York

In 2019 we truly enjoyed Guy Fawkes Inn. Great pub and restaurant as well and right by the York Minster. Enjoyed an evening concert there, and just walking around including the Shambles market. Great town!

We stayed at The Minster Hotel, walking distance from the North Gate. A great small hotel, with parking for your car and great breakfasts.

Do not miss walking the ancient walls; visit the National Railway Museum; and especially the Minster (Cathedral).
Also, there are more museums worth visiting.

• Ann,

York is amazing town and I am sure you will enjoy your time. We were there in May this year and stayed at the Grand York which is a five minute walk from the train station and about an 8 minute walk from the York Minster. It is the only 5 star hotel in York and we were able to stay on points. It was Grand, however, expensive.

You have already received some great suggestions. Here were our favorites:

Restaurants

• The Rise Restaurant High Tea. I have had high tea in London and Bath and this was the equivalent of a high-end London tea at the fraction of the London prices. This was especially nice for us as they had wonderful savory selections, so we substituted the tea for dinner one evening.
• Yemen Heaven. This Yemeni restaurant is a little outside the city center, but worth the walk. In good weather, it has a courtyard garden. The food includes amazing slow-cooked stews (I had the Lamb Stew), My husband had the chicken. It was spicy, fragrant served with warm hospitality. They even had a French fry special with Zatar that we have since tried to replicate at home.
• Rustique. Excellent French food served in a vibrant and lively environment. Must try are the mussels and any fish special. It Reminded us of the boutiques in Paris.
• Guy Fawke Restaurant. Great pub food, loved the steak and ale pie and fun atmosphere.

Things to Do.

• Castle Museum: a collector compiles the most interesting Victorian artifacts and recreated an entire town. They had a special exhibit on mechanical arcade games that you can actually play. Super fun and engaging. They also had a demonstration kitchen where we ate prison food from the 19th century jail and surprisingly they had the recipes.
• York Minster: take the tour if you are able
• York Walking Tours: we enjoyed the Association of Voluntary Guides to the City of York walking tour. It provides an excellent introduction to York History. Without that tour, we would have walked by important Roman and Viking sights and would not have even known that they were there. On the tour, you walk the walls, so if you are on a short-trip, you can combine two sights in one.
• Ghost Tour: York is reported to be the most haunted city in Europe and we had an engaging and fun ghost tour with Mad Alice. It was wonderful to see the Shambles in the evening when the streets are empty and to learn about the underbelly of York.

National Railway Museum:>https://www.railwaymuseum.org.uk

There is so much to do and see in York - everything from the National Railway Museum to the York Dungeon (via the Chocolate Story,... ) SandyO has given some suggestions. You could also add in a boat trip, walk around the walls, Treasurer's House, Barley Hall,Cliffords Tower, Museum gardens and the Yorkshire Museum, Holy Trinity Church, off Goodramgate, Jorvik...

So what sort of things do you like doing and seeing?

If you want somewhere different to stay, think about the Bar Convent on Blossom Street.

I sometimes go to York for work and always stay at the Premier Inn Blossom Street. It's a chain but very reliable and comfortable.

If you are a cat-lover, you must do the York Lucky Cat trail to find the cat statues.

Thank you so much! I appreciate all of your suggestions. I made an itinerary to include many of the recommendations.

We were back there two weeks ago, and it's a wonderful city.
There are several free tours in the minster, focusing on different aspects of its history - well worth waiting for one to start or just tag along with a passing tour.
A couple of quirky places - the pub on the top floor of "The House of Trembling Madness" on Stonegate. The building dates back to around 1200. Food is decent, particularly the "stew of the day", decor is interesting.
The York Tap, at the station - art deco bar, excellent Pork pies, normally have 20+ beers on hand pull if you like that sort of thing.
Restaurant - We were impressed with Los Moros, serving North African inspired food.

We also ate at Los Moros last time we were in York and enjoyed it. I second the recommendations for House of the Trembling Madness and York Tap. Once we were changing trains in York and booked our second train an hour later than we needed just to have some time at York Tap! If you like beer then Brew York is also very good.

Nobody has mentioned Bettys (yes, no apostrophe). Fab for afternoon tea, or just a slice of something any time, or a nice lunch, or just a nice cup of tea.

https://www.bettys.co.uk/cafe-tea-rooms/our-locations/bettys-york

To tag onto the OP's request - We'll be in York for 2-2.5 days in early December. We have the option to rent a car, but haven't decided yet. Is it worth taking a drive through Yorkshire Moors to the coast, e.g. Whitby, Robin Hood's Bay, and/or Staiths, or is there more than enough to do in York to keep us busy and we should save the side trips for a future visit?

I realize the days will be short at that time, which is part of why I'm asking the question, e.g. take time away for a day-trip or spend all the daylight time I can in York.

We absolutely loved our time in York this summer. Just a few highlights for the OP and the latest poster:

The Shambles was fun early in the morning but got pretty crowded during the day, so we preferred spending time around Fossgate, where there are lots of independent pubs and cafés. The Hop was great for beer and pizza and The Blue Bell is about as cozy a pub as you could ever hope to find. I’ll second the recommendation for Los Moros (amazing Mediterranean food!) and would add The Whippet Inn and Fish & Forest to the list, too.

York Minster and the National Railway Museum were both fantastic and definitely lived up to the hype. But I also really enjoyed places like Bar Convent and Fairfax House, the latter being one of the most impressive Georgian buildings we’ve seen.

In the end, though, it wasn’t necessarily the big-name sights we remembered most. It was the little moments like walking along the river, stumbling onto a quiet street or sitting on a bench in a churchyard (Dean's Park was a delight!) with nowhere to be and nothing to do but read a book and research dinner!

We also did the obligatory Ghost Walks, Quirky Pubs & Crooked Streets tour and History Strolls, which were all good. The pub tour was the best; we as we saw things we never would have noticed on our own.

Nearby, we visited:

Castle Howard

Absolutely breathtaking. The scale of the house is impressive, but the gardens are what really stood out to me. It honestly felt like Bridgerton had come to life. I think they will have Christmas events on and I can only imagine what it will look like with its halls decked out.

Hope this helps!

Deb

really enjoyed places like Bar Convent and Fairfax House

Delighted you have found these two places - they aren't on the usual tourist tick list but are worth finding. Duid you go upstairs to see the chapel in th Bar Convent?

I also like Holy Trinity Church set back between Goodramgate and Low Petergate. It is no longer used and cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust. It escaped the Victorian makover and is a wonderful example of a Georgian interior with three decker pulpit and box pews (now gently subsiding.)

Yes, we did the full tour of Bar Convent, learning about the sisters and spotting the mummified appendage of one St. Margaret Clitherow!

We stayed for 5 nights in May at a lovely B&B in York...The Arnot House. walking distance from the train station, and a quick 5 minute walk to the Minster - really a great location. Breakfasts were fantastic, and the owner, Kim, was a wealth of information - she was just delightful. I can't recommend this place enough!
We enjoyed tea at Bettys, a day tour (small minibus) into the Yorkshire Dales (Mountain Goat Tours which was very, very good), the free walking tour of York was super and a great orientation on our first day to the layout and history of the town. We also went to the theater one night which was fun. (good Italian restaurant across the street from the theater called Ask Italia).