The Best Things to Do in York (You Won’t Find Anywhere Else)

Looking for the best things to do in York? This is surely it.

Step into your own episode in the ultimate high-stakes adventure, now available in York. 

An official live experience of the hit TV show, the Race Across the World Experience in York challenges you to navigate the city's snickelways and landmarks on foot without using maps or public transport.

Solve physical puzzles, visit fantastic local checkpoints and sign the guest book…before your rivals do!

Important Info: You must be 18+ to purchase tickets. The experience is designed to be accessible and inclusive. See FAQs for details.

Turn the city into a giant escape room with an urban treasure hunt. 

Interactive trails like these send cryptic riddles and clues directly to your phone, leading you to hidden statues, quirky architectural details, and secret courtyards that most tourists miss. 

It is one of the best ways to combine sightseeing with an engaging, gamified outdoor experience and hey, even locals have found things they’ve missed while playing along. 

Now this might not sound like one of the best things to do in York, but trust us on this one.

Hidden down a narrow snickelway, the Barley Hall is a stunningly restored medieval townhouse. And not just anybody lived there. 

Once home to the Priors of Nostell and a Lord Mayor of York, it now serves as a living history museum. Visitors can walk through the Great Hall with its high ceilings and authentic floor tiles, offering a rare glimpse into the domestic life of the 15th-century gentry.

Dating back to at least 1644, Ye Olde Starre Inne holds the title of York’s oldest licensed pub. 

To find it, look for the famous wooden sign spanning Stonegate; the pub itself is tucked away down a long alleyway. 

It looks pretty much as you’d expect, but better with low-beamed ceilings and a sprawling cellar (reportedly haunted by Civil War soldiers).

You can’t not mention the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey. 

Located in what is probably one of our favourite green spaces in York, the tranquil Museum Gardens, the ruins represent what was once one of the wealthiest Benedictine monasteries in England. 

Founded shortly after the Norman Conquest by William the Conqueror, the remaining Gothic arches are a literal gateway to the past (and looks great at all times of the day).

We’ll level with you: most people go to the JORVIK Viking Centre for its "time travel" ride through a 10th-century village, and yes, you absolutely should go there for that.

But if you’re looking for one of the most unique exhibits, check out the Lloyds Bank Coprolite. If you don’t know what that is…it’s the largest piece of fossilized human poo ever found And at 20cm long, you have to see it to believe it. 

Once you get over how gross it is, you can begin to appreciate how much it was able to tell us (and the poor historians who had to examine it) about Viking diet and health. 

It’s not just Timothee Chalamet who’s all about opera houses. 

The Grand Opera House York is a Victorian-era gem that often flies under the radar. Originally a corn exchange and warehouse, it was converted into a theatre in 1902. Today, it hosts a diverse lineup of West End touring productions, pantomimes, and live music, retaining its ornate interior and intimate atmosphere that rivals larger London venues. 

Tucked away behind a small gateway on Goodramgate, Holy Trinity Church feels like a portal to the past, and that’s because it sort of is. 

In the history books, it’s famous for its rare 17th-century "box pews" (enclosed wooden seating areas) and its lack of electricity or running water. But if you ask us, it’s even more significant for being the site of the UK’s first recorded (although not legal) same-sex union.

Again, a list of the best things to do in York has to include a trip to the Minster.

As the largest Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe, York Minster is without a doubt the city’s crowning jewel. While the Great East Window is a masterpiece of medieval glass, the real thrill is climbing the 275 steps of the Central Tower. 

From the summit, you are treated to the highest vantage point in York, and it’s also where you’ll get the best view of the city and surrounding area. 

York is home to plenty of hidden gems, and this is just one of our favourites. 

Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate is a tiny stretch of road that packs a lot of personality. While the street is only about 30 meters long, its name has baffled everyone for centuries. 

Popularly thought to mean "What a street!" or a reference to a medieval whipping post, it’s worth going there just to see it. Bonus points if you can get it all in one frame from close up when you try to take a picture. 

There are too many excellent places to recommend for food and drink in York, but because we’ve leaned into York’s history so far, how’s this for a modern taste of the North?

SPARK:York is a vibrant community hub built from upcycled shipping containers. Like a delicious, creative incubator for independent businesses, this is where you’ll find some of the best street food in the city, ranging from gourmet burgers to authentic tacos.

If you see a giant queue in the Shambles, we can pretty much guarantee this is the cause of it.

The York Ghost Merchants in The Shambles has become a global sensation, and truthfully, it’s a bit of a bizarre one. 

It does a great job of celebrating York’s reputation as the most haunted city in Europe by selling handcrafted, unique ceramic ghosts. Because each "spirit" is made by hand, no two are exactly alike, making them the ultimate collectible souvenir for fans of the macabre.

Listen, a park’s a park, but this one comes with some seriously yummy heritage. 

Gifted to the city in 1921 by the Rowntree family (the legendary chocolate makers behind KitKat), Rowntree Park is a 30-acre memorial park designed for rest and recreation.

If the mood takes you, enjoy the ornamental lake, have a match on the tennis courts or just wander around the leafy walkways. If you’ve ever wanted to ponder the philanthropic legacy of York’s "Chocolate Kings", this is where to do it. 

If you’ve never been before, York is encircled by the most complete medieval City Walls in England. 

Depending on how nerdy you are, that might not sound that impressive, but believe us when we say it really, really is.

A full circuit takes about two hours and covers 3.4km, passing through the major "Bars" (AKA gatehouses) like Micklegate and Monk Bar. It’s free, and completing it gives you a unique perspective on the city's Roman, Viking, and Medieval layers. 

Again, if your nerdiness radar is low, you might not realise at first just how cool this is. But actually, it’s entirely unique to York, and something worth celebrating. 

If you ask us, The National Railway Museum is a world-class attraction, and its standout exhibit is the 0 Series Shinkansen. This is the only Japanese "Bullet Train" to be found outside of Japan, donated to the museum as a symbol of the international impact of rail technology. It sits alongside iconic locomotives like the Mallard and the Flying Scotsman if you’re more of an old-world locomotive fan. 

Hopefully you’ve never been afflicted with the ailment once known as the Trembling Madness (or, to give it its fancy Latin name “Delirium Tremens”, aka the shakes associated with alcohol withdrawal), but visiting this place is a pretty unique way to experience York’s local pub culture. 

Contrary to what the name suggests, with its heavy timber beams, taxidermy-lined walls, and an incredible selection of international ales, it is one of the most characterful drinking dens in the UK and up there with one of the best things to do in York.