Must do / see in York?

[Wheresthesundude]

Taking the kids (9&10) on a trip to York for two nights next week and never been so no idea of the must dos and must sees? Won't have a car so will be mostly in the centre and walking distance. Probably the only getaway we'll get this summer so want to make it special. Anyone any advice? Thanks!

The York Chocolate Story tour and the Hole in Wand mini golf are good. There's a Harry Potter shop on the Shambles that has every bit of merchandise you can think of if they're into that.

The Shambles!

The shambles - the little ghost shop is adorable! And the chocolate shop on the shambles does liquid chocolate shots that are incredible.

The Christmas shop (Käthe Wohlfahrt) is amazing too. The Minster is always worth a visit! Or just a walk around the old walls 😊

9 & 10 is ideal age for Railway Museum.

We all love the Railway Museum, free entry and you can sit in quite a few of the trains

Railway museum; yorvik, chocolate experience and York dungeon (or an evening ghost tour!)

and a stop at Betty’s tea room!

The castle museum, railway museum, boat trip, walk the walls, the shambles.
Rowntree park.
York museum Gardens.
Open top bus.

Mine weren't so keen on the Jorvik.

Buy your own ghost
https://www.yorkghostmerchants.com/

We loved Mad Alice’s ghost tour, which your DC would be a great age for.
We also walked the walls all
yhe way around the city - I think we picked up a leaflet that pointed out all the bits to look out for.

Railway museum and castle museum are both amazing.

Kids really enjoyed the novelty of the wall walk (open on one side so felt very daring!) and dig.

Jorvik is traditional I guess but I preferred the two museums.

Railway Museum! One of our favourite museums we’ve ever been to

Cliffords Tower is worth it for the view (if it’s nice weather and clear)

The Jorvik Centre has some fun bits, book in advance as the queues can be hideous. I do think it’s overpriced for what it is personally, but I understand I’m older than the target market!

You can hire a boat and have a cruise down the river which can be lovely on a sunny day.

Roberto Gelato serves the best ice cream in my opinion and does great cannolis. Spark often has good street food options. At York Cocoa works you can make your own chocolate bar which they might enjoy.

If they like medieval history, a walk around the city walls is free and gives great views of the city. A real hidden gem is Barley Hall, a medieval house that's restored to how it would have looked in the 15th century and open to the public. It's in Coffee Yard, just off Stonegate.

Do check the entry prices (including the Minster) to avoid a shock to your wallet. Railway Museum is free and awesome.

Mine enjoyed DIG at that age.

The ghost shop on the Shambles is lovely BUT as it is tiny only a handful of people are allowed in at any given time. Unless you are lucky there will be a slow moving queue outside, which they will stop people joining about an hour before closing.

Museum Gardens next to the Yorkshire Museum is lovely for a picnic.

The full moo ice cream boat on the river is worth a stop, so is Dyls which is on the river and has outdoor seating for lunch etc

if they like Harry Potter sort of stuff, there’s the potion shop, and the wizard golf in the centre

the minster is £££ if you’re not a resident (think it was £16 when I last took people!) castle museum and I think the railway museum is about to or has launched its new wonderlab exhibition

avoid the shambles unless you go early as it’s a bloody nightmare

Railway museum - believe they have opened the new wonderlab section - you may need to book? But if not great museum, if they still have do the VR experience - mine loved that.
We took a bus to the Yorkshire Air museum, buses aren't that frequent but mine enjoyed it and the volunteers there were brilliant.

York Chocolate Museum - check if they are doing any workshops, we came out with the most enormous amount of chocolate creations and was great value.
Jorvik museum for the price was really disappointing but if you have Blue Peter badges take as they get in free - I forgot ours. Was really looking forward to and it was very brief - again book if you can.
The walls walk was lovely and if they like cats head to the tourist information and you can do the cat trail - gave them a purpose when walking around.

Shambles was super busy but we were intrigued by the ghost shop and the queue! The little market had a few interesting bits.

They do great cake at the Barley Hall to!

Railway Museum
river cruise
hole in wand (do pre book)
picnic in Museum gardens
Walk along the city walls, amazing view of the minister and city.
We enjoy Rise for brunch and coffee and cake at Wheldrakes.
We always call in Bettys shop and get fat rascals to take home.

The Perky Peacock

Castle museum definitely and some of the lovely cafes on fossgate.

Ghost shop has opened a second venue you can book into, actually not sure if it’s open yet.
otherwise queue for the shop is about 3 hours!

The Railway Museum is opening a Wonder Lab in July - the one in the Science Museum in London is fantastic.

We visited the Potions Cauldron on the Shambles which was a fun half hour activity. The Hole in Wand mini golf (run by the same company) looks great too.

"Ask" Italian restaurant was a big hit, it's in a gorgeous old municipal building. There's also a dessert cafe called Heavenly Desserts around the corner which was helpful for us as the Betty's queue was too long.

Oh we also saw some ghost tours which looked fun but we already had activities planned.

For Harry Potter fans, there's a shop on the Shambles.

Just a word of warning if you do the Jorvik museum. They pipe in ‘authentic smells’. The authentic smell of chicken poo gave me a migraine.

Walking the walls is good fun and is nice to have a wander around The Shambles and by the river.

The Luxury Ice Cream company on back swinegate does the best Ice cream.
Don't forget the Minster!

Defy York Ghost Merchants - be prepared to queue tho!