Amongst the city walls and history there are so many things to fill your time with in this lovely Northern city but these are some of my top things to do in York. We were there for 48 hours and we didn’t get all of these things in but we did most of them and spotted the others along the way!

1. York Minster

Of course, you can’t miss the York Minster and it is glorious in stature and looks so pretty in the sunshine. You can spot it a mile off and have to weave your way through the chocolate box streets to get to it but it’s so fab to see in all it’s glory.

2. Walk the city walls

The city wall walk in York is free and takes you in a loop around the whole city with lovely views. This is free and you can see all angles of the Minster. Unfortunately it started chucking it down with rain when we did our walk so we ran and found a pub, of course, but it’s definitely a nice activity to make sure you do whilst you’re in York.

Just inside the walls is the next thing to do on this list and just before you get there is a lovely little teashop with delicious cakes and scones that we found and I’d definitely recommend for a pit-stop!

3. Treasurer’s House – National Trust

Treasurer’s House in York is a National Trust property and garden that was gifted to the Trust by Frank Green before he died in the Fifties. He gifted the house and gardens which was packed full of antiques, fine art and furniture and insisted that nothing should be moved in the house when they were preparing it to become a NT property! He was a passionate and very particular character and all of the volunteers that were working at the house when we visited had some great stories about him and the house. The garden has fab views of the Minster and is super relaxing to sit and chill for a while in the sunshine.

We have a National Trust membership and we love Calke Abbey so we always seek out new places to visit on our National Trust list when we head away. Another one of our favourites away from him was the Back to Backs in Birmingham.

4. Jorvik Viking Centre

The Jorvik Centre is all about the vikings of York and we’d both previously been here when we were kids so didn’t check it out on this trip but it is pretty cool to visit. Packed full of artifacts from their British Museum collaboration and telling the story of Jorvik (York in Viking times) it’s super interesting and is a great family activity – especially good when it’s raining.

5. Railway Museum

Sounds boring. Is actually amazing. With two huge halls full of trains from when they were first invented right up to the Eurostar and a Japanese bullet train and a working turntable with a Gordon from Thomas the Tank Engine style steam train on it, this place is seriously worth a visit if you like museums. It’s also another awesome place for kids. This is technically free but they appreciate donations of course. You can get a land train to the museum from the city centre as it’s about a 10-15 minute walk from the main hustle and bustle.

6. Clifford’s Tower

The remains of York Castle, Clifford’s Tower gives you a killer view of the city from the top and you can learn about the beginnings of the city and how the tower came to be about. Clifford’s Tower is an English Heritage site so is free with their membership or about £6 a head for non-members. We had a little British Gas Rewards offer code so if you’re a customer of British Gas for HomeCare or gas etc then check out their website before you go to see if there’s any freebies to be had!

7. York Castle Museum

Super close to Clifford’s Tower is the York Castle Museum which is part of the YMT card scheme that gives free entry into a lot of different attractions. Take a trip through York over the years and check out which new exhibitions they have on that change every few months. Another great family and rainy day activity.

8. York Chocolate Story

This, the dungeons and the York Castle Museum were the two things on this list that we either hadn’t done before or didn’t have time to do but the York Chocolate Story was definitely on our list for if the weather was really terrible. Luckily, we got away with some quite good weather for most of our trip and we didn’t make it to the chocolate story. But, it looked awesome and there was a truffle-making experience too as well as unwrapping the history of chocolate making a lots of tasters. We’ve been to Cadbury’s World a few times so didn’t feel like we needed another run-down of how chocolate is made but we’d definitely head here in the future once we have a family to entertain!

9. Visit The Shambles and Market

You can’t visit York without stumbling across the Shambles – the windy Harry-Potter-esque streets are packed with cute bakeries, quirky shops, butchers, fudge makers – you name it! There’s also a little street food market, some great pubs (we like The Market Cat a lot which has three floors and an awesome range of beers) and a normal market where we sought out some more chilli jam from a lovely local lady on her stall.

There are also loads of Harry Potter themed shops as it’s super similar to Diagon Alley and they’re so cool to see if you’re an HP fan. Just make sure you save up before you go if you’re planning to buy trinkets because the Harry Potter shop was very pricey!

10. York Dungeons

With over ten different shows with live actors telling the story of 2000 years of York over an hour and a half this is a creepy spectacle if you’re into freaking yourself out! They also now have Adult Only shows which are extra creepy and are open 363 days a year so there’s plenty of time to scare yourself. I also spotted ghost walks around the city but I’m not sure if these are associated or not.

Is it expensive?

We spent a fair bit on activities and eating out, a lot on beers and snacks and we paid for Clifford’s Tower but I think a trip to York can cost you as much as you want or have to spend. We have NT membership so Treasurer’s House was free and we were heading to York to see James Acaster on one of the evenings that we’d pre-booked.

So, what can you do for free in York if you’re on a budget? As I’ve said, National Trust properties are free if you have membership, as are English heritage. The Minster and the walls are free to visit and the railway museum accepts whatever donations you can afford. There are plenty of green open spaces for picnics and lots of gardens to wander around too. York is definitely for everyone, whatever your budget – there’s plenty to do that costs money but there’s ways to get good deals like the YMT card. Also, a lot of places, including cafes and restaurants do student discount in York as there’s a large student population so don’t be afraid to flash that student card and receive 10% off coffees etc.

These are just some of the amazing things to do in York, as well as great shopping, eating and drinking, escape rooms and general people watching there’s the Army Museum, the big red bus tour, an art gallery and Fairfax House that I haven’t even touched on yet. There are also two more National Trust properties near to York city centre if you’re travelling by car and there’s a McArthurglen Designer Outlet where I filmed my spring style campaign last year!