York is located in Yorkshire, which is about 1.5-2 hours from Chesterfield. We decided to take a train from Chesterfield to York, which was about 25 British pounds. York is a beautiful historic walled city in England. The Romans founded York in 71 AD and they built up walls around the city as a defense against invaders. You can walk along the walls to get a good view of the city. There are many pubs, restaurants and churches to see in York along with cute shops scattered about. Our favorite restaurant was Sutler’s Bar and Grill.
Shop the Shambles Market
York has a outdoor market in the middle of town that is open daily. While walking around you’ll get to see vendors selling everything from fresh fish to flowers. This is a great place to pick up a few souvenirs or possibly something that you actually need. The market is in somewhat of a plaza and is surrounded by older tudor buildings and stone streets. You really get the sense that you are in a unique place when you are here.
Visit the York Minister
The York Minister is the cathedral of York, and is one of the largest of its kind in England. It is 15 GBP to tour the church and the towers or 10 GBP to just tour the church. We thought this price was a little steep, but supposedly
It costs £20,000 a day to run York Minster
The cathedral is by far the biggest we have ever seen, so maybe it does really cost that much to run it on a daily basis.
Walk the Wall
The wall surrounds the majority of the city and has a few spots to jump on or get off. Walking the wall is a great way to see the town from a different perspective, and really gives you the feel of what the town used to be like. The wall still has archways over roads, crossed arrow holes, and other distinct features. From the wall you also get a really good view of the York Minister. We didn’t realize how big the cathedral really was until we made it half way around the wall.
Visit the National Railway Museum
This is one of the few free attractions we were made aware of during out entire trip. The museum has over 100 locomotives and nearly 300 other “rolling vehicles.” The Museum is very close to the York train stop, so if you are taking the train into York, you might as well make a quick stop into the museum and look around.
Grab a drink or some food or both!
There are some really nice places to grab a bite to eat and a pint to wash it all down in York. Here is a list of the places we really enjoyed while we spent a day in York.
Sutler’s Bar and Grill
T
his was definitely one of our favorite restaurants in York. The food and cocktails were fantastic. They had a sea food board that was absolutely amazing! The board was packed with tasty treats like smoked salmon and calamari. They also had a lot of beers that the American craft drinker would enjoy. In England, it’s not hard to find bars or pubs that serve English real Ale, but it is a little more challenging to find a bar that serves beer that more closely resembles the craft beer in the USA. Sutler’s is a bar that has a selection of beer that will satisfy any beer drinkers preferences. If their beer and food can’t entice you to visit, maybe their décor and customer service will. We know we will visit Sulter’s again next time we are in York.
Café Concerto
We stumbled on this small café for breakfast while walking around York. The restaurant is very quaint and cozy, with a typical storefront just down the road from the York Minister. The food was very tasty and the prices were reasonable. If you’re not too hungry, this is a nice place to stop in and have a cup of tea. We found that there were better places to eat in York, but this is the only place we saw that had a line to get in.
Lamb and Lion Inn
While walking along the walls of York, we noticed this bar down below us that had a great open patio area. We decided to stop in for some drinks and enjoy the scenery. The Lamb and Lion was a beautiful hotel with a restaurant and pub on the first floor. They had a great selection of drinks and food. We did not get to try the food but everyone’s meal looked delicious. Their décor was elegant in some areas and laid back in others. We would definitely come back to this place to try their food.
