Things to do in York with the kids?

[Ohdoleavemealone]

Kids are 9&6 so too young for the dungeons. Is there anything else they may enjoy other than the museum?

The Viking experience is very good. You can use Clubcard points to pay for it. You do need to book it though as it is very popular.

The chocolate experience was very good.

Jorvik Centre
York Castle Museum
Art gallery
Clifford's Tower
River cruise
Ghost walk
Cat cafe

There is an adventure park a short drive from York with trampolines/ropes type things. I can't remember what it's called but you'd find it on one of those websites about what to see with kids.

The free railway museum is excellent.
We are going back for our holiday (last went 5 years ago), my girls enjoyed the castle museum (not about castles but the history of York), the chocolate museum and a good walk along the castle walls.
They both have Blue Peter badges which got them entry to the Jorvik museum with adults paying.
I've booked Hole in the Wand wizard crazy golf as a surprise for them this time.

Railway museum, and also Hole in The Wand is worth booking - Harry Potter themed indoor crazy golf (don't think you have to be a Potter fan to enjoy it though really).

There's also the Potions Cauldron (?) on the shambles, and DiG is worth going to as-well - we preferred this over Jorvik.

Also there are usually really good street entertainers.

Hole in the Wand -Harry Potter themed crazy golf

cinema/bowling

walk along the city walls/museum gardens

river cruise

Jorvik
Cliffords tower
railway museum
If good weather take the train to Scarborough (only 50 mins)

We spent a few days there over half-term and this is everything we did.

@ZarquonsSandals the cat cafe looks amazing!!! Hoping to go to York soon and DD and I will absolutely love that!

Mad Alice’s ghost tour was super…
www.thebloodytourofyork.co.uk

We also walked the whole way round the city walls, which was good fun - and free!

Just as a heads up children have to be aged 10 or over for the cat cafe.

Yes, Web adventure park, it's a good place indoors and outdoors so doesn't matter on weather

We went on the ghost bus tour when our kids were young, and it was really good fun. The guide was very funny, and it was interesting. I don't think it costs a lot.

The Yorkshire Museum has nice gardens if you fancy a break from the crowds.

I was in York a few weeks ago and there were crazy queues for something called The York Ghost Merchants on The Shambles. I couldn't quite work out what it was, but it's obviously very popular.

@LubaLuca it's just a little shop, I'm always amazed at the queues for it, I'd have thought the craze would have died down by now but nope still seems to be going strong! The queues can be hours long!

FWIW it is a very sweet little shop, the owners have obviously put a lot of care and attention into the details.

Weird! I thought there was some activity going on in there, like crafting or necromancy.

York cat trail

There's sometimes viking or Roman other historical festival type things on with activities for kids. Have a Google about what's on for the dates you want.

Re: river cruise you can go on one of the large boats or hire a small motor boat for the family.

We did the latter and took a picnic on board with us - had a lovely time and the kids enjoyed driving the boat (obviously "thinking" they were driving with heavy supervision). It's not a great option in bad weather though.

In addition to Museum Gardens I'd also suggest Rowntree Park (20 acres of park near the river in the centre of the city).

In many ways York is just a great city to walk around in and soak up the sights and despite the inevitable queues I'd definitely recommend a visit to Betty's Tea Rooms for afternoon tea (and don't be disappointed/reject eating downstairs - most people queue longer for the ground floor dining area, but I think the basement dining room is far more elegant and 1930's with beautiful wood panelling). It's not cheap but the food is lovely and they have brilliant child friendly food (DS is a food nightmare and the staff arranged an "afternoon tea" for him on a cake stand with a layer of toast, beans and ham sandwiches ).

There's some beautiful buildings and many lovely restaurants.

The Minster is spectacular and worth a look even if only from the outside - they used to do tours to the top of the Minster where the views were spectacular (not been for a few years so not sure if they still do them).

Only one word of warning from when we last visited.

It's turned into a bit of a hen/stag destination so on Friday and Saturday evenings I'd generally avoid the main city centre and stick to the perimeter of the city (though according to relatives who live there - which is why we have visited York many times - the Council and hospitality industry have been clamping down on this so it might be better now). For example there were some lovely places to eat/hang out/shop on Bishopthorpe Road (near Rowntree Park) that are free from the hen/stag gangs.

Have a lovely time!

We are hoping to visit again this summer to see our relatives and enjoy the city!

Railway museum and chocolate experience both excellent

Potion making at Potions Cauldron is fab. I just love York! Can’t wait to go back.

@BreadInCaptivity yes, the Minster tours are on again - we were there at half-term. You can go right to the top.

We only had a few days and didn't manage everything I wanted to see/do, so another trip is on the cards for the future.

York maze is my DDs favourite, it’s due to re-open in 2 weeks and is a brilliant day out. It’s not far from the city and there’s a bus that stops right outside if needed

Children have to be at least 8 to climb up the tower at York Minster. You can get an activity backpack at the entrance with things to spot and binoculars and various other bits of equipment which makes it a lot more fun for children to look around an old building.

I'd recommend DIG, the Castle Museum, the Railway Museum, walking along the walls, the Hole in Wand mini golf, and Viking Centre. The Chocolate Experience is fun, but a bit overpriced. There are drunken hen parties on Friday evenings and Saturday from mid afternoon, but they tend to be mostly in the very centre, so you can avoid them quite easily.

There's a hop on, hop off bus which is fun, and you can hire a little boat to go along the river, or go on a river cruise.

There's an old fashioned merry go round in the car park between Clifford's Tower and the Castle Museum.

If they need to let off some steam, the Museum Gardens has lots of space to run around and the library next door has a nice cafe where you can sit and watch the kids in the children's library area if you want something central on a rainy day.

I took my 8 year old for a weekend in May. She absolutely loved it and wants to go back.
We went to the Jorvik centre and also to Dig. Other than that we did:
self drive boat
potions cauldron
hole in the wand golf
chocolate bar making at York cocoa house
watched a street performance.
Looked at the shambles and queued up to buy a ghost.

she loved all of it. She also enjoyed counting the hen and stag dos!

Her list for next time is:
York Minster (we looked at it from the outside but our timings didn’t work out for going in.)
ghost tour
Escape room (she says she saw a wizard theme one but I haven’t looked it up yet)

Absolutely. The one we saw (man doing terrifying things on a unicycle) was probably our highlight. So leave lots of time for wandering and diversions.