Best What to Do in York England Day 2023

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Greetings Internet Stranger and welcome to a perfect what to do in York England day. It’s a lucky traveler who gets to spend at least what to do in York England day. Old York is a fascinating historical city with a plethora of entertaining attractions. But one York landmark rises, greater and more legendary than the rest. That landmark, my Internet Strangers, is York Minster Cathedral.

No traveler to York can possibly afford to miss this grand and evocative building. But we will not spend our entire what to do in York England day at York Minster! There will also be time travel, gourmet meals…and a murder on train! Are you intrigued? Then my master plan is all coming together! Let’s head out on our what to do in York England day right away.

what to do in York England day

Where to Stay?

I visited York as part of a terribly expensive trip around Northern Europe. Ireland has gotten expensive. The United Kingdom is expensive. And Scandinavia is insanely expensive. So I needed to stick to a budget when I could.

That’s why I chose to spend my what to do in York England day at the hostel YHA York. My room was comfortable and big because I opted to pay more and get a private room with my own bathroom. But you can really save your pennies and share a room with some strange ladies. This is York, so probably they’ll be Vikings or witches. But that will just add to the charm!

If you want a great deal on this hotel, click here.

And if you want to explore great deals on tons of other hotels in York, click here! This search engine will help you find the perfect place to stay during your what to do in York England day. With plenty of options to choose from, I’m sure you’ll find something for your schedule and budget.

what to do in York England day

Morning: Jorvik Viking Centre

In our previous what to do in York England day, we learned about York’s medieval and Roman history. But today we shall learn of its past as a major Viking metropolis! The Jorvik Viking Centre is an amazing place at which to learn all about York in the age of Vikings. (The name Jorvik was the Viking name for the city.)

I strongly suggest getting the York City Pass for this what to do in York England day because it pays for 20 attractions in York, including the Jorvik Viking Centre, York Minster, and the Railway Museum that we will visit this afternoon.

You can buy the City Pass easily by clicking here.

Once you successfully enter the Jorvik Viking Centre, you will ride in a boat and see intricate animatronic recreations of life in Viking York (or Vork, as I like to call it). Photos are not permitted during the boat ride, but they are allowed in the Viking Museum at the end of the tour. So I’ll be able to provide some photos and share with you…

Three fun facts about Vikings

1) Who’s King Canute?

Many people know that a good portion of the English royal family today has German ancestry. At certain points in history, the ruling family of Britain was, at least in part, Scottish, French, and Spanish. But did you know that England was once ruled by a Scandinavian?

King Canute of Denmark managed to also conquer both England and Norway back in the 11th century. I guess this made him a Viking Emperor! I imagine he was able to intimidate a lot of people with that title. Most people don’t want to mess with either Vikings or Emperors.

Like any good Emperor, Canute put his picture all over England’s money. You know, to show them who was boss. He remained King of England for the rest of his life, but his descendants weren’t so competent at the whole Viking Emperor thing.

Eventually the Anglo-Saxons, led by Edward the Confessor, smushed the Vikings. Of course the Anglo-Saxon rule didn’t last that long either, thanks to Frenchie William the Conqueror. But that’s another story…

2) Where’s my sock?

The Jorvik Viking Centre made it clear that Viking York was no mere colonial backwater. It was a thriving city with many artisans, merchants, immigrants from different communities. One thing I liked about the tour is that you can hear the creepy animatronic Viking puppets speaking in a variety of languages. It was just like being back home in Queens!

Of course, many of the artisanal goods from Vork have not survived to this day. So I was astonished to find this Viking sock on display at the museum. That’s a quality sock if it can last for 1000 years! Clearly I need to study Viking sockmaking technology because all of mine have holes in them.

I wonder what the Vikings would say if they knew that future people would pay money to look at their socks? Probably something along the lines of “Bork, Bork, Bork!” (I don’t speak Viking.)

3) Um, what is that?

The most famous artifact on display at the Jorvik Viking Centre is this fossilized Viking poop pictured above. (I put it in closeup for your viewing pleasure.) Though Vork was a sophisticated city, they did not have indoor plumbing. So the Vikings would have done all of their business in the great outdoors.

Viking scientists don’t examine poop only because it’s funny and gross. The feces can actually tell us a great deal about the diet of the people of Vork. Apparently, as it was a well-off city, they ate reasonably healthy foods like meat, fish, grains, and vegetables.

I hope that Future Scientists don’t examine my poop to see if 21st century New Yorkers had a healthy diet. They’ll mostly just find wine, cheese, and chocolate.

what to do in York England day

Afternoon: York Minster

Here we have it! The real enchilada! The big McGillicuddy! The creme de la creme of minsters! Some of you may be thinking that I somehow misspelled the word minister. Or perhaps you are wondering what a minster is.

Well, York Minister is really a Cathedral in the Church of England. A Cathedral, in both the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches, is a church that is also the seat of a bishop. York Minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, John Sentamu, who is the Number Three Man in the Church of England. No what to do in York England day is complete without a stop here.

It’s hard for me to explain exactly what minster means, as I am a mere American and unversed in the highly English ways of the minster. But from what I gather, it is an Old English word for an important Anglo-Saxon church. (Westminster in London is also a minster.)

Don’t forget to pick up your City Pass and get ready to go! We’ll learn more about the Minster and its ways very shortly. But first, lunch!

24 Hour Treat: Ate O’Clock

Ate O’Clock has the cutest décor theme of any restaurant I have ever seen. The walls of the place are covered with a variety of quirky clocks. Of course all the clocks in the place are set to eight o’clock, no matter what the actual time is.

This is completely adorable, but bring your own timepiece to the restaurant or you’re going to be very confused. We don’t want to spend our entire what to do in York England day in here because we couldn’t tell time.

I feasted on a pulled pork belly sandwich with a side of chips. Now, I was skeptical that the pulled pork would be any good because my family comes from the great state of Georgia and pulled pork is kind of Our Thing. But both the meat and bun were soft and satisfying.

However the real star of the meal were these amazing chips. Look how potatoey they are! You can still see the skins on them. It’s obviously these babies were each cut by a human hand.

Well, feed the belly and then feed the mind, as my grandmother always used to say. It’s time to head back to York Minster for some…

three fun facts: York Minster

1) Who’s That Guy?

The site where York Minster is located has been an important place for English Christianity before the Cathedral was even a minster in someone’s eye. York started as a Roman city named Eboracum. The Emperor Constantine was crowned Emperor of Rome while he was stationed in York.

Back then, Constantine was not Christian, though he did convert to Christianity during his reign because of a dream he had in which he was told that he would conquer by the sign of the cross. (The words “By this sign you will conquer” are written on the base of the statue of Constantine above.)

After Constantine’s conversion, Christianity eventually came to York. Tradition has it that there has been a church on the site of York Minster since the 600s, though the Minster we see today wasn’t finished until the Middle Ages.

2) Who’s that Ulf?

Of course the main reason to visit York Minster is to see the spectacular views of York from the heights of its towers. Don’t worry! We will definitely get there, Internet Stranger. But don’t miss the museum of Roman and Medieval artifacts in the undercroft.

York Minster brags that it has the only Cathedral Museum in the entire country. It’s hard for me to tell how impressive that is because I don’t know how many cathedrals England has. But it sounds pretty cool.

My favorite artifact in the Undercroft is this Horn of Ulf pictured above. It is made from an elephant’s tusk. This surprised me because I didn’t think elephants were native to York. But apparently Ulf got it through trade.

Anyway, Ulf was a Viking who converted to Christianity and gave this spectacular elephant tusk/wine horn to the church as a symbol of his affection. I know killing elephants is very bad, but sometimes I wish I could drink wine out of a great old elephant tusk. It would make me feel like a superhero commanding my legions of minions.

3) Who’s That Arsonist?

It’s important to remember how lucky we are to have York Minster with us to this day. The Minster was put to the trial by fire several times in its life. (It survives, which I supposed it proof that it’s not a witch.) Perhaps the most famous York Minster fire was started by a man named Jonathan Martin.

To say that Mr. Martin did not have a happy life might be the understatement of the century. He became disturbed after watching his sister get murdered at a young age. It seems that he felt at one point that the only cure for his anguish would be…to burn down the entire York Minster.

His fire did a decent amount of damage, but thankfully the Minster was spared. (Martin was found to be legally insane and committed to a mental hospital instead of jail. He died in the mental hospital, capping off one of the sadder life stories I have ever heard.)

24 Hour Treasure: Views from York Minster

If you do only one thing at York Minster, please walk up the Central Tower. It’s 275 steps high, and it’s taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but it’s worth it for the amazing views.

I went with a friend and we kept track of our steps on her Fit Bit so we’d know exactly how many beers at the closest haunted pub we had earned with our walking.

what to do in York England day

Late Afternoon: National Railway Museum

Normally I don’t recommend a museum for the late afternoon, but I’m making an exception for our what to do in York England day. The National Railway Museum is located in a former locomotive depot, which is the perfect place to peruse passenger trains from the past and present. It’s so cute, and I simply refuse to choose between it, York Minster, and the Viking Centre.

Make sure you have your City Pass right here so you can save the most money and then get ready to train!

British train travel has historically been one of the country’s glories. Even if many say that train travel in the UK isn’t what it was, thanks to the privatization of the British rail in the 1990s, to me English train travel will always remain a romantic way to see the country.

I traveled all around the United Kingdom from London to Cornwall to Cardiff to York to Edinburgh, enjoying the bucolic countryside and ever-shifting accents. It was amazing, and I highly recommend you follow in my footsteps.

24 Hour Treasure: Murder Train

The National Railway Museum had the perfect way to showcase their collection of trains from the interwar period. They had set up a fictional murder mystery, and you needed to solve it by peeking in the train cars and looking for clues. (The mystery is quite complicated and I solved half of it, which made me disappointed in myself as I am an Agatha Christie fiend.)

This was a great idea to encourage museum guests to take a closer look at the exhibit. I know I should have been thinking about murder most foul when I was examining this dining car, but mostly all I was thinking about was how I wish trains still used those fancy little toast cozies in the dining car.

Royals fanatics might be more interested in seeing the train car of Queen Victoria’s family. It had its own bath car with a private bathtub. Ugh, now it’s a fantasy of mine to be able to take a bubble bath while riding on a train. It’s good to be the queen!

what to do in York England day

Evening: York Fine Dining

If there’s one thing I hope the readers of this blog can count on me for, it’s fine dining recommendations. I love tasting menu restaurants the way that some girls love diamonds. But I think having a taste for fancy restaurants is more practical than a taste for jewelry because you can’t eat gemstones. That’s just science.

For a sophisticated dining experience on my what to do in York England day, I went to Le Cochon Aveugle. The name translates to “Blind Pig”, and indeed at Le Cochon Aveugle, it is the diner who is the blind piggie. There’s no menu, so you just sit down and eat whatever Cookie feels like serving that evening. There’s no greater pleasure/challenge for the adventurous eater.

However, it has since closed, so I suggest dining at the similar Roots, which has a Michelin star. So without further ado, I present…

approximately top 5: York fine dining

Course One

The meal began with one of the world’s most famous amuse bouches. It’s the Arpege Egg, which was originally created by Alain Passard, a legendary French chef who has been featured on Chef’s Table.

The Arpege Egg is an egg that has been cooked and served with cold creme fraiche, vinegar, maple syrup, and sea salt inside an egg shell. It sounds bizarre, but it isn’t. You get hot and cold and basically every different type of taste sensation in one spectacular dish.

Course Two

This was a smoked Native oyster with a vin jaune and an apple granita. I was tempted to ask what the oyster was native to. I assume the United Kingdom? (Vin jaune is a French yellow wine with a strong flavor that can stand up to the oyster.)

Like most of the beginning courses of a tasting menu, this is a simple one-bite treat. The bigger dishes are yet to come.

Course Three

The theme here was “Desserts That Are Not Desserts”. We have a tomato pate de fruits, a kale beignet, and a boudin noir macaron. I’m a fan of the “using savory ingredients in dessert” trend because I like anything quirky and surprising.

The boudin noir macaron was probably my favorite because of the intensity of the sausage flavor. I could practically taste the animal blood melt in my mouth!

Course Four

Now that our bouches have been amused, we find ourselves with the appetizer. This is veal tartare with tuna sauce, truffle, and bonito flakes. Usually veal with tuna sauce is a much heavier dish, so I liked the idea of using a smaller portion of veal tartare instead of the whole piece of cooked veal.

Bonito flakes are Japanese fermented and dried pieces of skipjack tuna. They add a pungent saltiness that intensifies the tuna sauce. (I hope you’re not weirded out by eating raw baby cow and fermented fish in the same dish, Internet Stranger! I promised this meal would be adventurous!)

Course Five

In most tasting menu restaurants, you’ll be presented with at least three main courses. Normally they would progress from a vegetable to a seafood to a poultry to a meat, in order of increasing heaviness.

The green treat above is our vegetable main course. It is nasturtium ice cream with pickled courgette flowers and a mixed green vegetable soup. (For my fellow Americans out there, courgette is English for zucchini. Actually it’s French for zucchini, but the English use it too.)

This was like slurping an English summer garden in a bowl of soup. More restaurants should put flowers in ice cream. The English have a tradition of using roses as a culinary ingredient, so perhaps they are ahead of the rest of us in this respect.

Course Six

Up next is the promised seafood course. This is a cured mackerel with macerated cucumber, avocado puree, and tomato water. It almost looks like the mackerel is swimming away on the tomato water! But it can’t really swim anywhere because it is dead and I am going to eat it.

The flavor of the cured mackerel is so strong, so I appreciated that only light vegetable flavors were used to complement the fish. That way the mackerel could really be the star of the show.

As I ate the dish, I flashed back to my morning in the Jorvik Viking Centre. 1000 years ago, the Vikings would have eaten cured fish so it didn’t spoil during the harsh winters. Nowadays we just eat it because it’s delicious!

Course Seven

There was no poultry course on this tasting menu, so we’re going straight to the meat. This beauty is a slow-cooked, aged Suffolk lamb with peas, salsa maro, and sauce Navarin. The aged lamb was so moist and fatty, I could practically taste the tears of the baby sheep as it dissolved in my mouth.

Salsa maro is a pesto made with fava beans and mint. This was a creative twist on the traditional lamb and mint pairing.

Course Eight

The one choice you get at Le Cochon Aveugle is whether or not to have the cheese course. If you ever see me say no to cheese, just assume that I’ve been brainwashed by space aliens. Of course England has wonderful local cheeses, but at Le Cochon Aveugle, all the wines and cheese comes from France.

Lord Horatio Nelson would be so disappointed! Did he die fighting Napoleon just for this? But you won’t hear me complain because this cheese plate included, among other delectables, Comte cheese. This cheese is unpasteurized, so we’re not allowed to eat it in the United States. When I’m in Europe, I gobble up as much as I can.

Course Nine

The dessert was that summer specialty, the stone fruit. This was English plum with Brillat-Saverin cheese and buckwheat. Brillat-Saverin is an obesely fatty cheese from Burgundy. To eat it is to throw caution and calories to the wind like any proper Frenchman. (I can hear Lord Nelson weeping silently in the corner over this display of francophilia in England.)

I always associate English plums with plum pudding, so it was a treat to have them fresh in this summery dessert.

Course Ten

We ended the meal with a Sauternes egg, which was a sweet version of the savory Arpege egg. So the meal came completely full circle, WHICH IS ROUND JUST LIKE AN EGG! And also the eyes of a blind pig! I see what you did there, Le Cochon Aveugle.

It is also at this point that I need to give a shoutout to the kind and solicitous service at Le Cochon Aveugle. My waiter asked me what book I was reading and I said that it was about World War II. “Ah well! Hope we win!” he murmured in his charming English accent. Spoiler alert: we did! It was a perfect end to the what to do in York England day

what to do in York England day

What to Pack?

• A cell charger so that you’ll be able to keep taking photos all during your what to do in York England day
• The best international travel adapter because if you’re American like I am, or European like I am not, you’ll need one to be able to plug in electronics during your what to do in York England day
• The most reliable travel umbrella that is small enough to fit in my purse, but strong enough to stand up to powerful winds during our what to do in York England day
• These great TSA approved clear toiletries bags, so I can always keep spare toothpaste and travel sized toiletries in any carry-on.
• My book Get Lost, that I wrote myself with all my best travel tips. This book will show you how travel can take you on a journey of self-discovery.
• My favorite travel guide to Great Britain.

what to do in York England day

How to Get There

Now, I wish I knew where you lived, Internet Stranger, because I could send you a bunch of the finest Welsh cheeses. But sadly, I do not, and so I can’t tell you exactly how to get from your home to your what to do in York England day

But I can tell you that you can use an airplane to get to London, and since it’s such a big city, there are many direct flights that will take you straight here in a jiffy. I recommend Expedia for the best way to find the cheapest flight to London.

Once you’re in London, you should take the train out to York. You can even use Expedia to rent a car so you’ll be all set when you arrive at your destination. (I can’t drive, but if you can, this must be helpful.)

Just click here to start looking for the best possible deals on your flight, so you can head out on your what to do in York England day

That’s a Perfect what to do in York England day

What would you do on a what to do in York England day? Are you ready to start booking your hotel in York? Did I adequately explain what a Minster is? And which is rounder, an egg or the eyes of a blind pig? Please email me at stellajane@aroundtheworldin24hours.com and let me know!

Note: If you want to know how I put my travel itineraries together, just click here. Keep in mind that while each article is about how to spend 24 hours in a place, that doesn’t mean you should ONLY spend a what to do in York England day.

Check out 24 hours of what to do in St Ives, Cornwall. Try a day of the best things to do in Penzance Cornwall. You can also have 24 hours in Cardiff. Go for a one day in Cardiff itinerary. Experience a 24 hours in York itinerary. You’ll also want to spend 24 hours in Edinburgh Scotland. Finally, try a top things to do Edinburgh Scotland day.