York Attractions

Book a hotel in York, the home of Gunpowder plotter Guy Fawkes, famed as the Royalists’ heartland during the English Civil War and for the double-fingered Kit Kat manufactured here for many years.

Historic York

From your York hotel, head to the outskirts to Castle Howard, which was used during the filming of Brideshead Revisited. It’s still owned by the Howard family, whose ancestors include two of Henry VIII’s wives – Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard. Did you know that two Roman emperors, Septimus Severus and Constantius Chlorus, died in York? You can discover interesting facts like these on city walking tours.

Art and museums in York

You can walk along a re-created Victorian street at the York Castle Museum. There are more than 100 historic locos at the National Railway Museum, the world’s largest train museum. At the Yorkshire Air Museum and the Allied Forces Memorial you can get close to thermonuclear devices.

Quirky things to do in York

The Jorvik Viking Centre takes visitors back to 975 when York was in Viking hands. Here you can learn how Norsemen lived, the language they left behind and see – wait for the ugh – a mineralised Viking stool containing whipworm eggs.

Events in York

The February Jorvik Viking Festival has hundreds of “Vikings” acting out mass battles, reading poetry and demonstrating Norse crafts. In September the Festival of Food and Drink, the largest in the UK, features cooking classes, chef demos, food tastings and beer tents.

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