Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
aboard the
North York Moors Railway
(www.nymr.co.uk) from Pickering, where
you can relax in wood-paneled carriages pulled by historic steam engines across an
otherworldly landscape.
VISITOR INFORMATION
For the many tourist information centers dotted
around the Dales, see www.yorkshiredalesandharrogate.com/contactus.html. For the
Moors, see www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/tourist-information-centres-290/.
York Visitor Information Centre,
1 Museum St. (
&
01904/550099;
www.
visityork.org), is open daily 9am to 5:30pm.
Harrogate Tourist Information Office,
Royal Baths, Crescent Road
(
&
0845/389-3223;
www.harrogate.gov.uk), is open April to October Monday to
Saturday 9am to 5:30pm, Sunday 10am to 1pm; and November to March Monday to
Saturday 9am to 5pm.
Thirsk Tourist Information Centre,
49 Market Place (
&
01845/522755;
www.yorkshire.com), is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 4pm (to 5pm in summer).
Scarborough Tourism Bureau,
Town Hall, St. Nicholas Street (
&
01723/
383637;
www.yorkshire.com), is open daily 9am to 5pm.
The Moors National Park Centre,
Lodge Lane, Danby, Whitby
(
&
01439/772737;
www.northyorkmoors.org.uk), is open April to October daily
10am to 5pm, mid-February to March and November and December daily 11am to
4pm, January to mid-February 11am to 4pm.
Whitby Moors and Coast Centre,
Langborne Road (
&
01723/383636,
www.
yorkshire.com), is open Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm, Friday 9am to 4:30pm.
SPECIAL EVENTS
The Ebor Festival,
held over 4 days in August, is the high-
light of the flat-racing season at the prestigious
York Racecourse
(www.yorkrace
course.co.uk). In 2012, York will host a large-scale production of the medieval
Mys-
tery Plays
(www.yorkmysteryplays-2012.com) over 25 days in the Museum Gardens
(the last full-scale production was in York Minster in 2000). In February, York also
sees a 9-day
Viking Festival,
organized by Jorvik.
Harrogate's
Great Yorkshire Show
(www.greatyorkshireshow.co.uk), in early July,
features cattle parades, sheep-shearing, pole-climbing, and more.
Exploring North Yorkshire
YORK
Still encircled by its 13th- and 14th-century walls, about 2
1
⁄
2
miles long, with four
gates, York is a many-layered and picturesque historical tapestry. There was a Roman
York (Hadrian came this way), then a Saxon York, a Danish York, a Norman York (Wil-
liam the Conqueror slept here), a medieval York, a Georgian York, and a Victorian
York, center of a flourishing rail empire. You can still walk the footpath of the medi-
eval walls and explore much of the 18th-century city; the
Association of Voluntary
Guides
(
&
01904/550098;
information desk in Visitor Centre; p. 633) runs free
guided tours from Exchange Square (10:15am daily, plus 2:15pm and 6:45pm in
summer).
Mighty
York Minster
(see below) makes the city an ecclesiastical powerhouse
equaled only by Canterbury (p. 240). Steps away from it,
Treasurer's House
,
Minster Yard (
&
01904/624247;
www.nationaltrust.org.uk), like the Minster, con-
ceals Roman remains in its cellar—those of a road. You can also tour its 13 period
rooms full of antiques, ceramics, textiles, and paintings, the Edwardian servants'
attics, and the formal sunken garden. School-holiday activities and an interactive
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