Visiting this northern city holds rich rewards — and many of them are free.
It's not every day that you find a bar with a 2,000-year-old bathhouse in its cellar. When I wander into York's Roman Bath pub at street level, I encounter a standard urban boozer — salty snacks, continental lagers, sport on the TV — but when I venture down a set of steps, I reach another world. Ancient stone foundations, some of them bearing the footprints of hobnailed sandals and errant Roman chickens, mark out what was once a sauna for imperial centurions in need of a scrub-down.
The museum has copious other attractions to marvel at, too, model railways, signalling boxes and VR experiences among them. "And whatever you do," says the enthusiastic volunteer on the info desk, "don't miss Station Hall. It's just reopened after a huge refurb." The advice is sound. There I find former royal carriages as opulent as rolling palaces (King Edward VII's even has an on-board bathtub), a WH Smith forecourt bookstall from the 1920s and, improbably, the vast wreath that headed up Queen Victoria's funeral rail cortege. Here, as elsewhere in York, there's history everywhere you turn.
I'm staying at YHA York — once the private house of a branch of the local Rowntree chocolate family, of KitKat fame — and again, the location is a key part of the appeal. Almost from the hostel door, a riverside path along the Ouse takes you first past the National Railway Museum then leads directly to the centuries-old bridges and gatehouses of the centre. Being able to stroll from buffet breakfast to the city's historical core, passing little more than rowers and ducks en route, is a daily treat.
Exploring a destination as storied as York means that even an amble around the streets is an eye-opening experience. It's a world of half-timbered houses, swinging shop signs and jettied upper floors that lean out above the paving stones. Tourists and locals intermingle on its narrow laneways, following in the (decidedly varied) footsteps of York-born characters such as Guy Fawkes, WH Auden, Shed Seven and Dame Judi Dench.
The Shambles itself — once home to dozens of butchers and taking its name from "shamels", the stalls on which the meat was displayed — is one of the few true medieval wonders in the UK that doesn't cost money to explore. Outside some of the now-butcherless shopfronts, however, there are heavy queues, not all of which are easily explained. I ask someone at the back of a 30-strong line what he's queuing for. "Little ghost statuettes," comes the reply.
These spectral souvenirs might not be free, but I encounter plenty in York that's either gratis or low-cost. And most of all, time spent in what is one of the UK's most picturesque cities leaves you feeling more enriched than when you arrived — which is likely exactly how any tired and grubby Romans thought about their subterranean sauna.
Budget-friendly York
Whether you're religious or not, attending evensong at York Minster (4.00pm on Sundays, 5.30pm all other days) is a chance to lose yourself in soul-lifting surrounds. Entry is free.
Drizzly day? Decamp to the York Explore Library (I spent a happy hour in the upstairs reading room browsing old cricket books and hiking guides). Entry is free.
Betty's Café is a Yorkshire institution. Feeling fancy? Treat yourself to a warm, buttered "fat rascal" scone (£7.25) and pot of tea (£4.95) in the glam Art Deco interior.
Walking the City Walls, which takes 75 minutes or so in total, is a rewarding way of getting a sense of the city's age and scale. Entry is free.
Dip below the Roman Bath pub for a close-up look at its 2,000-year-old bathhouse, complete with info and related exhibits. Entry is £4.50.
Not keen on a formal meal out? SPARK is an indie food court serving up dishes you'll want to wolf down — I can recommend the vegan smash burger (£13) at Junk Soul
Head to the riverside ruins of St Mary's Abbey, once one of the richest, most powerful Benedictine monasteries in the land. Until Henry VIII came along. Entry is free.
Sweet tooth? This is chocolate city, after all. Sample some high-quality chocs on an enlightening tasting tour of Cocoa Works. From £12.50.
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Photo credit: Jaroslav Moravcik / Adobe Stock / vichie81 / Adobe Stock / kmiragaya / Adobe Stock / Sergii Figurnyi / Adobe Stock
