York is a walled city founded by the Romans in 71AD named Eboracum. The city is situated in North Yorkshire, England on the rivers Ouse and Foss. The main Train Link between London and Edinburgh/Scotland runs through the city, London being about 205 miles south and Edinburgh 209 miles north, about 2 hours travel time by train.

York was taken over by Angles in the 5th century after the Romans withdrew from England, becoming the major city of northern England under the name Eoferwic. The Vikings captured the city in 866, renaming it Jorvik. The name changed to York about the year 1000. The Norman conquest of England in 1066 led to the North and South of England merging into one country.

The oldest parts of York, that contain most of the tourist attractions, are situated inside the Old City Walls that are the most intact city walls in England, about 2.5 miles in length, with 4 main Bars/Gates such as the Bootham Bar right. The gates serve as gateways into the city. Most of the walls are from the Norman era, although there are some remains of Roman and Viking walls.

York Castle, situated in the centre of York, was built in stone from 1270 to replace an earlier wooden castle on the site. The main tower, sometimes referred to as Cliffords Tower, is all that remains of York Castle. The fortress walls and buildings were dismantled in the 1700s to be replaced by three large buildings, as seen top right of this page. The new buildings were to serve as a court and prisons. Two of these buildings now serve as York Castle Museum. The famous highwayman Dick Turpin was tried and imprisoned here before his execution in 1739.

York Minster, in the centre of York, is a huge gothic cathedral built from 1230 to 1472. The Crypt below the cathedral dates to Roman times and many Archbishops, including St William of York, are buried here. This is the largest Gothic Cathedral in the UK, 4th largest Gothic cathedral in the world by volume after Seville, Cologne & Amiens.

The Old City has many narrow streets and squares with a mixture of buildings including timber framed from the 1400s - 1700s such as Gert & Henry's Restaurant, situated at the Newgate Market in the centre of Old York, and St Williams College Restaurant at the rear of York Minster on College Street. The narrowest, and most known street is named The Shambles, where some buildings are only a few feet apart. There are many period shops, restaurants and bar diners in the narrow streets around the cathedral. The city also has a good variety of Georgian town houses such as Fairfax House, claimed to be the finest Georgian town house in England.

There is a good selection of hotels in the centre of York such as the Hilton York looking onto York Castle, Royal York Hotel by the train station with views over York Minster, and the Ceder Court Grand situated about 400 yards from the train station. Many More Hotels.