WHETHER YOUR INTERESTS are Roman, Viking, Mediaeval or thoroughly modern, York is a great city to spend a few days. There was no shortage of things to do on our recent family break. Youngsters can get properly engaged with history you can touch and feel. A stroll round the city walls gives some good views and takes you nicely to the doors of the impressive Gothic Minster.

One of our first stops was the world famous Jorvik Viking Centre which is now unbelievably 25 years old and has just been refurbished.

Built on the site of a Viking dig, this high-tech museum puts visitors into a buggy which travels through a very convincing Viking town. Children & grown-ups alike love it.

Another favourite, and justifiably so, is the National Railway Museum. The largest of its kind in the world, it houses Flying Scotsmen, Japanese Bullet Trains, sumptuous Royal Trains and much, much more and is friendly and accessible.

Castle Museum and nearby Cliffords Tower both give a fascinating glimpse of times past (some of it rather bloodily) in York.

If you fancy a short drive outside the city, take a ride to the Yorkshire Air Museum. At this former RAF base you can explore aircraft through the ages, take in the sheer size of the Halifax Bomber, get up close with a decommissioned nuclear warhead, wander up the Control Tower and then unwind with a cuppa in the NAAFI.

On your way back, you may want to drop into the Designer Outlet shopping centre which is one of the better outlets you will come across, and see what designer labels you can pick up.

But one of the best aspects of York is the fact it’s compact enough to walk round. From the narrow, winding mediaeval streets of the Shambles, it is only a few minutes walk to a great modern shopping area. York is very visitor friendly. To get the most out of our stay,
we bought a York Pass, a special ticket which when you buy it gets you into over 30 of the city’s attractions and is a good saving.

Where to stay

We stayed at the Holiday Inn, just by the racecourse. Access to main roads and the city centre was very easy. Park and Ride was very close, but if you pick your time, driving in was very quick and easy. The room was very comfortable, the food particularly tasty, staff very friendly and the whole stay good value.

Nichola Pell