24 Hours in York, York, England

When deciding which cities to visit while in England this summer, York, an ancient walled city, seemed like a perfect choice. Though not a big city, with 2000 years of history behind it, there’s plenty to see. Although the rain was heavier than normal during our visit we still managed fit in quite a bit and really enjoyed our visit.

Having learned my lesson about the unpredictability of opening hours (see Seville and Toledo) when visiting houses of worship, it made sense that the center piece of York, York Minster, the largest medieval Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe, would be our first stop. The current Minster is 800 years old, but the site itself dates back a few millennia! The Minster dominates the city skyline and is viewable from just about everywhere in the city.

Upon arrival we found that the Minster was open (phew!), however there was a special event taking place during our visit. The Mystery Plays, which tell the story of creation and good vs. evil are a York tradition dating back 700 years, but have only been performed in the York minster twice! The knave (the longest in England) was transformed into a giant 1,000 seat auditorium. I loved learning about the Minster’s impressive stained glass and the exhibit’s interactive exhibits were fascinating. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).