Last month I had the pleasure of staying in York's finest five star Grand hotel. Whilst we were there we made several trips around the centre of York to see what it had to offer for families.
First if you love your chocolate then you may wish to take a trip to the York Chocolate Story. This place is conveniently located near The Shambles. The tour lasts about an hour and takes families through the whole history of chocolate and the famous British chocolate brands.
And yes of course, we got a few samples of chocolate along the way too. If you find history boring normally then believe me you won't here, it's pretty informative and at the end we got to make our own chocolate lolly too. I didn't get to eat mine tho as Izebella took that pleasure from me and ate two of them.
And what better way to do that than climbing a large tower. Clifford's tower to be exact.
This is one of York's oldest monuments. To get into it there's a big stone stair case to climb. Then once in, to go higher the stairs turn steep and spiral and yes it's tiring!
The views from the very top are pretty amazing.
York boasts many museums. We just did not have time to visit them all. York castle museum really caught my eye when I spotted it online and I'm really glad we chose to go here as there is so much to see and do.
The museum has many sections including a much loved history of toys and play section at the top. It even includes a jail area which is rather eerie and spooky. A very strange atmosphere down there.
The part that we loved the most was the old cobbled street town.
This is like stepping into a time machine. There are old fashioned shops, stores, home scenes that we could go in and explore. Izebella loved it.
For any viking fan - Jorvik is a must. However be prepared for very long queues, huge queues in fact and I'm told it gets like that a lot. Jorvik again is a trip back in time through York's history. It is essentially a museum too, with ancient tools, weapons etc that have been found on digs in York. The best part being the ride back in time. It can be difficult to work out the real people from the dummies.
The Shambles is one place that should not be missed. It's a street, the narrowest smallest street ever. It looks very old, still retaining many Victorian features and decor. Real small shops selling all sorts of treats too. Shambles is completely free of charge of course.
There are many sights to see in York and things to do. Old churches, old original buildings, a view of the river, plus many bars and shops.
It's a lovely place to see and stay and of course no visit to York would be complete without a visit to Betty's tea rooms. Lovely cake here!
