some of the history but don’t get museum’d out – York has some fascinating history dating all the way back to the Romans, but it can be a bit overwhelming for a day trip considering you also want to do the above things.  My suggestion is only to visit one of the museums / visitor attractions and for that to be Jorvik Viking Centre for an hour as it gives a good flavour of the time of the Vikings.

Highlights

walls2-aspect-ratio-900-675

#1 walking around York's City Walls for the best views and to get a great general feel for the place

bettys-aspect-ratio-900-675

#2 Heading to Betty's Tea Room or afternoon tea and scones. So very English

DSC01585-aspect-ratio-900-675

#3 Seeing from the outside and walking around the inside of the immense York Minster Cathedral

street-2-aspect-ratio-900-675

#4 Wandering through the pretty streets of York's Medieval Centre

yorvik-aspect-ratio-900-675

#5 Learning about the time when the Vikings ruled from York at the Jorvik Visitor Centre (max 1 hour)

Experiences nearby

The below map shows experiences nearby with a colour that reflect the Overall Score of those experiences

Other Old Towns around the World

Wandering Dubrovnik’s Old Town City Walls
⭐⭐

Boat trips, beaches and exploring the caves around Havar Island
⭐⭐⭐

A few days in Penang for George Town and beaches
⭐⭐

Durham’s Cathedral, Castle and village
⭐⭐⭐

Soaking up the Cartagena Old Town
⭐⭐⭐

Trip to Colonia del Sacramento from Buenos Aires
⭐⭐

Jerusalem for a day on the Sabbath
⭐⭐⭐⭐

2 days stopover in Quito
⭐

A couple of days in Arequipa
⭐⭐

Soaking up Antigua
⭐⭐

Walking through the graffiti-filled streets of Olinda
⭐⭐

A long weekend for Lisbon and the surrounding gems of Sintra and Cascais
⭐⭐⭐

Seeing Mostar’s Stari Most Bridge and its bullet-holed history
⭐⭐

Salamanca’s Old Town
⭐⭐⭐

Historic Seville
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Pintxos in San Sebastian
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *