York Travel Forum

Greetings friends. My wife and I will be vacationing in England in February 2010. We will be spending a week in York for the Viking Festival preceded by 4 days in London with a week between York and return flight to USA. We would love to hear some suggestions as to things to do, places to visit ( including possible overnight accommodations) both during the Viking Festival and the following week. My concerns during preliminary research have been weather, bus and train transport during the winter, driving conditions vis a vis american southerners if we should be renting a vehicle. There seems to be no end to the possibilities especially factoring Northumberland. We have already booked our accommodation for York but would like input on day trips from York and later some other ideas that would be seasonably doable. Thanks in advance for any advice. Hope to be able to reciprocate some day for any of you visiting USA.

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Durham is very close to York and one of my favourite towns in England. Edinburgh in Scotland is also not very far. Both are easily reached by train. I took a coach from York to Whitby on the coast and enjoyed it very much, but that was in May, not in February.

A car will only be a hassle in London and York. If you'll need one, will depend on your plans on where else to go. You won't need it for a visit in Durham or Edinburgh. If you decide to rent one and would to like an automatic, it's a good idea to book early. However, in February there won't be many tourists, so your chances of getting one will be higher.
If you don't need an automatic car, you can book the car for daytrips once you know what the weather will be like.No need to reserve ahead.

As for the weather and road conditions in February - nobody knows. It can be mild and the roads will be clear, it can also be snowing and all traffic will be stuck for hours.That's why I would choose cities to stay in and take spontaneous daytrips if the weather allows.

Be sure to dress in layers, and bring some rain gear. Have a great time.

As mentioned, the weather here in England is very unpredicatable. Hopefully, you'll be lucky and hit one of the warmer periods in winter... and they do occur! That said, you'll be up north a bit where weather tends to be worse than in London.

I'd also put in a vote for the Yorkshire coast. Whitby is a lovely town not far at all from York and it has a restaurant with fantastic seafood (especially famous for fish and chips), the Magpie Cafe.

If you want to drive up to Northumberland, there are some fantastic places to visit such as Cragside, Lindisfarne (Holy Island) and Bamburgh Castle.

And there are quite a few beautiful National Trust places near York, although they may be closed in the winter months. You can check their website. Durham is also a nice college town and one of our favorite spots.

I echo all over the above. You should try and do without a car - you will definitely not need one in York and/or Durham and/or Edinburgh. A lot of the "houses" and castles to visit will be closed, otherwise I would suggest Alnwick Castle in Northumberland. As you will probably be returning to the US from London, perhaps a day or so in Stratford (visiting Warwick Castle - I am almost sure it is open year round) or Bath or Canterbury or Worcester or Winchester or Salisbury - these are geographically disparate but they are just ideas of places to visit on the way back to London.

February can be quite a nice month - the winters are not always bad and there are some nice winter sunny days. I live close to York so know the area well - it is well situated for short day trips. All easily done by train - I recommend - Scarborough, Thirsk & Northallerton, Harrogate & Knaresborough and Durham. Haworth is a wonderful Yorkshire village but unless you go at the weekend the last four miles from Keighley would have to be by bus. Whitby is wonderful but it would have to be quite a long bus ride from York. There are pages on all these places on VT including quite comprehensive ones I have added on VT. In fact my most recent Haworth pages were taken a few months ago in February. If you look at my York pages under Transportation you will see details of the special value tourists can buy for the trains from York.

February can be quite a nice month - the winters are not always bad and there are some nice winter sunny days. I live close to York so know the area well - it is well situated for short day trips. All easily done by train - I recommend - Scarborough, Thirsk & Northallerton, Harrogate & Knaresborough and Durham. Haworth is a wonderful Yorkshire village but unless you go at the weekend the last four miles from Keighley would have to be by bus. Whitby is wonderful but it would have to be quite a long bus ride from York. There are pages on all these places on VT including quite comprehensive ones I have added on VT. In fact my most recent Haworth pages were taken a few months ago in February. If you look at my York pages under Transportation you will see details of the special value tourists can buy for the trains from York.

I'd try and get out and see some of the beautiful countryside. I was very disappointed with Durham compared to York

Try visiting Esholt, Wensleydale, Hawes, Goathland etc. and you simply must try Wensleydale cheese - yummy.

It is a Yorkshire custom to eat Christmas cake [rich fruit cake] with a large chunk of cheddar cheese - delicious!

I agree with you Mightmazz but the destinations you have recommedned are not great to reach by public transport.I really do not recommend that the questioner hires a car - I think drivers from America generally find driving here very difficult - manual gear cars, congested roads, steep hills and windy roads in Yorkshire especially and so on. Oh and of course sitting on the right in a car and driving on the left side of the road.

From York, the Dales would be a wonderful place to see. The Dales are really beautiful and shouldn't be missed! I know it is not easy to reach the Dales by public transport but there are services that offer day trips from York. I guess if you inquire at York tourist office you can find out who organizes them.

Thanks to everyone who replied to our inquiry about York travel in winter. Very helpful and useful information.