My husband''s work is sending us to York for about eight weeks, and while I''m really excited, I''m also panicking because we''ve literally been given two weeks notice about this. Any advice, pointers, must sees, etc for visiting York from just south of Atlanta, GA, USA?
I''ve not posted in a long while but have just returned to PS, and had to reply to your thread.
I lived in York for 7 years and only moved a short distance away 12 months to be closer to my FF''s work. I still work in the city and it''s a great place to visit, you''re going to have a great time.
Here''s some background (apologies if you already know all this!):
York''s a very old Roman city in the county of North Yorkshire. It has viking roots and we regularly have long boat races on the rivers (they run right through the city) and there''s even a museum which boasts authentic viking smells!
Most people new to York navigate by the churches, there''s one on just about every corner. The most magnificent is York Minster which is a very special cathedral. Only a few cathedrals are also minsters, it has to do with it having monastic origins. The Archbishop of York is the second most important archbishop in the Church of England after the Archbishop of Canterbury, he''s also quite a character!
The city centre is mostly pedestrianised but it''s so small that you can easily walk around. It''s difficult (and expensive) to park in the city but the bus service is pretty good. There are taxis around but none you can hail, and they are also pretty expensive.
If you are around over Christmas that''s one of the best times to see York. The university students will have gone home and there''s lots going on. There are usually German street markets selling mulled wines, hot german foods and sweets. There''s often a small outdoor ice rink next to the castle and there are lots of services on at the minster, which is fab to visit even if you''re not religious. Another good thing to do is take a ghost walk at night. They''re guided tours around some of the infamous spots of the city and the guys that run them are great.
The other great thing about York is the pubs. As any local will tell you, there''s one in the city for every day of the year (not sure it''s strictly true!). York has it''s own small scale local brewery and you can get their beer in many pubs in the city, you can even go to the brewery for a tour.
The other thing you may want to do it get out of York and visit other places. There are great train links as it''s on the East Coast Main Line which runs north to south and the Trans Pennine line running east to west. You can be in London in 2 hours or up in Edinburgh in 2.5 hours. You can also go cross country to Leeds (20 mins), Manchester (1.5 hours) or Liverpool (2.5 hours). If you have access to a car you''re a short drive from some absolutely stunning countryside.
I hope that''s helped a bit, if you want to know anything else let me know.
Jorvik Viking centre- awesome, my American Aunt loves it. When American''s see it they are blown away, it is crazy old.
Outside of York is an outlet mall, Macarthur Glenn, which is good, especially for discount UK brands you can''t get over in the USA.
Do you like walking? There are loads of nice places to go walking in the Yorkshire Moors/ Dales (Bronte country).
Go to Whitby- Old fashioned sea side village, which has the BEST EVER EVER fish and chips at a place called the Magpie. Its no bookings and people queue for ages for a table. While you are there. It is also where Dracula was written, so there is all sort of stuff there that is cool.
City wise, go visit Leeds, look at the Victoria Quarter which is a Victorian shopping centre, that has Harvey Nicks. There are chain stores everywhere such as Marks and Spencer (nice bras, my sister lives in NYC and always gets her underwear when she comes over), Primark is this uber cheap shop, that is like a cat fight, but you get alright copies of high fashion in the stores really quick (just don''t expect the clothes to last forever!)
Go visit Manchester. Good shops to look at are Harvey Nichols and Selfridges.
Go to Liverpool- Beatles museum, Tate Liverpool art gallery. Big new shopping centre.
London- trains are about 2 and a half hours from York to London. You must must must go. All the usual stuff.
Oh and a warning, you will find it all quite expensive!
Also, I would visit Bath. Bath is one of my fav places in the world. It has a new (inexpensive) world class Spa. It also has an old Roman Bath. Its a beautiful city. If you like Jane Austen, ''Persuasion'' was set in Bath. The architecture is beautiful, there are plenty of lovely places to eat, etc etc. You can get really great deals on hotels at lastminute.com I stayed at the Royal Crescent last time I was there, and it was stunning. It is usually crazy expensive, but my Mom and I got a great deal on it at lastminute.
Thank you all so much!! I know it''s not all that hard to find information on google or trip advisor or whatever, but I just love getting a firsthand account from people more familiar with the area, ya know? I''m so excited!
We were planning on taking a few side trips while we''re there (my husband still has over a week of vacation time he has to use before the end of the year, so we may even venture into Paris). London is positively on the itinerary--I actually told DH I''d divorce him if we didn''t get over there, hehe--and I know we''ll be going to Manchester because DH is a huge New Order/Joy Division/ Factory Records nut, so that''s a must for him.
SapphireLover, the execs from the UK originally wanted us to stay in Harrogate because they thought it''d be easier to get accommodations over the holidays, but DH''s employers wanted him in York so it''d be cheaper on travel to work each day. I have heard from a number of people that Betty''s is really great, so we just might venture that way, too.
Again, thanks for all the information--I really appreciate it!
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