England · Self-guided walk
York in one walk 8 sights, 60 minutes
A self-guided walking tour of the York Old Town: 8 sights on one 4.1 km loop, about 60 minutes on foot, back where you started.
No two days to spare? Here is the short version: the big sights in one loop. I would take longer. I always take longer.
At a glance
The walk in numbers.
- Distance
- 4.1 km, a loop
- Time
- about 60 minutes of walking at 4 km/h, plus however long you stop
- Sights
- 8
- Start and finish
- York Minster
- Steps
- on City Walls
- Cost
- free: no guide, no booking, no tip
The route
Map of the York walk: 8 stops, one loop.
The gold line is the walk. The numbers are the stops, in the order you reach them. The pale lines are every other street in the Old Town.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
The stops
8 sights in York, in walking order.
Each stop says how far the next one is and which streets take you there.
1. York Minster
the start
The one you can see from everywhere, and the reason half the lanes here bend the way they do. Do the outside first, all the way round, close to the stone. On the north side the ground falls away and the thing grows on you. I have never managed the whole lap in one sitting.
Next: Monk Bar, 410 m, about 6 min, along Minster Yard, Deangate, Goodramgate.
2. Monk Bar
about 6 minutes of walking from the start
North-east corner, and the biggest of the four. If you are doing the wall walk from the Minster this is where it sets you back down on the street, so most visitors go under it twice without once looking up. Look up. More carving on it than on anything in York that is not a church.
Next: Kings Square, 340 m, about 5 min, along Goodramgate.
3. Kings Square
about 11 minutes of walking from the start
A small open space right in the middle of everything, with the Shambles running off one corner of it. Everybody halts here to work out which way they are going, and everybody is looking at head height. This is one of the few spots in town where the interesting part is below your boots.
Next: Walmgate Bar, 860 m, about 13 min, along Colliergate, Fossgate, Walmgate.
Lunch break
Il Paradiso del Cibo, 40 Walmgate, about 10 m off the route, open Mon–Sun 12:00–22:00.
Walmgate, where Fossgate runs on east. More on what to eat in York.
4. Walmgate Bar
about 24 minutes of walking from the start
The far east end, and the longest walk out to it. That is the point of it. The wall runs a long straight line towards it and the town thins out behind you as you go, until it is just you, the rampart and a great deal of sky. Turn round at the top of the steps and look back at what you ate.
Next: York Castle Museum, 520 m, about 8 min, along Margaret Street.
5. York Castle Museum
about 32 minutes of walking from the start
South end of the level, down by the water, two heavy blocks with a lawn between them. From outside it gives away nothing at all, which is the best trick in this town. Set aside an afternoon for it. I mean a real one.
Next: Jorvik Viking Centre, 400 m, about 6 min, along Piccadilly, St Mary's Square.
6. Jorvik Viking Centre
about 38 minutes of walking from the start
It is downstairs, beneath a shopping street, which is exactly where I would want it. You wait your turn up at street level and then go below the surface you have been walking on all day. Down is where a street keeps the parts it does not show you.
Next: Clifford's Tower, 180 m, about 3 min, along Castlegate.
7. Clifford's Tower
about 41 minutes of walking from the start
It sits on its own small rise in the south-east of the level, on the far side of the car park, and there are steps. Take them. From the top the town lies out flat and you can finally see how the two rivers pinch it. Best view I get from anywhere that is not a wall.
Next: St Mary's Abbey, 910 m, about 14 min, along Spurriergate, Coney Street, Lendal, St Mary's Abbey.
8. St Mary's Abbey
about 54 minutes of walking from the start
North-west of the level, inside the Museum Gardens, where the lanes finally stop and there is grass. Late in the day is the hour for it, when the arches throw their shadows a long way across the lawn. Sit down on the grass a while. I have, for about eight hundred years.
Back to the start: York Minster, 470 m, about 7 min, along St Mary's Abbey, High Petergate.
Every stop counts from the street; the hours are for going inside. Opening hours from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors. Check before you go.
After the walk
The rest of York.
This loop is 8 sights. The Old Town is 193 streets, and I have opinions about all of them. Every street of the York Old Town, with what to eat and where.
Cobble Gobble is a walking game for iPhone: every street is a line of dots you collect by walking it, and the phone stays in your pocket. Your first city is free.