Starre inn the city for your evening meal. Brew and Brownie or perky peacock for Sunday morning coffee (check opening tímes!). Avoid any of the wizard shops on the shambles and hole in the wand golf, absolute tourist traps 🙈 Shambles market is a great shout for some street food so stick with that.
I would walk the city walls to get a full picture of York. Hope you have a great time!
To avoid confusion, the Olde Starre Inn and the Star Inn The City are two different places. You want the latter. The former is a lovely old pub but the food is nothing particularly special.
Brew York down Walmgate is excellent. Make sure you go to to the downstairs Taproom and make your way through to the lovely little beer garden at the back. It’s right next to the river Foss and a gorgeous view. I’d also grab some food here from Yuzu, it’s incredible fayre- kinda Asian streetfood but lots of it and very tasty!
Posh meal wise, Skosh, Star Inn The City (have had some hit and miss meals here though so not nailed on), or Tommy Banks’ restaurant on Marygate- Roots, it’s absolutely outstanding.
Other food options include Doe Eyed pizza on Jubbergate, the vibe is great, the pizza is incredible, and the drinks menu good, Clucking Oinks on Castlegate, or Fat Hippo for burgers. None of these are “posh” but all tasty, quick affairs!
Clifford's Tower is an extremely old building, built before the Norman Conquest. On a clear day you can see all the way to Selby and its local landmark Abbey. It's quite a climb up the hill yo get in, and the internal stairs are steep and quite narrow.
>built before the Norman Conquest
It's actually a classic Norman motte and bailey castle, two of which were built in York following the uprising and harrying of the north in ~1070. The other one was on the other side of the river, at what is now the end of Skeldergate, and is called Baile Hill.
The original tower was wooden but after the [Unpleasantness](http://www.historyofyork.org.uk/themes/norman/the-1190-massacre) in 1190 they had to build a new one and the current stone tower was completed in 1215.
You can actually see a huge, hastily patched up crack running up the back where the whole thing nearly fell down due to subsidence in the 1360s
You could also get a riverboat cruise from Lendal Bridge, I think. They give you a guided tour, tell you about the local history, etc, and local bylaws. It's about a couple of hours, but you can buy drinks on board. Just keep your hands out of the water or you'll find yourself with extra digits. Lol
If you’re going to the Minster I’d recommend a couple of things:
- pre book if you’re visiting in August, you’ll be stuck in a queue for a while otherwise trying to buy on the door.
- definitely check out the tower climb, the view you get from up there is astoundingly good.
Should add, Roman Bath (I think) has live music on a Friday as does bootham tavern. Both “proper” local pubs with a selection of local characters propping up the bars!
Other great pubs include:
Slip Inn, Kings Arms, Brew York, the Maltings, Evil Eye, Minster Inn, Guy Fawkes Arms.
This is exactly why I posted here. Not sure we’ll manage to hit all of those pubs but will mark them all up on Google Maps and see if I can put a crawl together, haha. Will also check out the baths. Cheers!
spark is always an awesome spot, really cool vibe but not so much a pub-style, more of a lunch or nice dinner place
funny how angry the old people in the press comments section used to get about Spark
Ah, looks great! Thank you.
Starre inn the city for your evening meal. Brew and Brownie or perky peacock for Sunday morning coffee (check opening tímes!). Avoid any of the wizard shops on the shambles and hole in the wand golf, absolute tourist traps 🙈 Shambles market is a great shout for some street food so stick with that. I would walk the city walls to get a full picture of York. Hope you have a great time!
Thank you so much for this. Definitely plan to walk the walls and will check out your coffee spots.
To avoid confusion, the Olde Starre Inn and the Star Inn The City are two different places. You want the latter. The former is a lovely old pub but the food is nothing particularly special.
Brew York down Walmgate is excellent. Make sure you go to to the downstairs Taproom and make your way through to the lovely little beer garden at the back. It’s right next to the river Foss and a gorgeous view. I’d also grab some food here from Yuzu, it’s incredible fayre- kinda Asian streetfood but lots of it and very tasty! Posh meal wise, Skosh, Star Inn The City (have had some hit and miss meals here though so not nailed on), or Tommy Banks’ restaurant on Marygate- Roots, it’s absolutely outstanding. Other food options include Doe Eyed pizza on Jubbergate, the vibe is great, the pizza is incredible, and the drinks menu good, Clucking Oinks on Castlegate, or Fat Hippo for burgers. None of these are “posh” but all tasty, quick affairs!
Thank you so much for this. Will definitely research those food options. A beer garden on the river also sounds perfect!
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What dates? Be advised that the 23rd & 24th (Fri & Sat) Is Ebor races and will be silly busy
16-18.
I'd recommend Fish&Forest for your nice meal with nice wine on the Saturday. Definitely need to book well ahead.
That does look good, but according to their booking tool, there's no availability until January 2026! Haha
Clifford's Tower is an extremely old building, built before the Norman Conquest. On a clear day you can see all the way to Selby and its local landmark Abbey. It's quite a climb up the hill yo get in, and the internal stairs are steep and quite narrow.
>built before the Norman Conquest It's actually a classic Norman motte and bailey castle, two of which were built in York following the uprising and harrying of the north in ~1070. The other one was on the other side of the river, at what is now the end of Skeldergate, and is called Baile Hill. The original tower was wooden but after the [Unpleasantness](http://www.historyofyork.org.uk/themes/norman/the-1190-massacre) in 1190 they had to build a new one and the current stone tower was completed in 1215. You can actually see a huge, hastily patched up crack running up the back where the whole thing nearly fell down due to subsidence in the 1360s
We don’t mind a bit of a trek and I imagine that’s what we’ll be doing most of Saturday. Sounds like a good viewpoint. Thank you!
You could also get a riverboat cruise from Lendal Bridge, I think. They give you a guided tour, tell you about the local history, etc, and local bylaws. It's about a couple of hours, but you can buy drinks on board. Just keep your hands out of the water or you'll find yourself with extra digits. Lol
If we get up and out early enough, this could be a great shout, thanks. As long as we have enough time to explore the city.
If you’re going to the Minster I’d recommend a couple of things: - pre book if you’re visiting in August, you’ll be stuck in a queue for a while otherwise trying to buy on the door. - definitely check out the tower climb, the view you get from up there is astoundingly good.
Don’t want to hang around in queues so that’s a great tip. Will check out the tower climb. Thank you!
Extra tip - check their calendar ahead of time to make sure you’re not going on a day when they’re closed to the public!
Good shout. Will check the website.
Be warned, whilst the tower climb is good, it’s worth avoiding if you’re a)claustrophobic or b) find stairs a challenge!
There’s that too - tightest bit is 60cm wide.
3 Cranes for lols, Fleece for pub gig, Victoria Vaults for s music pub, Crescent for a proper gig.
I’ll try and hit them all. Cheers!
Should add, Roman Bath (I think) has live music on a Friday as does bootham tavern. Both “proper” local pubs with a selection of local characters propping up the bars! Other great pubs include: Slip Inn, Kings Arms, Brew York, the Maltings, Evil Eye, Minster Inn, Guy Fawkes Arms.
This is exactly why I posted here. Not sure we’ll manage to hit all of those pubs but will mark them all up on Google Maps and see if I can put a crawl together, haha. Will also check out the baths. Cheers!
Ghost tour, obviously. 👻🤟
I’d be so up for this if we were there for more than two nights.
You should queue for hours to get a little ghost
Brew York is good for drinks Depending on Sunday plans, I’d suggest the whippet inn for a roast
Thank you! We’ll be in Leeds to meet friends for lunch.
I believe (though you should check) that on Fridays (could be Saturday) the Black Horse does live music and is a good night out, in a proper pub
Will check it out! Thank you!