York and Hull

Stay in Beverley which is very nice. If you do drive to York use the Park and Rides on the outskirts

https://www.itravelyork.info/park-and-ride/park-and-ride-sites/grimston-bar

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2016/dec/13/uk-best-small-towns-winter-breaks

Driving into York can be difficult and pricey. There are car parks on the outskirts, but they can be on the expensive side, and many fill up quickly. You can park at the Railroad Museum for £10 a day, but that closes at 6:30 pm. You could take a bus from Hull (or stop at another place on the way), but that can be time-consuming.

Have you checked into the York Minster hotel? Many people here on the forum have recommended it as a reasonably priced hotel with private parking.

Thank you both! Beverley looks like a promising alternative, and parking rates for the day in York are not exorbitant. Looks like we can use the Park & Ride at the Grimston Bar location, park all day and get the bus into town all for less than 8 GBP for the two of us.

@Mardee, thank you for the hotel recommendation, but we're on a 4-month vacation with hand luggage, so we're doing AirBnBs pretty much everywhere so we can do laundry frequently. We've used in-apartment washing machine as a filter pretty much everywhere.

Is there another Hull I haven’t heard of?

Have you checked out the Bar Convent in York? It is on Blossom Street, a few minutes walk from York Railway Station and by Micklegate Bar. According to its website
'We also offer guests the use of a kitchen, comfortable seating area and laundry facilities."

Failing that, Beverley which is 30-35 miles east of York and just north of Hull would be a really good alternative. It is an attractive market town with a lot of character, good range of shops and two wonderful churches. Beverley Minster may not be as large as York Minster but is regarded as one of the best Gothic buildings in the country. The inside with its tall columns is stunning especially on a sunny day. Pictures just don't do it justice. It also gets considererably fewer visitors than York too. St Mary's Church at the other end of the town is very different. It has wonderful carved misericords on the choir stalls (used by the monks to prop their bottoms on when standing for long periods). The chancel ceiling has painted representations of the Kings of England from Eggbert in 827 to Henry VI.

If driving to York, use park and ride to save driving and trying to find somewhere to park in the city centre.

Beverley would probably be more convenient than basing yourself in Hull, and you can easily visit Hull from there for a day (Hull is much under rated but there is a lot to do and see there.)

Is there another Hull I haven’t heard of

I'm not sure I understand what you mean here?

Looks like I have a nonrefundable stay in Hull that I was unaware of, so the Beverley discussion has become moot. But the other recommendations here are gold!

wasleys, interesting that Beverley pops up here just as you were telling me I should go there my next trip, lol! Definitely something to put in my destination queue.

York prices especially on Race days are astonishing .
Last time we went Pocklington was the nearest place we could find any room.
I do believe Kingston - upon- Hull is moving up the tourist roster.
I got took to Hull on my geography field trip rather than the Dales. Not sure I have ever recovered

Richard, Kingston upon Hull is very much on the tourist radar since it was designated UK city of Culture in 2017. After we all stopped falling about laughing and stopped to think about it, it soon became clear there was a lot more to the city than people give it credit for. The council also spent a lot of money detattifying in preparation . I agree it can't compete with the Yorkshire Dales though - but that's a bit like comparing chalk and cheese...

To be fair we also got to vist Thorne Moor too.

I get very nervy of the flatlands in Rotherham..being a steel city boy

I'd be interested to see Hull these days too. I went there for the ferry to Rotterdam a couple of times years ago and it was pretty run down.

To be fair we also got to vist Thorne Moor too.

Thorne and Crowle Moors were once a major area for peat extraction and I remember seeing small railways across Thorne Moor when I started to visit the area back in the late 1960s. The peat extraction is now finished, but Crowle Peatland Railway have rebuilt a short railway line across the peat moors, They have restored a loco they found on site as well as having bought two other locos from peat works in East Anglia. They have a very loyal following in the area and their Sunday bruches are highly recommended.

It always winds me up when people put Hull down without ever coming here. Yes it has its problems but it also has history (look at some of the films/shows recently filmed here) great free museums, a beautiful minster, art gallery, the Deep, big name concerts and shows. Brilliant pubs and places to eat. Plus the links to East Yorkshire and north Lincolnshire are perfect.
Give it a try. We’re not that bad.

I would take Hull ,four to nowt over London.

Worked there a few times and had some good nights out.
Also was mauled by the tigers in the playoff match.
That should be fair cryptic to those oer the Atlantic.
I was going to wade in on the attractions of Leeds v York but realized I would be on shakey ground.

Anyhow, criticism from yellowbellies should be easy to discard ....

I would take Hull ,four to nowt over London

I'm sure one could spend many a Happy Hour there.

To be fair, most of what I saw of Hull on the way in and out of the port 20+ years ago was probably bulldozed long ago. It looked like it was condemned way back then.

Is there another Hull I haven’t heard of?

Lol....fortunately not.

I spent a weekend in Hull years ago and vowed never to return. I very much doubt it has improved.

To be fair, the city of culture thing meant a ton of money was spent on Hull (and probably not before time) and I’m told they did a really good job in making it attractive to visitors.

Next year Bradford is the city of culture and it will be interesting to see what happens there. So much potential, so neglected. Which is a shame, and a remedy, however it comes, would be most welcome.

Ian

Having been to Portsmouth. I would say the same. It’s not somewhere I’d choose to visit again but it’s been 20 years since I was there and I wouldn’t feel I had the knowledge or an opinion to advise anyone else on the city or local area after so long as I’m sure it’s changed either for the better or not in that time.
I can say, as I sit here in Hull on my lunch enjoying the spring sun whilst looking over the marina. It’s a lovely place and I’m proud to call it home. On Friday, in my other office in Beverley, I’ll probably feel happy for the visitors enjoying their trips there .

For all of the slagging off of Hull, Mae is correct to focus on the good. When one lives somewhere it's hard to stomach people who don't live there speaking ill of your home. I get annoyed by people who don't know London talking about its problems too. There's towns all over the north that have been let down by successive governments but the people are good. I would genuinely like to see what Hull is like these days. Anywhere you go in the UK there's always something to discover and take pleasure in.

My fair city is also never going to be a York, few are.
My last few non hiking hols have had me staying in Hartlepool , Falkirk and Kirkcaldy and Penrith and enjoyed every one of those.

Full marks for Mae for sticking up for hull. It does concern me when someone criticises a place they haven't visited for 20 years. Hull, like many other places, has been through bad times but has managed to reinvent itself. It has changed a lot and definitley for the better. Hopefully this will also apply to Bradford too.

Has there been a sense of humour breakdown?

Maybe it was lost in being written but I don’t see where the humour was in your comment about Hull. It was (to me anyway) quite insulting for my home.

I fully agree with Mae. If someone hasn't been to a place for years they should not be slagging it off.

From the moment of arrival at Paragon station, and relatively new bus interchange there is a feeling of the heyday of Hull.

Last time I walked in from the ferry Port on the river path it took me over twice as long as it was meant to because of the number of places of interest I came across on the way.

Likewise, not long before Covid, when I embarked on a cruise from there I was far longer in the city centre than planned due to how it has been transformed. Yes the walk out to the cruise dock was not that exciting, but you can say that of docklands anywhere, and not many cruises call at Hull anyway. Due to lack of time, that walk was just straight along the main road, and at pace as I had been delayed in the City Centre

I've had a short break there in the past before all the improvement money was spent, staying at the Station Hotel, and enjoyed it. That was for Hull itself, not as a back door to York.

I certainly think it is a good alternative to York. Yes to me Hull has its own history to explore. And beyond Hull there is the relatively little known coastline out towards Withernsea and Spurn Point.

I recommend the Hull History Nerd you tube channel.

As well as the bus there are also some Hull to York direct trains, or were last time I !ooked.

Thanks Isn31c.

We ended up staying in the Park Hotel and Apartments, which is within easy walking distance of the Hull train station. Then we activated our 3-month unlimited Eurail passes and used them to daytrip up to York. Honestly, 5 hours in York was sufficient.

The day before, we visited the East Riding museum and adjoining museums in Hull, though we were too late to tour the Wilberforce House, unfortunately. Enjoyed the old town in Hull very much. Very satisfactory way to do what we wanted to do. Thanks, everyone! Eurostar on Friday to Ghent.

Thanks for the update, jphbucks! Glad to know your trip went well.

Glad you enjoyed Hull.