Getting Around York: An Overview
York is a compact, historic city, and the best way to explore it is on foot. For longer hops or arrivals from outside the city, York is well connected by rail, bus and coach, with taxis and ride-hailing available for door-to-door trips. The City of York Council runs a website called i-Travel York, which provides unbiased information for travelling around the city on foot, by bike, by bus and by car.
On Foot
Walking is the best way to discover York. The city centre is small enough to walk from one side to the other in about 20 minutes, and there is only a short distance on flat terrain between most of the sights. That said, the winding, narrow streets can be confusing and aren't always well-signposted, so a map is handy.
- Some streets within the old city (inside the city walls) are pedestrianised during the day, closed to all cars except disabled drivers and emergency vehicles between 10:30AM and 5PM daily. These are locally known as "footstreets," and a map is available on i-Travel York.
- Some streets have additional controls — for example, the Shambles is pedestrian-only at all times.
- Take care walking around the city centre when the roads reopen to car traffic at 5PM, as they fill up quickly with delivery vehicles servicing local shops and businesses.
- If you enjoy walking, the 2-mile city wall circuit offers views all around and gives a good feel for York's layout.
- Footpaths line the River Ouse for most of its journey through the city north to south, with plenty of parkland and wildlife alongside. i-Travel publishes a wildlife walks booklet for ideas.
By Bike
York is one of the most cycle-friendly cities in the UK, with an extensive network of cycle routes in and around the city, and most traffic controls set up to give cyclists priority. There are no significant hills in or around the city centre, which helps. The river path along the Ouse contains some wonderful bike routes out of the city. Note that police and CCTV operators take a very dim view of cycling without lights after dusk, or cycling in the city centre pedestrianised area before 5PM, and will hand out an on-the-spot £60 fine. A free York Cycle Route Map can be downloaded from i-Travel York.
Rail
York is on the East Coast mainline and is a major railway hub, with services operated by several companies. LNER runs frequent trains from Doncaster, Durham, Edinburgh Waverley, Leeds, London King's Cross and Newcastle upon Tyne. Crosscountry links York with Birmingham New Street, Bristol Temple Meads, Plymouth and Sheffield. Transpennine Express runs from Manchester Airport, Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Victoria, via Huddersfield and Leeds, and from Liverpool Lime Street. Transpennine and Northern branch lines run from Scarborough and Hull on Yorkshire's east coast, and from Harrogate and Knaresborough in the west of the county.
Although there are multiple train companies, times and prices for all can be found on the National Rail Planner or by calling +44 345 748 4950 (non-geographic).
York railway station sits just outside the western walls on Station Road. From there you can access the city north along Station Road for the Museum Gardens and Minster, or south via Queen Street to Micklegate and the Jorvik Centre. Bus stops for many services are in the station forecourt, and any bus that doesn't pass here is likely to run through Rougier Street just inside the walls. The excellent National Railway Museum is adjacent on the west and is signposted from the platforms.
There is no left luggage service at the station; the nearest one is on High Petergate, about 50 m from York Minster.
Buses and Coaches
National Express operates daytime and overnight coaches from Birmingham, Hull, Leeds, London, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Sheffield and Sunderland. The coaches call outside the railway station, at bus stop RC for northbound services and bus stop RG for southbound services. Flixbus operates direct services from Leeman St to Leeds, Manchester and London (overnight).
Coastliner runs two bus routes (840 and 843) through York from Leeds, Tadcaster, Malton, Pickering, Scarborough and Whitby, every 30 minutes during the daytime and every hour in the evenings. Both routes have two calling points in York city centre: outside the railway station at stops RC and RJ, and on The Stonebow. The Coastliner 840 service has won the title of "Britain's most scenic bus route."
Taxis and Ride-Hailing
The source material does not provide specific detail on taxi ranks or ride-hailing operators in York. As a general rule, taxis are available for door-to-door trips, and the compact city centre means most journeys are short. Visitors arriving by train will find the station forecourt is the main hub for onward transport, including buses.
Park and Ride
If you are visiting York by car for the day, don't try to park in town — the old city is not designed for driving and is positively hostile to parking. Instead, use one of the park and ride sites, located close to the ring road and well signposted from the main roads. Each site is connected to the city centre by a unique colour-coded bus route, generally every 15 minutes, seven days a week. A day's parking is free, and a return bus fare costs £3.80 (Nov 2024). However, you can't use the park and ride overnight, so if you are staying in York, make sure your accommodation offers parking, or consider leaving your car at home.
Getting from the Airport
York does not have its own airport, but several regional and London airports connect to the city by train, bus and road.
- Manchester Airport (MAN): About 85 miles south-west of York, with global direct connections including from North America, Africa, the Middle East, Pakistan, East Asia, the Caribbean and pretty much everywhere in Europe. A direct train to York, operated by Transpennine Express, runs every 30 minutes, taking about 1 hr 50 min. By road, follow the M56 onto the M60 Manchester Ring Road (east/anticlockwise), then at junction 18 take the M62 towards Leeds. This crosses Saddleworth Moor, the highest section of motorway in Britain; in good weather it's very scenic, but snow and extremely dense fog can badly affect or even close the route at any time of year. At junction 29, take the M1 north, which soon merges onto the A1(M); from there take the next exit for the A64 towards York.
- Leeds-Bradford Airport (LBA): The closest airport to York, about 31 miles away by road. It has decent connections across western Europe and is mostly served by budget carriers. Aer Lingus and KLM connect to their respective hubs at Dublin and Amsterdam Schiphol. The airport is north of Leeds, so you can mostly dodge the city traffic by following the A658 past Harrogate to the A59, where you pick up signs to York. By public transport, take bus A1 from the airport into Central Leeds, then take the train: Crosscountry, LNER and Transpennine Express all operate trains to York, taking about 25 minutes with a "turn-up-and-go" frequency.
- London airports: Heathrow (LHR) and Gatwick (LGW) have a huge range of flights. By public transport you have to travel into central London before heading north to York from King's Cross Station: from Heathrow use a combination of the Elizabeth line or Heathrow Express and London Underground; from Gatwick take the Thameslink train to St Pancras, adjacent to King's Cross. LNER trains depart King's Cross every 30 minutes and take roughly 2 hours. Alternatively, with a car you have to endure a long journey (at least 5 hours in good traffic) around the M25 ring road and up the A1.
King's Cross in London is adjacent to St Pancras International, the British terminus for high-speed Eurostar trains from the near continent. This very easy interchange brings York within 4 hr 30 min from Paris and Brussels, 3 hr 30 from Lille, and under 6 hr from Amsterdam.
Luggage
There is no left luggage service at York railway station. The nearest option is Yorbag, at 20 High Petergate, YO1 7EH (tel +44 7561 852 654), open daily 9AM–6PM. It is a centrally located, Visit York-endorsed left luggage service with no overnight service. Small bags (55cm x 35cm x 25cm or smaller) cost £4 for up to 10 hours; large bags cost £4 for up to 2 hours or £6 for up to 10 hours.