Is a car needed to explore York?

You do not want a car in York. It is not necessary. It is very walkable. Make sure you go to the Train museum it is great for all ages! Make sure you get a guide book and look at YouTube videos for free which will both provide you with the information you are looking for.

If you have a car in York you will want to find where to park it.

Not easy, and expensive. York is a medieval city and has the narrow twisty lanes and smaller to prove it. Much of the centre is pedestrian only.

If you are going to York the last thing you want is a car.

Now for trips into the Yorkshire countryside it may be a different answer, but then you won't be in York. Where exactly did you have in mind?

Nigel, I would love it if you would give us some ideas of enjoyable places in the surrounding area that are reachable by train. Thanks.

Although a car isn’t needed for York city centre, it would be useful if you wanted to travel outside the city centre.

Whitby on the coast is a good day out with the old Abbey ruins, a trip on the vintage lifeboat and it’s the home of Dracula. Taking the train takes twice as long as driving.

There is a heritage railway line, the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, between Pickering and Whitby that crosses the moors and is popular with children.

Pickering and Milton are pretty market towns. Harrogate is popular for its gardens and tea at Betty’s is a must if you visit there.

For a taste of rural life, visit the Yorkshire Dales or the North York Moors. There are several ruined Abbeys - Bolton Priory, Fountains Abbey or Rievaulx.

To me, York by itself is only worth a full day; maybe 1.5 days. That does leave time to take day trips, but you could probably do those by train too.

I suppose the short answer is, it depends on what you want to see in that area. You definitely don't want a car during your time in York, as it's very walkable. There are a lot of things to do in York.....

• take a historic walking tour (check at the T.I. for times)
• visit York Minster and perhaps enjoy an Evensong service; if you're energetic, I recall they have a spiral stairway to the roof.
• visit the impressive railway museum (free as I recall)
• visit the Jorvik Viking museum
• take a tour of "The Shambles"

If you want to travel a bit further afield, you could either use a car or book a local tour to nearby attractions......

• Castle Howard
• as mentioned earlier, travel to Pickering and take the North York Moors steam railway. If you don't want to go as far as Whitby, stop in Goathland for a few hours and have a pint in the "Aidensfield Arms" before taking the train back to Pickering. The car park at the station in Pickering might fill up, but as I recall there's more parking at a fish farm (or something) about half a mile past the station.
• if you're interested in WW-II history, take a drive to Eden Camp, an award winning attraction which was formerly a POW camp for German and Italian prisoners. It's very well done and easy to spend the better part of a day there.

There are B&B in the Bootham section that offer easy parking and yet you can walk to the city center. Castle Howard is a really good visit that it's possible to reach by public transit, but having researched it seems tricky to me.

Hi demich310 -

Frankly, having a car in York is as much use as the proverbial chocolate tea pot! There’s plenty to keep you entertained in York, but if you want to explore further afield (and why wouldn’t you?) there are a couple of companies who do minibus day trips from York out into the surrounding areas - www.mountain-goat.com and www.bobholidays.com. A quick scan of these sites will also tell you what is reachable in the surrounding areas if you decided to hire a car and explore for yourself. I guess it depends on the economics of fare prices against car hire costs.

Have a great trip!

Ian

Most definitely you can do York on foot. Find a good hotel or B&B near the city. York is one of our favorite cities in England.

Consult the offerings of a local tour operator (for example Google Viator York).

Unless you are experienced in driving in UK, don't even think about trying 1-2 days by car.