After any one of those Big Three Visits, it’s apt to be time for lunch. There are options everywhere in York. I ate a late lunch one day at The Punch Bowl in Stonegate, widely heralded as having the best pies in York. From 10 different pies and a seasonal specialty on the chalkboard menu, I chose the steak and Guinness pie. It arrived steaming on a huge trencher with mash and steamed vegetables. Chicken, bacon and leek; game pie; chicken, red wine and baby onions all sounded great. The Punch Bowl has been here 400 years, so it has had time to get food right. And it did.

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But the place to have lunch in York—or morning coffee, afternoon tea or a light supper—is Bettys on Davygate. Bettys has been a Yorkshire institution since its first shop in Harrogate opened in 1919. Both a bakery and tearoom, Bettys serves up classic English teas and lunches with its own specialties (like Yorkshire rarebit) and imaginative sweet concoctions. A marzipan-robed cream cake looking just like a fresh pear will accompany that rarebit nicely, thank you. Be forewarned, however, there is always a queue out the door from late morning until dark to get a seat at Bettys.

Whether you are following a purposeful plan to “see” York or just randomly exploring the city’s streets, it is impossible to turn any corner or wander any “gate” of the old city without stumbling upon a museum, monument or attraction of some sort.

The Merchant Adventurers Hall on Piccadilly is one place well worth seeking out. It is the finest surviving medieval guildhall in England, built between 1357 and 1361, with an impressive open oak-beamed roof. Originally a religious guild, the Merchant Adventurers Hall includes the only medieval guild chapel surviving in Britain. The undercroft, or ground floor, was supported as a hospital or hospice from 1373 until 1900. The “inmates” were infirm men and women, cared for by chaplains.

Most remarkably, the building has remained in the hands of the Merchant Adventurers from the time it was first commissioned. Yes, the guild still exists. Though it no longer is an active trading organization, the civic group of businessmen and women promotes commerce in York and a greater understanding of enterprise in society. They also take care of the building.

Many of York’s ancient churches are open to visitors, and each of them has a story to tell. St. Martin-le-Grand on Coney Street, dating back before the Norman Conquest and once one of York’s most splendid churches, was gutted by German incendiary bombs in April 1942 and slumbered in ruins until 1968. It was restored and rehallowed as a Chapel of Reconciliation between nations and between peoples. The beautiful pipe organ was donated by the German government and the German Evangelical Church.

Constructed in 1535-36, St. Michael-le-Belfry on Low Petergate is the only pre-Reformation church in York built in one go. The infamous Guy Fawkes was baptized here; he was born across the street. Today, the active parish has 800 regular congregants.

All this footwork, however, is bound to create a powerful thirst. Long ago I made my York “local” Ye Old Starre Inn on Stonegate. York’s oldest pub, the Starre was licensed in 1644, though they reckon it might have been a pub for 200 years before that. Cromwell’s troops took over the inn for use as a hospital during the Civil War, ticking off the Royalist landlord. I am happy to report the real ale is as good as ever.

Another option for giving the feet a rest is taking a boat ride. You can get an entirely different perspective on the ancient city from the River Ouse. York Boats offers 45-minute cruises with live commentary on well-furnished riverboats. Grab a drink from the bar and let the city and country sail by. You can catch the boat at either Lendal Bridge or Kings Staith Landing.

At some point, every visitor ought to walk at least a stretch of York’s 14th-century city walls. My favorite segment runs from Bootham Bar, near the West front of York Minster, in back of the cathedral close and town-house gardens to Monk’s Bar. The gatehouse at Monk’s Bar houses a modest, but informative museum of King Richard III. He may have been a bad ‘un, but he was Yorkshire’s own. Visitors are invited to vote on whether the hapless king deserves his rather onerous reputation. 

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