York or Durham, as a stop off between London and Edinburgh?

I always recommend stopping/staying in York. The Minster itself is worth the visit as is walking around the Old Town. The medieval walls and the Shambles are also iconic.

Another vote for York, any day of the week and twice on Tuesdays. So much to see and do there.

Yes, York.

York, definitely.

Edited to add: We were in both Durham and York this Spring and we enjoyed York much more (both the city and the cathedral) but really a matter of preference. And very easy to see both.

This isn’t a good question for this forum, since many visit York and everyone recommends the trip they took. I am sure Durham is a fine destination, but maybe not for two days. Could visit both.

From the standpoint only of the churches, I preferred Durham. Our visit to Durham Cathedral was especially meaningful for me. But from the perspective of overall experience in the two cities, I guess I'd probably also go with York.

These are both good cities, and you would enjoy either. For Durham, the main thing is the cathedral but there's also a castle and a nice river to walk along. You're also close to Beamish Living Museum of the North if that is of interest (it's a short bus ride away). For York, you have the minster (like a cathedral), the railway museum, the viking museum, and slightly bigger atmospheric old town. It depends what you are most interested in. Maybe have a look at a few photos online and see which strikes you more.

I do notice on this forum the most visited UK cities outside of London seem to be Bath and York, which is interesting to me because much as I like both I"m not sure those would be the top two I would pick. I think this may be related to guidebook recommendations.

There’s a lot more to do in York. Durham is smaller but the cathedral is really worth visiting. It is a truly impressive building but it also has a feeling of being rooted in the local community which gives it a very special atmosphere.

Cat, the reason that Bath and York are the two most mentioned cities on this forum is that they are two places that Rick’s tours concentrate on. The same applies to the Cotswolds which, while pretty enough would not be near the top of the prettiest countryside.for me.

Some years ago I did exactly that, stopping over for just a day visit to York northbound and Durham heading back to London southbound. Not ideal, especially for York, but I had to jam my travel into railpass days rather than breaking my journeys overnight and it was worthwhile. I doubt that the high interest in Bath and York on the forum is because RS tours go there. I think most forum participants, like me, have nothing against RS tours but haven’t taken one and make their own arrangements for English trips. Rather, I expect it’s the reverse; RS tours go to those places because they particularly appeal to US travelers, whether or not they want to go on a tour. The stats I’ve seen say that after London (and Edinburgh if you’re considering all of the UK), the most visited destinations by overseas travelers are big post-industrial cities like Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham. Those are fine, I’ve enjoyed the first two and RS features Liverpool on one of his shows, but what Americans mostly want from at least their first few UK trips when going outside London isn’t another big 19th-20th century city, but historical, quaint and scenic, with proximity to London a benefit as well. Bath, York, Cotswolds, as well as Oxford and Cambridge (also popular with the forum) deliver these well. Also I expect those big cities may have high numbers due in part to business travel and visits to family, neither of which tend to get much traffic on this forum.

We did both and York has more to offer than Durham.
You need minimum of two full days there. Don't miss the National Rail Museum near the train station.

How about Newcastle? Lots to see and do there, and you can easily get out to the seaside.

I love Newcastle a lot but it’s a big city and not really comparable to smaller, more charming York. Newcastle has some good sights but it’s most visited for its nightlife and shopping, things that I don’t think the average RS forum member is very interested in.

We really enjoyed our visit to the Durham Cathedral. If you had an extra day, I'd add at stop in Durham on the way from a couple of days in York.

There's more to see and do in York, including the Minster, but I hate to shortchange Durham Cathedral, a rare example of intact Norman (pre-Gothic) architecture in a stunning hilltop setting. If this is all the time you have this trip, I'd say choose York and save Durham for when you have more time.