York

Two days were planned for us to explore "one of the most beautiful cities" in England, according to our travel guide.

Historically, York was certainly significant from the Roman era (Constantine was proclaimed emperor here) to modern times as a trading center.

Today, it is mainly visited by many tourists. We also saw some Asian groups rushing through the medieval streets.

We started our exploration of York with the main attraction of the city: The Minster, the cathedral of the Archbishop of York.

The largest church in England was full of visitors admiring the dimensions of the place of worship and the 128 leaded windows.

Afterwards, we took a city tour to get an overview.

However, the bus did not complete the entire route because there was also a horserace taking place on that day. Therefore, it took us a good half an hour to cover the last two miles through the city to our campsite... We also saw many well-dressed, often fairly young ladies and gentlemen strolling through the city. Later in the evening, they were already slightly tipsy in the bars and restaurants.

After our city tour, it was already so late that we didn't have much time left to visit museums because they mostly close early.

We then went to the keep "Clifford's Tower", the last remains of the castle in the city, commissioned by William the Conqueror.

A small exhibition provides information about the history and from the roof, you have a beautiful view over the city.

In the evening, we took a stroll through York. While the streets were completely crowded during the day, we could now pass through them without any congestion.

Especially on the tourist-favorite street "Shambles", there was not much going on anymore. The shopping street with its winding houses is said to have been the inspiration for the "Diagon Alley" in the Harry Potter movies.

In any case, there are now numerous "Wizarding shops" there, and we saw an Asian boy dressed as a wizard, posing for a photo with his wand and wizard cloak in front of his excited parents.

We took the time before dusk to walk along a section of the old city wall.

It is accessible until darkness falls. However, we were not quite sure when exactly this moment would occur and were a bit worried that we would find a locked gate when we left...

In one street, we encountered some tipsy teenagers in the evening who insisted on being in the photo I took of the street to become famous...

For the next day, we had planned to visit some museums in the city.

In the morning, we first went to "Barley Hall," a medieval house formerly inhabited by the goldsmith and mayor of the city.

Then we participated in the "Historical Gems Tour & A Taste of York Chocolate."

During the tour, a city guide dressed as a detective with acting talent showed us some (hidden) sights of York.

We also got a piece of chocolate, which has a long tradition of production in York.

After the tour through the medieval part of the city, we went even further back in time as we visited the "Jorvik Viking Centre."

During the construction of a shopping center, remains of a Viking settlement were discovered and this excavation was used to build a museum in the basement.

Visitors are taken in wagons through the recreated Viking settlement and can see figures engaging in their crafts along the way.

The experience also includes appropriate smells, which was not quite pleasant, especially in the area of the slaughterhouse scraps.

The next exhibition was in a former church, where works of Van Gogh were projected onto the walls.

The "Van Gogh Immersive Experience" provided a very relaxed way (sitting in a deck chair) to get familiar with the works of the Dutch artist.

Since we had some time before the next booked timeslot, we also visited Fairfax House.

In this 17th-century residence, which was used differently for a long time, a museum was set up to showcase antique furniture from the 18th century.

At the end of the day, we went to the "Castle Museum," which contains a colorful mix of exhibitions.

We could see a Victorian street (with back alley) and explore old shops.

The tour ended in the former prison cells, where the fate of a prisoner was told.