Yorkshire Museum & Museum Gardens
About
Ten acres of botanical gardens running down from Museum Street to the Ouse, free to enter, wrapped around the ruins of St Mary's Abbey, once the richest monastery in the north, and the Roman Multangular Tower, the most intact standing corner of the Eboracum fortress. The Yorkshire Museum inside the gardens (ticketed, closed Mondays) holds some of Britain's best Roman, Viking and medieval collections, including the Middleham Jewel. The gardens are the city centre's default picnic spot and the peregrine falcons that nest on the Minster hunt overhead.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓The ruins of St Mary's Abbey
- ✓The Multangular Tower, Roman Eboracum's most intact corner
- ✓The Middleham Jewel and the museum's Roman and Viking collections
- ✓Free gardens running down to the Ouse
Tips
- →The gardens are free and open daily (closed 25-26 December and 1 January); the museum is ticketed and closed Mondays.
- →Museum hours are Tuesday-Sunday 10:00-17:00; children 16 and under go free with a paying adult.
- →The gardens gate onto the riverside path, a good link toward the station or the Star Inn The City.
Best Season
More Attraction Activities
York Minster
Northern Europe's largest Gothic cathedral: medieval glass, Roman undercroft, and a 275-step tower climb. Children free with a paying adult.
The Shambles & Shambles Market
The famous overhanging medieval butchers' street, plus the daily 75-stall Shambles Market and its street-food court next door.
National Railway Museum
The world's leading railway museum, free to enter: Mallard, a Shinkansen and royal carriages, ten minutes behind the station.