Whether it is running the city walls or interacting with dressed up guides, there are plenty of opportunities for children. Here are a few places we thought were great in York, England.
York Minster
Visiting churches and cathedral is an obsession for us but I have never been to any cathedral so kid friendly ever.
The moment we bought our tickets, we were handed red backpacks for the kids. Each contained a plastic set of binoculars, a spyglass, a compass, a flashlight/torch, a notepad, pencils, and an activity sheet with crosswords and coloring pages.
We spent almost 2 hours there. The kids could probably have lasted even longer.
One of the church workers stopped to explain to our kids about the little mice carved into the back of of some of the wooden items in the church. There is also a monkey carved in the church. It felt like there were a lot of uses for the binoculars and spyglass.
The crypt was dark. The kids whipped out their flashlights/torches. Part of the Yorvik museum is now housed in the basement - and due to stay there till April 2017 when refurbishment on the museum is complete. We saw an amazing assortment of Viking treasures and archaeological finds, including the only Viking sock ever discovered. They also had wooden toys the kids could play with.
Top marks to York Minster for being child friendly!
City Walls
What could be more idyllic than running along medieval walls? No dogs allowed up here, so no dog poo to warn the kids about. There are lots of slits in the wall to view various points in the city, so lots of opportunity for Mum and Dad to catch up.
The Shambles
This iconic part of town is fun for kids who like to draw maps. We explored the Shambles thoroughly and also stopped in a sweet Bakery, the open air market for fruit and a sword shop called The Armory on the way back which our boys loved - though we had to watch them carefully as there are sharp things on display low down in this shop.
Museum Gardens
The museum gardens are beautiful with many places to explore. The pillared Yorkshire Museum is in the middle.
A copse of trees encloses a kid play area in the centre, with lots of giant rocks and old stumps to climb on.
There is plenty of space to run around in as well. Even in October there were still flowers, if somewhat faded.
The Rive Ouse is close but not so close as to feel like the kids were going to fall in any second - the walkway along the river was divided by trees except in one exit point.
Other places to see:
- National Railway Museum
- Clifford's Tower
- Castle Museum
Also see my post about visiting York as a day trip.
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