York City June 2022

We stayed in Hopgrove Farm Cottages which is a group of converted barns that sleeps 21 in total across the separate properties and only 2 miles from York City centre.

It has 2 eight seater hot tubs, a fabulous sauna, a small games room with pool table, air hockey, darts, DVD's and other children's games. All on a shared basis.

It has a lovely communal seating area with a purpose built double BBQ plus a laundry room.

York as you can imagine, is a large town with lots of shopping. It has the famous Betty's Tea Room plus The Shambles, which is a quirky little area with independent shops and along with the river, Cathedral and of course the history, there's a lot to discover.

There is certainly an abundance of tea rooms and other places to eat. I can highly recommend The Pavement Vaults Restaurant in the town, good quality Fish Taco's, burgers and just all round great ingredients.

We followed the City Wall walk, which is just under 2 miles, with view points along the way, this took us about 2.5 hours and is an interesting look at York's history. You can have guided tours of the City Walls if you wish or just walk it at your leisure.

York Minster Cathedral is stunning. You can walk to the top to get great views of the city or enter to view the inside for a price. You can light candles inside and get a guide to tell you more. But just from the outside it is a magnificent building and you can see it from just about anywhere in York centre.

There is also a Hop on hop off bus that tours the city and a great way to get your bearings.

You can hire self drive boats on the River Ouse or take a narrated sightseeing cruise, it cost us £12.50 an adult and was a pleasant way to spend an hour.

We visited Whitby which is an hour drive from York. Its a typical seaside town, amusements, ice creams, small sandy beaches and shops. We ate at Trenchers for fish and chips and it didn't disappoint.

York Moors has a steam train which has a couple routes, one of which takes you to Whitby and there is a also a Pullman Dining carriage which you need to book in advance.

We followed the Moors Experience which took us from Pickering to Grosmont through the Yorkshire Moors. You can get off at Goathland, which is famous for being the Hogwarts station in the first Harry Potter film, then walk the 3.5 miles to Grosmont to catch the return train to Pickering, its a great scenic walk and I would highly recommend doing this. The train is a Hop on hop off service at 3 different places but most people do the above.

The steam train is amazing, they let you in the engine room where the coal is burning and sit in the drivers seat, its a great experience, not something you see or do very often. This cost approx £31 each for the Moors Experience.

There is a lot you can do in the Moors, our holiday was more about the surrounding towns (only because I had a bad knee at the time) but if you want to go hiking, cycling, walking, mountain biking, then you can hire bikes from various places and be as adventurous as you wish.

It wouldn't be right to visit York without doing a Ghost walk, we saw a few advertised and we opted for the one at 8pm down by the River outside the Kings Arms which runs every single night, no need to pre-book.

We are so pleased we did as the guide was amazing, he is known as Ghostman Pat (Pat is his name). He took us to a few of the most haunted places and his manner was befitting of a ghost tour. Well worth the £7.50.

My favourite town that we visited was Knaresborough (approx 45 min drive from York), they have the most amazing picturesque viaduct, 80ft high above the River Nidd. We hired a row boat for £10 per adult for an hour and rowed underneath the bridge and with that backdrop it is awesome.

The town is quaint and you can walk up to the castle to get even better views of the Viaduct. The outside castle grounds are free to enter but if you want to visit the dungeons, etc the price is just £3.50 each.

There are cycling and walking trails there so there is enough to keep you busy for a day.

Wetherby (approx 30 min drive from York) was another quaint town to walk around, with the river, the Weir and the bandstand too.

There is a lot to discover around York and a week is certainly not too long. The Yorkshire Moors is an adventurous area and hopefully the above will give you some hints and tips.

I can give you prices on the accommodation so please contact me for more info.