Normally I do a bit of planning when visiting somewhere for the first time, but apart from booking afternoon tea at The Cedar Grand Hotel (see review **here**) I kind of went in blind.
We arrived at 10.30ish and upon leaving the car park, discovered the famous wall, so we walked part way across that and got a nice view of the city and lake. We made a pit-stop at Starbucks and had a nice wander round the city. I felt overwhelmed with all the little nooks and crannies, and felt like I was missing out on too much because I never knew which way to turn next (I hate that feeling!). At around 12, we started to head back to see if we could find our afternoon tea venue. It was a lot closer than we thought, arriving half an hour early. Luckily they directed us to the lobby where we enjoyed a drink, but again, there's more of that in my review though (see above link).
After leaving The Grand Cedar a few hours later feeling a few pound heavier, we wandered back into the centre and attempted to do a little shopping (we were going out that night back home and I was on the look out for a pretty dress!). I found a few cute cobbled type streets that reminded me a little of Lincoln. They had a few quirky shops with some gorgeous window displays and pretty fairy lights. Its the type of place I'd love to wander round at Christmas time!
Before we knew it, the sun was slowly setting so we headed back to the car for our drive home.
From what I saw of it, York is a gorgeous place. Unfortunately we were a little tight on time so have decided to revisit in summer and do some of the more historic cultural activities that the city has to offer, and maybe, just maybe, stay overnight too ;-)
Have you ever been to York? What were your favourite bits?