The first thing I noticed about York was that it appeared to have disappeared before we got there.


???


Driving up the A1, the cities of Leeds and Sheffield were signposted from 100 miles out, but for York there were no signs until we were almost upon it. Mysterious theories about localised black holes and UFO activity dominated our conversation until we actually saw a sign for it – a meagre 10 miles out.

Once nearby, the roads are decently signposted, although I would suggest getting a local A-Z – it can be very confusing around there even with one, and without, it’s just impossible. There’s surprisingly little traffic around, which is quite nice – especially when you’re not quite sure if you’re going the wrong way down a one-way street!

Being a university city, York is inhabited by many students – this is a bad thing. However, many of the students are of the more mature kind, thus making it a not so bad thing. The influence of the young thugs (students under 25) can still be clearly seen though, as it is not unusual for pubs to have bouncers outside during the daytime. I have never seen this phenomena anywhere else in the world! (So far… not even in Eastbourne or Miami!)

The Cathedral is all very nice and that, impressive architecture and (to me) an aura of fake piety inside (apologies if that offends you but that’s the impression I got)– you’ll know if it’s your sort of thing or not. The railway station, designed by the legendary Victorian Engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel is certainly impressive, but you’d have to be a real enthusiast to spend more than half an hour studying it.

By far the best thing about going to York was the open-top bus tour. This takes approximately an hour, and once you’ve bought your ticket, you can get off at any of the stopping points and re-embark later, if there’s something you wish to explore for yourself. The commentary is interesting and very informative, and was delivered with a dry sense of humour (though I suppose it depends who happens to be your tour guide). It’s about the only thing in York that I would recommend to anybody – well, anybody who has the slightest interest in history. (There is apparently an impressive Roman site not far away, which I didn’t get to see – you’ll find more information about this on the York website, listed below.)

The focal point of the city itself is the old meat market (“shambles”), which, like much of the city, doesn’t appear to have changed much with the passing of the years. This gives it a certain charm. There are all the normal shops etc that you would expect in a city, with some nice book stores being the only real feature of note. There are some decent restaurants around the main city square and lots of pubs, and a fantastic Tandori Restaurant just down the road from the York East Travel Lodge we stayed at – almost worth the visit on its own. Entertainment-wise, there’s a reasonably nice cinema, a few clubs, and… well, that’s it really. It’s not exactly a big place

All in all, York’s not a bad little place – it’s really much like any other city; there’s nothing really spectacular about it, but you could probably quite happily spend a day there, particularly if you a visiting a friend.

Useful Links

Official Website:
http://www.york-tourism.co.uk/

University Website:
http://www.york.ac.uk/

York Minster Online:
http://www.yorkminster.org/

York Train Station:
http://www.yorklinks.net/VirtYork/yrktrain.htm

Isambard Kingdom Brunel:
http://www.britainexpress.com/History/bio/brunel.htm

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This was an entry to SpiderKid’s The First Great British Write Off.


CaptainD’s Travel Writing

AUSTRIA

Kitzbühel
Salzburg

ENGLAND

London
Birmingham

FRANCE

Paris
Eiffel Tower

USA

Universal Studios Theme Park (Florida)
Florida
The Grand Canyon


Recommended: No

Best Suited For: Students
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime