We were hoping we’d have a little better luck with the weather on our only full day in York, but it stubbornly remained gloomy & overcast the entire time we were there. Thankfully the rain had mostly cleared up though, as we had a lot we wanted to fit in and so we were up bright and early ready to make the most of the whole day.
First on our list was the York Dungeon, which was just a short walk from our hotel & the perfect way to wake us up on a sleepy Sunday morning. Sadly no photos are allowed, so I have nothing to show you, but it was a lot of fun & I’d definitely recommend it if you’re a fan of history or macabre tales. Like the guide on our ghost walk, the theatre actors here really get into the spirit of things, they’re over the top, funny & love to scare you! We were taken on a tour through various dimly lit sets of York’s gruesome past with tales of the plague, Guy Fawkes, medieval executions, haunted pubs & witchcraft. Of course this happened to be the day I was wearing my fedora, so guess who got accused of being a witch & burnt at the stake?! I think Ollie enjoyed shouting ‘Burn the witch!’ at me with the rest of the group a bit too much!
Afterwards we took a nice leisurely walk up to the cathedral, going in and out of all of the tiny cobbled side streets and along the main high street to really get a feel for the place. I loved that York is quite compact, it’s a large city but after walking around a couple of times you know exactly where you’re going, the cathedral was only about a 30 minute walk from our hotel and almost everything else was in between those points.
York Minster
York Minster is the largest medieval gothic cathedral in northern Europe, renowned for it’s grand scale and beautiful architecture the world over, it took 250 years to build from 1220 until it’s consecration in 1472. For me this was the one thing I didn’t want to miss whilst I was here, I am not religious in the slightest but I love gothic architecture and as with art, the examples created in the name of religion are often some of the most beautiful.
Stepping inside is breathtaking and it’s easy to see, even to a non-believer like me, why people often describe visiting places like this as a religious experience. The sheer scale and beauty of the place is completely awe inspiring and makes you feel incredibly small in comparison, it’s humbling. Every inch is decorated with beautiful carvings, artworks and statues, high vaulted ceilings dotted with gilt motifs, imposing pillars and gothic arches, and the largest collection of medieval stained glass in Britain. I spent a long time wandering around every corner, but I still couldn’t quite take it all in.
We couldn’t visit and not take a trip up to the top of the tower for the spectacular views across the city and beyond, even though it was 230 feet of 275 narrow, steep winding stairs to climb with our heavy cameras! I was pretty knackered by the time we got to the top, I really need to get fitter! As promised, the views were totally worth it though, and I think the gloomy skies made it all the more dramatic too.
Jorvik Viking Centre
Jorvik Viking Centre was one of those places we were told we had to visit whilst we were here. As with a lot of York’s attractions it’s really focused on discovering the history of the city, as soon as you start to walk down the staircase you’ll notice the markings on the wall indicating the levels in the soil from present day, past the Tudor, Medieval and Norman periods until finally at the bottom the Viking age, where thanks to a striking glass floor you’re able to almost walk amongst the remains of 1,000 year old Viking houses.
The main attraction here is of course the ride, though no photos are allowed. It’s a tour through the Viking village of Jorvik, your car takes you through the streets and the houses as realistic animatronic citizens speak in old Norse to you about their lives there. It reminded me a lot of a smaller version of the Spaceship Earth ride at Disney’s Epcot. Afterwards you get off in a new part of the building were you can see more artefacts including jewellery and clothing, recreations of homes and workshops, and the remains of the people who actually lived in this city, their bones telling the stories of how the lived, what they ate, and ultimately how they died.
Afterwards we had a long walk around the shops, making sure to walk along The Shambles with it’s buildings dating back to the 15th Century. We decided to just keep walking until somewhere took our fancy for dinner, instead of looking up where to eat, and we finally settled on the Lamb & Lion Inn. I can’t even describe to you how excited I was when I saw they had vegetarian fish & chips (beer battered halloumi) on the menu! So excited, that I barely managed to take an instagram photo before tucking in, and it was just as heavenly as I remembered. Ollie had an incredible looking steak and chips, and we both agreed it was the nicest food we’d eaten all weekend, I’d highly recommend it.
I feel like there’s still so much we didn’t get to see, and it’s somewhere I’d definitely like to go back to and visit again in the future for a slightly longer break. Big thanks again to Travelodge for having us & encouraging us to explore a little more of our own country!
