Hotels in York, United Kingdom

A little about York...

York is a historic walled city in North Yorkshire, England, at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss. Over the years it has also been known by its inhabitants as Eboracum, Eoferwic, and Jórvík. The city was founded in AD 71 and became in turn the capital of a Roman province and of the kingdoms of Northumbria and Jorvik. After the establishment of the Kingdom of England, York was regarded as the capital of the North, and housed the Council of the North.

The historic core of the city is a major tourist destination in itself, attracting visitors from both the United Kingdom and overseas. York is also the site of several major tourist attractions, including York Minster, York Castle Museum, and the National Railway Museum. York is home to the University of York, founded in 1963, and York St John University, which was founded in 1841 and gained university status in 2006.

The University of York is on the outer edge of the city at Heslington. It was York's only institution with university status until 2006, when the centrally located York St John University College, formerly an autonomous college of University of Leeds, attained full university status as York St John University. The city also hosts a branch of the College of Law. The University of York also boasts one of the most highly rated medical schools, Hull York Medical School.

The city has two major further education institutions. York College is an amalgamation of York Technical College and York Sixth Form College. Students there study a very wide range of academic and vocational courses, and range from school leavers and sixth formers to people training to make career moves. Askham Bryan College offers further education courses, foundation and honours degrees, specialising in more vocational subjects such as Horticulture, Agriculture, Animal Management and even Golf Course Management.

Transportation: York's location on the River Ouse and in the centre of the Vale of York means that it has always had a significant position in the nation's transport system. Public transport within the city is largely bus based. The principal bus operator is First York, a part of FirstGroup plc. First York operates the city's local bus services, as well as the park and ride services. York is also the location of the first implementation of FirstGroup's experimental, and controversial, ftr bus concept, which seeks to confer the advantages of a modern tramway system at a lower cost.

Longer distance bus services in York are provided by Yorkshire Coastliner, which operates routes linking Leeds via York with Scarborough, Filey, Bridlington and Whitby. East Yorkshire Motor Services, Arriva Yorkshire, and a number of independent operators, provide rural services linking local towns and villages with York. Several competing companies, including City Sightseeing, provide open top bus tours.

Sites of Interest: York Minster, the largest Gothic cathedral in northern Europe, stands at the city's centre. York's centre is enclosed by medieval walls. The entire circuit (including parts where walls never existed) is about 3 miles (5 km).Clifford's Tower, a quatrefoil keep built on top of a Norman motte, was the site of a massacre of Jews in 1190. The Shambles is a narrow medieval street, lined with shops, boutiques and tea rooms. Another feature of central York is the Snickelways, narrow pedestrian routes, many of which led towards the former main market-place. The city has many museums, including the Castle Museum, Yorkshire Museum & Gardens, JORVIK Viking Centre, the York Art Gallery, Richard III Museum and the Merchant Adventurers' Hall.