(AD: Visit York kindly gifted us free entry to the attractions, but as always, my opinions are wholly my own and not influenced in anyway)
When I was thinking of where to go for February half term, York ticked every box - a 2 hour drive, lots of museums in case of bad weather, beautiful scenery and full of history.
We spent 3 days in this fantastic city and I can honestly say we enjoyed every minute of it and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this as a short break.
I’ve written this guide, sharing everything about our break including, where to go, where to eat and where to stay, as well as hints, tips and free activities!! So consider this your one stop guide to planning a family break to York! I really hope you find it useful!
Where we stayed
If you’re a family of 5 you’ll no doubt share my annoyance of having to pay for 2 hotel rooms! With that option out, our usual default of an Air BnB didn’t come up trumps, everything good was fully booked as we’d left it fairly late to book. So instead, we decided to try the York YHA which actually turned out to be a great decision. We took a private room with an ensuite which had 3 sets of bunk beds in (the kids were thrilled to sleep on the top bunks!). Downstairs in the communal area there was a self catering kitchen as well as a bar, seating area and cafe, where you could purchase meals if you didn’t want to cook yourself. In the evening, the kids made friends with other children staying there and loved playing board games and pool in the games room. Located next to the River Ouse it’s about a 30 minute walk from the city centre which you can do by walking along the river, unfortunately when we were there the river had its worst flooding in years so you couldn’t even see the path!
Where we parked
As with all UK cities, parking can be expensive. The best car park I found was the York Railway Station Long Stay car park about a 10 minute walk into the centre. On weekends it was £5 all day and if you enter after 9.30am on weekdays it’s a flat rate of £7.50. Other reasonable car parks (although more expensive) are Marygate Car Park and Foss Bank Car Park. If you prefer location over cost then check out the very central Q-Park Shambles.
Alternatively if you don’t mind a walk then the Railway Museum has a car park off Leeman road for a flat fee of £10 all day.
There is also York Park and Ride for out of town parking.
Cafes & Restaurants we visited
We seemed to be stopping for coffees every 5 minutes so we covered quite a few! The Perky Peacock, set in a medieval tower was our favourite for it’s uniqueness, we sat in the ‘dungeon’ and had to drink up quickly as the river was about to flood it!
We really enjoyed Drift-In and 200 Degrees Coffee Shop which both had nice interiors. If you’re partial to a scone then I highly recommend quaint little Palormade just off The Shambles.
For more grown up options, Brew and Brownie seemed to be the where the cool kids go as there was a constant queue outside! And Partisan is beautifully rustic and serves some interesting dishes.
For food we liked the food stalls at Shambles Market where there was a good choice from middle eastern, pancakes, fry ups and pizza. Similarly SPARK (open Tues - Sunday) is a community space with the best selection of independent food traders in York. I do love a food court! I just think it’s easier because everyone can have what they want!
At the kids request we also ate at Pizza Express one night. They have two restaurants in the city and the River House one where we went is the best as it’s set in a lovely old Victorian gentleman’s club next to the river.
Which Attractions we visited
When looking at attractions it’s worth thinking about combined tickets. The tourist board offers the York Pass which can be bought in multiples of days and for a one off cost gives free entry into many attractions plus pizza or pasta at ASK Italian. Jorvic, Barley Hall & DIG do their triple ticket which gets you in to all 3 attractions. You just need to sit down and work out what you want to visit and work out the best value for you. We covered a lot of attractions and I hope this gives you a good idea of what would appeal to your families.
JORVIK Viking Centre
If there’s one thing York is associated for it’s the Vikings. Between 1976-81 archaeologists from York Archaeological Trust excavated part of the Viking city of Jorvik, allowing them a unique insight into their way of life, today’s museum is built upon that very site.
The tour begins with a talk by a member of staff standing on a large glass floor, underneath which, is a part of the excavation site. We arrived bang on our time slot so by the time we got past the admissions desk we’d missed a few minutes of the talk so it’s worth arriving earlier than your ticketed time. Next you’re taken on a ride of little cars which wouldn’t look out of place at Alton Towers, minus their speed! It slowly takes you around the reconstructed Jorvik village showing you the Vikings homes and way of living. The animatronics are amazing, my youngest kept waving and shouting hello to them and even I felt rude shoving a camera into their faces! It’s accompanied by an audio commentary (adult and child versions) so you can understand everything you’re seeing. They even pump out Viking smells which made the kids laugh and their highlight naturally had to be a pooing Viking!
After about 20 minutes on the ride you are then free to look around the small museum displaying artifacts found during the excavation, including a couple of skeletons! All in all, it’s a very different experience to the usual museums and a fun way for kids (and us) to learn about the Vikings.
DIG
DIG is a small museum where the kids can have a go at being archiologists! It begins with a 25 minute talk from one of the resident archaeologists talking about what archaeology is and showing some artifacts from different time periods which have been found in York, once again poo features in it much to the all the kids approval!
After that you’re taken into the digging area where all sorts of things are buried under the mess free gravel (skeletons, pottery, coins etc) There is a Victorian, Medieval, Viking and Roman pit and the children are given little trowles to get digging with which they absolutely loved. The objects are stuck to the floor so you can’t physically pick them up, but that didn’t matter to them. We went at 3pm and luckily had a small group with only 1 other family so if you can I would book a time slot later in the day to hopefully get a quieter group. All in all we were there for just over an hour.
At the end there’s a small museum to look around filled mainly with artifacts from Eboracum, as York was called in the Roman period.
Barley Hall
Barley Hall is a beautifully reconstructed timber framed medieval house, set up as it would have looked for its owner, the wealthy Snawsell family in 1483. Jovic, DIG & Barley Hall offer a combined triple ticket so although it wasn’t as kid friendly as the other two we thought we’d still have a quick look round Barley Hall.
It’s been meticulously restored and you can wander around all the different rooms at will and the kids were allowed to touch the things on show so we didn’t feel like we had to constantly tell them to stop!
At the moment there’s a Magic & Mystery exhibition which explores the medieval people’s beliefs between science and magic and there’s some nice hands on bits the kids can enjoy.
All in all, it’s another good hands on history lesson for the kids.
National Railway Museum
Probably York’s most famous museum and completely free (donations welcome) this is one you’ll happily tick off your list. I must admit I do love a train, (I harbor a secret desire for a model railway in my loft) so I think I was more excited than the kids to visit! There are two large halls full to the brim of trains and railway memorabilia to explore.
Station Hall, which was a working railway building up until the 1960s, houses the Royal Carriages of the past (if only Avanti West Coast could look like this!), Stephenson’s Rocket as well as many working vehicles and trains. Don’t miss the two large railway station paintings on the walls, I loved these . We came here directly from Chester with a pack lunch and found a nice area with picnic benches here to eat.
Outside, there’s a small play area with a lovely little miniature train the kids can ride on for £3 per passenger.
Inside The Great Hall there are all manner of different trains, from the famous speed breaking Mallard to part of the Eurostar and a cross section of the channel tunnel.
Our favourite things were going inside a Japanese bullet train carriage, walking underneath a locomotive and the under 5’s play area. You can also pay to go on a simulator ride of The Mallard (£3 pp), but book beforehand as it was fully booked on our visit.
I would recommend doing Station Hall first, followed by Great Hall as the kids preferred the latter as it was more interactive.
There are 2 cafes in each of the halls which serve hot and cold food and provide a welcome sit down
At certain times you can catch a road train which runs to and from the museum and York Minster, check times and prices here.
York Minster
To be honest, I sensed a little reluctance from the kids when I suggested a look around York Minster. However, even they couldn’t fail to be awestruck by the grandeur of this Medieval cathedral. It’s absolutely beautiful and mind blowing to think something of this magnitude could be built in such primitive times, I considered it a lesson in architecture for the kids - 250 years it took to build this masterpiece!
As you go in, pick up the Little Explorer Backpacks from the admissions desk which are aimed at primary aged children. These fantastic little bags contain a few fun things like a treasure hunt trail around the minster, pencils and a magnifying glass. We thought it was a really nice way of getting little ones interested in what they’re seeing, meaning you can all enjoy the experience!
The stained glass windows are beautiful (especially if you pick a sunny day), some date as far back as the 12th century. We also loved the octagonal Chapter House room, they certainly don’t build them like that anymore!
The best bit, which we almost missed as they don’t seem to market this well, was the Undercroft Museum which takes you below the cathedral to see the history of the site over the last 2000 years, from the foundations of the Roman barracks to the foundations of the Norman cathedral the present day structure is all built upon. There are some fantastic display pieces and bits for children to learn and play with.
If your kids are aged 8 and over and you’ve a head for heights then you can climb to the top of the cathedral’s central tower. It’s a mere 275 steps to the top up a narrow spiralling staircase, you’ve been warned! Unfortunately, due to high winds we couldn’t do it but I think this would be a brilliant add on.
Van Gogh - The Immersive Experience
Set inside a church, the immersive experience cleverly brings to life Van Gogh’s paintings through projections onto the walls, ceilings and floors, accompanied by music. The film runs on about a 30 minute loop so you can just leave whenever you like and people drift in and out during the show.
Sitting on deckchairs with their blankets draped over us, it was the most relaxing thing we did, so I’d recommend you plan this for later in the day when you could do with a sit down and a break from the kids!
The show doesn’t teach you about Van Gogh, so I’d recommend a quick overview for the kids at home before you go to make the most of it. We didn’t however, but the kids were still mesmerized by it.
After the film there’s a lovely drawing area for the kids where they can produce their masterpiece and scan it so that it appears on the digital screen above them.
The VR experience next to this is an add on at £3 a head for about 10 minutes. It’s a shame it’s extra but I really would recommend you do this as it was one of the kids favourite things to do in York. You travel through 8 of Van Gogh’s famous works and see his inspiration for them.
Finally the information boards at the end show a timeline of events from Van Gogh’s life.
York’s Chocolate Story
Prior to our visit I had no idea about the connections with York and chocolate. Back in the day, York was quite the chocolate powerhouse with both Rowntrees and Terrys originating here. In fact the more I saw of York over our few days there I began to wonder if the city was sponsored by Rowntrees! It’s name is everywhere! Anyway, this interactive tour tells the story of both the origins and making of chocolate and it’s history within York.
The group tour lasts about an hour and is made up of a number of parts. To begin with, the tour guide gives an introduction and hands out a sample bag containing chocolate goodies which relate to things you’ll learn about on the tour. Following that we went into several different rooms learning about the origins of chocolate from Mesoamérica, the history of chocolate in York (which cleverley has some talking confectioners interacting with each other) and an exhibit on how chocolate is made which the kids can get involved with. It’s all presented in a very clever and engaging way and our tour guide was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. At the end we all got to make chocolate lollies which we enjoyed and they tasted AMAZING!! A chef also did a demonstration making chocolate truffles which I was first in the queue for sampling when he’d finished them!
After all that we came out feeling like quite the chocolate connoisseur! There’s also a good shop to visit as you leave which has all manner of flavours of chocolate. I’d say the tour is best suited for children that are able to sit and listen through the presentations, so probably 7+ although it’s still fun for younger children particularly making the lollies.
York Castle Museum
This was definitely one of our favourite attractions we visited in York, in fact there’s so much to see I don’t know where to start! The Museum is split into two parts on opposite sides of the admissions desk. The first section looks back through social history and has everything from historical outfits, homes through the ages and vintage toys, although I was a little disconcerted to see toys from my own childhood in there!! The absolute highlight though is the beautifully reconstructed victorian street complete with authentic shop fronts, school, prison, slums, police station and all manner of artifacts, it really does feel like you are stepping back in time. The kids in particular loved exploring all the nooks and crannies of the street, it was their favourite thing we did all holiday.
Next there is a large World War 1 exhibit with a couple of fun bits for children (mock train carriage and a trench to crawl through) balanced with more serious displays about the atrocity. Very poignant in today’s troubled world.
On the other side of the museum and in a similar vein to the Victorian village, there’s also a smaller 60’s street, which if you’re taking grandparents with you will be a blast from the past for them. The last bit is the old prison, it’s very dark and you can go inside the actual cells and learn who was imprisoned there and why, it’s quite eerie! On some you can close the door, be in pitch black and they project a film of the prisoner onto the wall of the cell - perhaps not one for sensitive children!
Golden Tours York
There are two tourist bus operators, City Sightseeing York and Golden Tours York which we did but I think the routes are pretty much the same offering.
As you can tell from reading the above we packed a lot in! So when we were all ready for a sit down between all our museum and cafe visits this was a perfect solution.
The buses are all double deckers and the top deck is part covered and part open, to cater for the great British weather! I always feel a pang of disappointment when I can’t sit on the front seats of a double decker bus (big kid!) so I was very pleased to find those seats empty and despite the cold weather it was really warm in that section.
Many of the streets are pedestrianised in York so this loops around the perimeter of those areas. We had a mix of both recorded and live commentary which was excellent and it was nice just to sit and listen to the history of York whilst watching the city pass by.
Castle Howard
Anyone else love the 1980’s Brideshead Revisited TV show? I’m not old enough to have seen it the first time around (honest) but I’ve watched and loved it as an adult many times. It was filmed at Castle Howard, about half an hour outside of York so when I realised its proximity and heard that it had an amazing playground, well, we just had to go!
This stunning stately home is home to generations of the Howard family and was built between 1701 & 1801 (that’s a long time to have the builders in!). The drive up to the grounds is amazing and you’ll feel like you’re in a Jane Austen novel!
During our visit the house was closed for Winter (it’ll reopen in Spring) but there was lots to explore in the 600 acres of parkland which range from woodland, landscaped gardens, lakes and fountains. Of course we spent most of our time in the kids 2 play areas - Skelf Island and Adventure Playground which were fantastic.
Separated by a small inlet of The Great Lake, the two play areas are joined by an amazing rope bridge which is just brilliant, even the adults had big smiles on their faces crossing the bridge. But don’t worry if heights aren’t your thing, you can also access it via a little walkway.
Skelf Island is where the fictional Skelves have built their secret world! If you’ve been to BeWILDerwood it’s like a mini version of that with interconnecting high walkways, bridges, nets and slides.
On the other side of the bridge, the Adventure Playground has more of your usual play equipment with climbing frames, swings and slides.
Next door is the Boat House Cafe which has a large outdoor seating area on the lake, with limited seating inside, it was a bit too cold for us to sit outside, but in the summer I can imagine this would be beautiful. There is another cafe at the entrance as well as a take away shop for cakes and drinks.
We really enjoyed our time here and after a lot of museums it was the perfect add on to give the children a good run around before our return home.
Free things to do in York
If you’re on a budget then there are still lots of things you can do without spending any money. The first and most obvious is of course a walk around York’s famous walls. At 2 miles long (open from 8am) they are a great way to see this beautiful city, Friends of York Walls have this handy guide here. One word of warning, large parts of the walls are open on one side so you will need to watch young children so they don’t fall off!
York Museum Gardens, not far from York Minster have 10 acres of beautiful gardens to explore, containing many historical buildings, the main one being the ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey.
For older children York Art Gallery might be a fun option (open Wednesday - Sunday) with art dating back centuries to the more contemporary.
If you’re looking a for place for the kids to stretch their legs, then Rowntree Park is lovely to walk around and has a playground, lake and picnic areas.
This review wouldn’t be complete of course without a mention of the famous Shambles, a very quaint little street, with lots of tiny shops (and tourists!). It’s rumoured to be the inspiration for Harry Potter’s Diagon Alley so you’ll find an array of Harry Potter merchandise. If the kids are fans, check out The Shop That Must Not Be Named but expect a queue to get in! Speaking of queues, the other shop where you can expect one is The York Ghost Merchants which sells hand crafted, uniquely painted model ghosts, it’s a really fun shop and like stepping back in time. If you want to visit these two, go early to beat the crowds!
And that concludes everything I have to say on York! Well done if you’ve read right to the end! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it! Do let me know if you visit or have any other suggestions x