My wife and I went to York for a 3 night break in January of 2008. We drove down from sunny jockoland and despite my efforts found the hotel eventually. (Being on a road to Leeds against our will happened a few times!). We stayed at the Holiday Inn near the Race course, (reviewed separately).

On the first night we walked into the old town via the Micklegate and had an Indian meal at the Saffron Desi, (107 Micklegate). The food was rather good and they didn't mind us using our napkins to dry ourselves! Good range of dishes, decent service and nans on a stick. 4/5.

The next day we drove into the centre of the city - which was a mistake - parked and I fed a succession of £1 coins into a parking meter by Cliffords Tower. Cliffords Tower costs £3 each and is frankly not worth the bother. Inside is a walled courtyard and you can climb up a spiral staircase to walk around the top. The view of York is okay, you can see the Minster between buildings and erm, that's about it really, a few churches and you can look down on the river and expensive car park. There is a small room that remains but it is mainly thick walls and a space age shop building that alters the ambience somewhat. You could choose to climb up the steps to the entrance and see some of the view before climbing back down, keeping your cash for the next car park... 1/5.

Having moved the car to a different, similarly expensive car park we in the afternoon went to the Jorvik centre. This was to be a highlight for me as both sides of my family come from the Outer Hebrides so I'm clearly mainly Viking myself. £7.95 each later my expectations had been raised further. There were no more than a dozen visitors including ourselves while we were there - it was a wet January afternoon. You are transported back in time (I won't spoil how) and then climb aboard a six-seat fairground ride thing and travel through Viking Jorvik. We had 4 people on ours and those around us were empty which made it easier to appreciate the work done on recreating the scenes and to look at the robotic Vikings. I fear that when it is busy this would be much less enjoyable. Then there is a part that details Viking life and the archaeology that lead to discovering and recreating the Jorvik of 1100 years ago. Throughout there are well briefed 'Vikings' who you can talk to, they were either real people or state of the art robots! You exit via the shop, (original!). I left feeling that it was alright but would have been much worse if my £7.95 had been spent after 10+ minutes queuing and the place full of children and excitable parents. Go when it's quiet... 3.5/5.

Beyond The Shambles is York Minster, £7.50 each, for the Minster and the Undercroft, the tower was shut. The building is impressive in terms of scale but the largest part, (the Nave), was empty and I was left wondering how else the space could be used. It's ok I'm sure if it's your thing but we stopped for lunch in Durham on the way north and the Cathedral there is better in my view. Underneath there is the Undercroft where there are details of the history of the site, it's renovation and some shiny silver things in glass cabinets - no doubt of some significance. I'd lost interest... Don't expect the kids/bored adults to be interested, get them a cream tea instead. 2/5.

The next day we took the bus into town and went to the Railway Museum - it was free! Though trains rank alongside religion for me it was pretty good. Well laid out and good for those of all ages. A couple of hours passed pretty quickly and yes seats on the Japanese Bullet train are more comfortable than on our trains... 4/5.

Then we walked around much of the city walls. It was raining a bit less that day but a riverside walk would have been difficult as the rivers had expanded somewhat. This is a good way to see the city and lets you get a bit of a feel for the city, new and old. From the walls you can see how the city is laid out and this may be an idea to do on the first day of a visit if the weather permits. It can be narrow, the paving is a little uneven in places and children might be keen to climb on it so they should be carefully watched. 5/5.

Good points
There is a range of things to do for a variety of interests.
There is a good range of shops and eateries.
The people seemed nice.